Nigerian payment service provider Nomba has raised $30 million in a pre-Series B investment to support the delivery of bespoke payment solutions for African businesses. The round, which values the company at $150 million+ according to YCombinator data on its most valuable companies, was led by San Francisco-based Base 10 Partners.
Z1, a digital banking app for teenagers and young adults, has raised US $10.8 million. By using the Z1 app and a prepaid card linked to their account, users can begin their road to financial independence by learning to manage and spend their money, as well as having a place to receive money they earn through jobs and small businesses.
Kenyan women-only taxi service An Nisa is planning expansion to Saudi Arabia after clocking up 10,000 users in its home market. Founded by Mehnaz Sarwar in 2018, An Nisa Taxi went app-based last year, and has more than 10,000 users.
Martech keeps taking larger bites out of marketing budgets: 17.3% last year, 19.9% this year, 23.5% next year, and 30.9% five years from now, according to the latest CMO Survey. This despite barely more than half (56.4%) of current tools being used and nearly half (48.8%) of the survey respondents reporting worse-than-expected results. Oddly enough, marketers rate selecting marketing technologies as the thing they do best.