Naspers, Africa’s most valuable tech company by market capitalization, has wound down the operations of its R1.4 billion ($100 million) South Africa-focused venture capital fund Naspers Foundry, according to local news outlet BusinessDay.
MENA-focused seed investor Flat6Labs has announced the launch of a new US$95 million fund to nurture the growth and development of early-stage tech startups on the African continent. Flat6Labs is the MENA region’s leading seed and early-stage venture capital firm, running a host of startup programmes and active in Egypt, Lebanon, Tunisia, Bahrain, Jordan, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia.
Nigerian credit-led digital banking platform FairMoney has acquired PayForce (sub-brand of YC-backed CrowdForce), a merchant payment services that serves small businesses, as the digital lender looks to broaden its financial services proposition to merchants.
The U.S. Senate has passed a bill that could potentially ban TikTok in the U.S. if its Chinese owner, ByteDance, does not sell its holdings within a year. The bill now goes to the President Biden, who has said he will sign it. Court challenges are likely to follow.