BD Insider 75: ANKA, Ajua's acquisition, and stalkerware report
Letter 74 focuses on Afrikera's SaaS solution, ANKA, Ajua's acquisition and Kaspersky's stalkerware report on Nigeria and Kenya.
This is a blog copy of the 74th version of our weekly newsletter, BD Insider. Subscribers get to read it first and can take action based it.
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It has been an exciting seven (7) days for us since we last sent a newsletter.
Last week, we launched our first series dubbed Under The Hoodie.
What is Under The Hoodie about?
Typically, when media houses talk tech, the focus seems to be on the founders, investors, product, etc, you know, the one percent. No one seemed to acknowledge the everyday people who work tirelessly to keep the company moving. We want to change that with Under The Hoodie.
Every Tuesday, we will spotlight tech talents that are doing great things in their fields. Under The Hoodie will spotlight talented people across all tracks in tech.
The first spotlight we published was about Chidera Olibie, a Software Engineer who got into Google without applying.
Will there be merch? We'll keep our fingers crossed on that.
In today’s newsletter, we will be covering;
- Ajua’s acquisition of Wayawaya
- Afrikrea's plan to power African e-commerce
- Kaspersky's report on the stalkerware challenge in Africa
Let's dive in!!!
Afrikrea wants to power African e-commerce with ANKA
Afrikrea, a marketplace startup based in Ivory Coast, launched ANKA, an all-in-one SaaS e-commerce solution.
The new solution will allow micro retailers to sell via a customized storefront, ship products across the world, and get paid via local and international payment methods.
Afrikrea also entered into partnerships with DHL, Visa, MPesa, Orange, MTN, PayPal, etc., to further facilitate seamless service for their users.
Ajua Acquires WayaWaya for an undisclosed sum
Kenyan integrated customer experience management solution for SMEs, Ajua has acquired WayaWaya.
WayaWaya is an Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) known for its Janja platform that enables borderless banking and payment across apps and social media platforms.
Ajua’s acquisition will help them improve their customer’s experience by allowing them access to automate responses across Facebook, WhatsApp, Telegram, etc.
Read more on Ajua’s acquisition
Partner Content
Treford Group is organizing a training for people looking to begin a career in product marketing.
Click here to go to the registration page.
Stalkerware affects 1 in 100 mobile users in Kenya and Nigeria
Stalkerware is a spyware used for stalking. A recent report from a cybersecurity company, Kaspersky, has revealed that one of every 100 mobile users in Nigeria and Kenya is affected by stalkerware.
Kaspersky further revealed that stalkerware focuses on specific individuals. It’s more personal than malware that targets victims on a massive scale.
According to the cybersecurity company, the spyware can track a victim’s location or eavesdrop on their phone conversation.
But there’s a solution.
Kaspersky’s stalkerware report
💰Fundraising
Here are some of the recent startup fundraises across Africa that you should be aware of:
- Kenyan e-mobility startup Ecobodaa secures an undisclosed funding
- Kenyan edtech platform Kidato secures $1.4-million seed round
- SA legal tech startups, Legal Lens and BriefCo, secures an undisclosed funding
- Kenyan e-health startup, TIBU Health secures an undisclosed seed funding
- Egyptian mobile lending startup, Kashat secures an undisclosed funding
Tip: If you're looking to improve your take-home (salary) by moving jobs, companies that have just raised are a great place to apply. Companies almost always hire after a significant raise.
📰 Things we found interesting
Here are some of the most exciting stories we've written and read over the last seven days:
- We wrote on how to get into YC as an African founder.
- If you work in a startup, you may want to read up on exercising stock options.
- Flutterwave made it into TIME 100's Most Influential companies list.
- Could fractional technical management work in Africa?
- Read this explainer on how venture funds work.
- Planning to relocate to Rwanda? Here are five things you need to know.
- We explored 10 Nigerian venture firms and their portfolio companies.
- Bitnob will be teaching crypto investing via its weekly webinars.
Job Opportunities🚪
In addition to last week's list of jobs, events, and other opportunities, check these out, too:
- Softcom Limited is hiring an Industry Solutions Specialist.
- Flutterwave is hiring a Core Switch Support Engineer.
- Kudi is hiring a Customer Success Associate.
- Kuda bank is hiring a Frontend Engineer.
- Bolt Nigeria is hiring a Partner Operations Manager.
- Genysys is looking for a Lead Software Engineer.
- Safeboda is hiring for a number of positions.
- Docker is hiring remote workers for engineering roles.
Thanks for reading
You can do the following:
- Share this newsletter with someone curious about tech in Africa
- Turn on tweet notifications on our page, to stay tuned for the Under The Hoodie series every Tuesday by 8 am.
Regards,
Marvisclara.