CDP Institute

Victory Farms, a Kenya-based aquaculture startup, has raised $35 million in a Series B round. The startup says it will use the funding to finance the expansion of its operations in Kenya and Rwanda and potential entry into Ethiopia, Uganda, and Tanzania.

Kenyan web3 platform Fonbnk has partnered with Tanda to launch a first-of-its-kind airtime trading marketplace across Tanda’s network of 40,000 agents. Through the partnership, Tanda agents and vendors across East Africa can act as airtime ‘market makers’ and access new revenue streams by buying and selling prepaid airtime for profit on Fonbnk’s distributed exchange.

Pan-African venture capital firm Verod-Kepple Africa Partners has reached the second close of its first fund (Verod-Kepple Africa Ventures), targeting African startups at $43 million. The fund achieved its first close last March (at $20 million) and aims to attain its final close by the end 2023 at $100 million; if reached, VKAV will join an exiguous number of Africa-focused funds with $100 million or more in total capital allotment. The fund targets African startups and will invest in Series A and B startups with $1.5m to $3m checks.

Google has entered into an agreement to acquire a data center spanning over 3.81 lakh square feet in Navi Mumbai through a long-term lease of 28 years as it expands its cloud infrastructure in India to meet increasing demand in one of its key growth markets.

AnyClip, The Visual Intelligence Company™ has announced that they have integrated ChatGPT into GeniusWork, their AI-powered internal communications platform for business, among the first major internal communications tools to do so. AnyClip’s platform uses AI to turn traditional videos into smart content, empowering employees to share knowledge, collaborate, and communicate across the organization.

Australian logistics technology platform Shippit and SaaS platform Wix has formed a partnership that will see Singapore-based e-commerce businesses use Wix to connect their online stores to Shippit’s multi-carrier shipping technology. The partnership will give businesses tolls to ship, optimise their fulfilment, and have post-purchase experiences for their customers.

Australian open-source intelligence (OSINT) software company, Fivecast , has closed its Series A funding round with almost US$20 million (AU$30m) raised to fuel its expansion and service contracts in key markets, including Five Eyes nations, amid a significant rise in the need for data and risk analytics among governments and corporations. Born out of a collaboration between government agencies and leading research institutions, Fivecast provides OSINT technology powered by artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to aid defense, intelligence, police, border security and corporations in keeping society safer.

Nearly 60 million Filipinos spent 4.4 million hours on e-wallet applications in 2022. User growth was highest between 2020 and 2021 where a 187.1 percent increase, or about 41 million people becoming e-wallet users was observed.

Soft Space Sdn. Bhd., a Malaysia-based fintech player, has announced it has raised $31.5 million in its latest funding round. With the additional capital from this funding round, the company is well positioned to continue its growth trajectory and achieve its goal of making payment acceptance accessible and affordable.

The fintech ecosystem in Latin America has seen tremendous expansion and established itself as a vital actor in addressing the region’s consumer financial demands and needs. Growing demand for online banking solutions, favorable demographics, and a sizable underserved population are driving the expansion of fintech activities. The four trends to shape the regional fintech ecosystem in the coming years are Neobanking, Digital Payments & E-Commerce, Insurtech, and Embedded Finance & Open Banking.

ActiveCampaign, the leader in marketing automation, email marketing and CRM, is putting down roots in Costa Rica and will have 100 employees in the hub within 12 months. Latin America is one of the company’s fastest growing regions, with local businesses growing through the power of ActiveCampaign’s platform every day. With offices in Brazil and Colombia already, ActiveCampaign is making a larger investment in the region by expanding engineering and customer teams to improve the global customer experience and operations of the business.

Google has announced its efforts to fight misinformation in India through its products, programs, and partnerships. Its new “About This Result” feature will let users evaluate the information and understand its source. The feature is available globally and in nine Indian languages, Hindi, Tamil, Bengali, Marathi, Gujarati, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, and Punjabi.