Nigerian fintech startup AjoMoney is a community financing platform that digitizes Africa’s centuries-old rotating savings and credit associations (ROSCAs), making it possible for the 65% of Africans who are either unbanked or underbanked to access zero or low interest credit when they collectively save and invest money.
Kenya’s B2B agritech startup, iProcure, has raised $10.2 million in Series B funding to grow its presence in its current markets – Kenya and Uganda, and expand to Tanzania. The round was led by Investisseurs & Partenaires (I&P), with participation from Novastar Ventures, Ceniarth, and British International Investment (BII) participating.
Customer engagement and retention platform CleverTap has raised $105 million in a new financing round, the latest in a series of India-origin startups making fast inroads in the global SaaS race. The new round values the startup at about $775 million, up from $385 million in 2019. The startup operates cloud-based customer management and engagement tracking tools that help its clients sustain their user bases and increase their lifetime value.
In the latest round of AI vs. copyright holders, Character.AI has removed Disney characters from its platform in response to a cease-and-desist letter from the company. It’s unknown if this will prove to be a precedent. OpenAI’s Sora is taking a different approach by requiring copyright holders to opt out of being used.