CDP Institute

South African insurtech startup Pineapple has raised ZAR400 million (US$21.3 million) in Series B funding to boost its growth. The round was led by new investors Futuregrowth, Talent10, and MIC. Existing investors, including Old Mutual ESD, Lireas Holdings, ASISA ESD Fund, and E4E Africa, also participated. Pineapple’s innovative approach and robust growth, coupled with sustainable claims ratios surpassing industry standards, attracted investor support.

Shekel Mobility, a B2B auto dealers marketplace, has secured over US $7 million in funding, with US$3.2 million in equity and over US$4 million in debt. The YC-backed startup focuses on offering affordable financing and business solutions tailored for car dealers in Africa, aiming to help small dealers with daily transactions and keep costs down.

Salesforce has partnered with the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Academy and the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) to launch the Educator’s Empowerment Program (EEP) focused on Salesforce Technologies. The primary objective of this collaboration is to equip educators with the necessary knowledge and skills.

Al Ghurair Investment, one of the largest diversified family business groups in the Middle East will deploy Oracle Fusion Cloud Human Capital Management (HCM) to enhance its human resource management process. Through this collaboration, Al Ghurair continues to build on its legacy of innovation and seeks to empower its employees through self-service capabilities, greater autonomy to manage HR tasks, and improved access to training initiatives.

Anko, one of the most loved and trusted household brands in Australia, has announced its plans to launch in India with a digital-first entry via D2C channels and an association with Amazon.in. With this, Anko is all set to bring its curated range of home and living products to customers across the length and breadth of the country.

The Australian Computer Society (ACS), which represents more than 47,000 technology professionals, declared a national skills crisis and warned 95% of workers need to be retrained to take on new roles. The rapid rise of AI and other technologies, including robotics will dramatically change the workforce, and the ACS view is that this calls for a holistic change for current workers and those who will immigrate there.

Norrsken22, a Pan-African venture capital firm, has achieved the final close of its debut fund, raising a total of US$205 million, surpassing its initial target. This also highlights a keen interest from institutional investors in supporting African startups at an essential phase of their journey.

Ghanaian startup Hurupay is helping businesses and individuals across Africa overcome the negative impacts of fluctuating local currencies by allowing them to make and receive stablecoin-based payments. Formed earlier this year, Hurupay is a crypto wallet that enables users to access stablecoins, which are non-volatile cryptocurrencies pegged to the value of the US dollar at a ratio of 1:1.

Ivory Coast-based startup Babimo is helping small businesses overcome payment challenges by allowing them to receive customer payments via QR code. Founded in 2022 after Messek El Mehdi noticed that local wallet actors did not include retail businesses in their strategies, Babimo provides a professional digital wallet to its B2B clientele.

Enghouse Interactive and Voxtron Middle East LLC today announced a bold and far-reaching expansion of the longstanding partnership between Voxtron and Enghouse Interactive. Voxtron, a prominent provider of customer engagement optimization solutions to the Middle East market has engaged Enghouse Interactive as a key partner as it looks ahead to its next phase of expansion. Under the expanded partnership, Voxtron will resell and offer a range of additional technologies centered around Enghouse CCaaS.

Oracle has plans to add more cloud regions in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, with the UAE and Saudi Arabia, leading contenders thanks to their high adoption rates of the technology, according to the company’s top regional executive. The Arab world’s two biggest economies also stand out because their governments have been championing innovation.

Eleve Media, a leading company in the creator marketing industry, has introduced CreatorTag, a comprehensive martech platform, a SaaS solution for brands and an app for content creators. With over a decade of experience and a strong presence in India, Eleve media pioneered creator marketing as a standalone practice thereby bridging the gap between Indian brands/creators and international markets across Middle East.