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The integration of technology into all aspects of a business is known as digital transformation.
Over the last few years, ‘digital transformation’ has become a hot topic, with small and medium businesses as well as large corporations migrating to the cloud and incorporating online productivity and collaboration tools.
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Story News Bites from Africa Tech, Digital Spotlights and Knowledge Based Inputs are presented here like surfing waves and tides shaping the Ocean or going up and down in screams of innovation, discovery and outrages like a road coaster and news alert, nothing past nothing present only a movement toward creation and innovation.
TREASURE IN TUNISIA has been sold to BioNTech
InstaDeep was acquired by BioNTech for £562M on Jan 10, 2023 . This deal was done in Cash.
BioNTech SE – Biotechnology company
Description
BioNTech SE is a German biotechnology company based in Mainz that develops and manufactures active immunotherapies for patient-specific approaches to the treatment of diseases. Wikipedia
Stock price: BNTX (NASDAQ) $143.66 +1.12 (+0.79%)
Jan 27, 4:00 PM EST – Disclaimer
Subsidiaries: BioNTech Delivery Technologies GmbH, MORE
CEO: Uğur Şahin (2008–)
Founded: 2008
Headquarters: Germany
Founders: Uğur Şahin, Özlem Türeci, Christoph Huber
BioNTech says it will start cancer vaccine trials in the UK from September
Jenni Reid : Published Fri, Jan 6 2023 8:27 AM Est Updated Fri, Jan 6 2023 8:54 AM Est
KEY POINTS
- Germany’s BioNTech is launching a U.K. trial of personalized mRNA therapies, including cancer vaccines, from September.
- It aims to deliver 10,000 therapies to patients before 2030.
- Campaigners called on the government to ensure any positive outcome could be delivered at an accessible price point and include delivery to global cancer patients.
LONDON — The U.K. government on Friday announced a partnership with German firm BioNTech to test potential vaccines for cancer and other diseases, as campaigners warned any breakthrough must remain affordable and accessible.
Cancer patients in England will get early access to trials involving personalized mRNA therapies, including cancer vaccines, which aim to spur the immune system to attack harmful cells.
They will be administered to early and late-stage patients and target both active cancer cells and preventing their return. BioNTech will set up new research and development centers in the U.K., with a lab in Cambridge and headquarters in London, and aim to deliver 10,000 therapies to patients from September 2023 until the end of the decade.
The company developed one of the most widely-distributed Covid-19 vaccines alongside U.S. pharma firm Pfizer. Its CEO, Ugur Sahin, said it had learned lessons from the coronavirus pandemic about collaboration between the British National Health Service, academics, regulators and the private sector in the development of drugs that it was applying now.
“Our goal is to accelerate the development of immunotherapies and vaccines using technologies we have been researching for over 20 years,” he said in a statement. “The collaboration will cover various cancer types and infectious diseases affecting collectively hundreds of millions of people worldwide.”
InstaDeep Prior to Be Acquired by BioNTech
InstaDeep,a Tunisian enterprise AI startup now headquartered in London, raised a $100M Series B led by Alpha Intelligence Capital and CDIB, with participation from Google, BioNTech (the company behind Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine), Chimera Abu Dhabi, Deutsche Bahn’s DB Digital Ventures, G42, Synergie, and others.
Founded in Tunis in 2014, InstaDeep uses GPU-accelerated computing, machine learning, and reinforcement learning to build decision-making AI systems that help companies solve logistics, energy, biology, and electronic design problems.
💡 Why it’s the deal of the week: InstaDeep is among the few well-established AI startups on the continent and, alongside its teams in the UK, France and the UAE, it prides itself on having engineers and researchers in South Africa, Nigeria, and Tunisia — half of the InstaDeep team is based in its African offices. This is also the continent’s first $100M+ mega-round of 2022. (See the list of Africa’s 2021 mega-rounds here.)
⛏️ Go deeper:
- Use of funds: InstaDeep will now 1) accelerate the launch of new AI products across the biotech, logistics, transportation, and electronics manufacturing sectors, 2) improve its technical infrastructure, 3) expand into the US, and 4) hire additional talent
- History: InstaDeep previously raised a $7M Series A from AfricInvest and Endeavor Catalyst; the company was founded in 2014 by Karim Beguir and Zohra Slim in Tunis, with little more than two laptops and $2,000.
- A deeper look: Watch InstaDeep Co-Founder & CEO Karim Beguir’s hour-long 2020 discussion with Aniedi Udo-Obong on building an AI startup in Africa
🔦 Other deals
TANZANIA JOINS THE PARTY
- NALA, a Tanzanian international money transfer platform, raised a $10M seed round led by Amplo with participation from Accel, Bessemer Partners, DFS Lab, and others — NALA aspires to be a Revolut-style financial super app and currently operates in Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Ghana, and South Africa
- FloatPays, a South African earned wage access/on-demand pay platform, raised a $4M seed round from Global Founders Capital, Base Capital, Finca Ventures, Raba, 4DX Ventures, and others — FloatPays participated in Y Combinator’s S21 batch
- TallOrder, a South African provider of cloud-based POS solutions for SMES raised a ~$3M Series A from Investec Private Capital, a consortium led by Nurture Investment Management, and others — TallOrder offers integrations with popular payment platforms in South Africa including SnapScan, Zapper, MasterPass, Yoco, ThumbzUp, MTN MoMo, Innervation, African Resonance, NetCash, DPO and PayFast,
- Ozé, a Ghanaian digital bookkeeping & lending platform targeting SMEs, raised a $3M pre-Series A led by Speedinvest, with participation from Cathay AfricInvest Innovation Fund, Savannah Capital, and others — OZÉ has over 125K business owners on its platform across Ghana and Nigeria and offers an average loan of $5,000 at an up to to 36% APR
- CompariSure, a South African platform that distributes financial services products via chatbots, raised a ~$980K pre-Series A led by HAVAÍC, with participation from 4Di — Since its 2017 launch, CompariSure has chatted to over six million South Africans, processed over 120 million messages, and sold over 50,000 policies via chat
- Vesti, a Nigerian neobank targeting Africans migrating to North America, raised a $500K pre-seed from Oxygen Group, Microtraction, Prunedge Technologies, Terramax Ventures, GB Digitals, and Midlothian Angel Network— Launched in May 2021, the Vesti app crossed $1M in processed transactions in December 2021 and now has 32,000 active users organically; Vest plans to expand to Ghana and Rwanda by Q2
- SplendApp, an Egyptian SaaS platform that helps users create mobile apps in less than 48 hours, raised an undisclosed ‘six-figure’ pre-seed — The startups has so far served clients across three countries and plans expand further into the MENA region in the next six months
- Wamly, a South African video interview software platform, raised a undisclosed round from Knife Capital — Wamly is South Africa’s leading software application for recruiters and plans to expand throughout Africa and beyond
- AirStudent, a South African travel tech platform that connects students to air travel deals, raised an undisclosed amount impact investment fund E Squared Investments
ADJACENT/DIASPORA
- Esusu, an American rent payment reporting and credit building platform focused on immigrant and minority groups, raised a $130M Series B led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2, with participation from new investors Jones Feliciano Family Office, Lauder Zinterhofer Family Office, Schusterman Foundation, SoftBank Opportunity Fund, Related Companies, and Wilshire Lane Capital, and existing investors Motley Fool Ventures, Concrete Rose Capital, The Equity Alliance, Impact America Fund, Next Play Ventures, Serena Ventures, Sinai Ventures, and TypeOne Ventures — Esusu was founded by Nigerian-born Abbey Wemimo and Indian American Samir Goel; the startup is growing 600% year-over-year with over 2.5 million homes using its service, representing over $3B in Gross Lease Volume (GLV) across the US
FUNDS
- TLcom Capital announced the $70M first close of a targeted $150M second fund — The firm invests from seed to Series B, and its portfolio includes Andela, Twiga Foods, Kobo360, Shara, and uLesson.
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MoroccoTech – BE BOLD BE DIGITAL
MoroccoTech is a movement, a brand, a vision, and commitment to make Morocco an international digital hub.
Morocco Tech Tronquée ou Truquée, Morocco Tech completely Bold and not Digital, was refused to register the domain name
Clashes around the Domain Name of Morocco Tech happened before the advent of the event celebrating the Official Launch of Morocco Tech
It is high time to dissolve APEBI Read more on this at:
Merci à l’équipe de 2M TV pour ce reportage qui met la lumière sur l’activité de notre startup FOODEALS.
Aujourd’hui et grâce à notre exceptionnelle team, plusieurs partenaires et managers sont conscients des effets néfastes du gaspillage alimentaire généré 🤜🤛
2022 is the year for achievements 📱🇲🇦
StartUp Maroc
#startup #foodtech #food_waste #foodforgood #FMCG #NGO #circulareconomy #RSE #antigaspi #App
Chari.co of Morocco – Ismael Belkhayat & Sophia Alj
Moroccan startup Chari.co – YC S21 – Ecom and Fintech app for retailers in French-speaking Africa is now valued at $100M in a bridge round as it looks to pilot BNPL services.
Chari’s goal is to help digitize the largely fragmented FMCG sector in Morocco and Tunisia — operating as a mobile app, Chari allows small retailers in these two countries to order products from partnering FMCG multinationals and local manufacturers and get items in less than 24 hours.
With the new funding, Chari will test BNPL services with its existing customers.
More to read on this at the following link:
Morocco’s Chari valued at $100M in bridge round as it looks to pilot BNPL services
Tage Kene-Okafor@ulonnaya •January 20, 2022
Chari.ma, a Moroccan company that supplies some of what the company stated are 200,000 convenience stores in the country, has completed an acquisition and raised capital, according to published reports and news releases.
Chari’s acquisition is of Karny.ma, a company that helps convenience stores use smartphones to manage credit arrangements with customers, according to Disrupt Africa. Karny.ma has about 15,000 convenience store customers.
“Karny.ma users are the right target for Chari,” Co-Founder and CEO Ismael Belkhayat said, per Disrupt Africa. “We believe there can be many synergies between the two apps and we want to grow both in parallel with the end goal of starting to offer financial services to all of our customers.”
San Francisco-based startup investor and incubator Y Combinator stated on its website: “Chari is an eCommerce and FinTech app for traditional retailers in North Africa allowing them to order any consumer goods they sell and get delivered for free in less than 24 hours. Chari is also a financial services provider for these retailers, offering them micro-credit facilities.”
Chari.ma investors include Plug and Play and Orange Digital Ventures, the venture arm of France’s Orange Telecom, Disrupt Africa reported. Investment amounts weren’t disclosed.
Chari.ma connects retailers in the fast-moving consumer goods sectors to wholesalers that supply the goods the stores sell. The company was co-founded by Belkhayat and Sophia Alj in early 2020.
Startup Ecosystem in Morocco
In other news from Morocco, FinTech startup MosaicLab raised $225,000 in July for the invoice processing platform Konta.
Africa Startup: Boomerang of Micro-ECommerce
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Maroc et Techstart-up: Integration sans Structuration Stratégique
Article written in English Le Maroc traîne dans le financement des Start-up en Afrique Why am I fooling myself when I know you speak another language and love another ways of Doing business Dans tous les pays ou les Italiens avaient émigré, on trouve des magasins Italiens et des importateurs italiens. Les Italiens continuent de maintenir leurs relations avec leur pays d’origine, parce que les … Continue reading