BD Insider, Letter 96: Meet Africa’s tech-stars

In this letter, we covered African tech startups that pitched at Techstars Toronto's demo day, the new YC standard deal and digital banking.

The rise and pivot of agritech crowdfunding platforms

The financial debacle of agritech startups should have been resolved last year. But Agropartnership, Crowdyvest, Farmnow, Farmpower and other agritech crowdfunding platforms still owe investors millions of naira.

Lipa Later raises $12 million pre-Series A for pan-African expansion

Lipa Later, a Kenyan tech-led consumer credit platform raises $12 million in Pre-Series A funding to expand in its existing markets and new markets.

Twitter users in Nigeria will no longer need a VPN

The Nigerian government has lifted the suspension of Twitter's operations in Nigeria after approval by President Muhammadu Buhari.

Microsoft appoints Angela Kyerematen-Jimoh as Strategic Partner lead in Ghana

My appointment will be one of the biggest success stories for our continent- Angela Kyerematen-Jimoh

SeamlessHR secures $10 million in Series A funding round

SeamlessHR has raised $10 million in a Series A round led by TLcom Capital. It will use the funding to launch a new embedded finance product and add other product functionalities.

StanChart plans to shut half of its branches in Nigeria in a digital push

Standard Chartered Nigeria to shut down 13 bank branches to focus on digital banking.

What the new Y Combinator’s $500,000 standard deal means

Y Combinator has announced that in addition to the existing $125,000 investment which all accepted startups get, Y Combinator will invest an additional $375,000.

Afrikea rebrands to ANKA, raises $6.2 million in pre-Series A round

Afrikea has raised $6.2 million in a pre-Series A round. It's also rebranding to ANKA.

BD Insider, Letter 95: Of taxes and regulations in Africa’s tech ecosystem

This letter covered Nigeria's plan to tax non-resident digital firms, Cameroon's 0.2% tax on mobile money transactions and Twitter's ban in Nigeria

Bfree embarks on global expansion following $1.7 million in a pre-Series A round raise

Bfree, a Lagos-based credit management fintech has raised $1.7 million in a pre-Series A round.

mPharma to launch e-commerce platform for pharmaceuticals with $35 million funding

mPharma, a Ghanaian health startup, has raised $35 million in a Series D round led by Citigroup Inc.