South African startup Abela is supporting the informal economy with the same autonomy and security that banks offer to the formal economy via a QR code-enabled system. Launched in August 2020, Abela started as a QR code-enabled payment platform offering users without a bank account the ability to receive tips and payments digitally. Since then, it has broadened its approach to include the entire informal economy.
Cairo based Pravica, a communication platform using Blockchain technology to empower user privacy and security through decentralised identity, has announced an investment (amount undisclosed) from CV VC (Crypto Valley Venture Capital).
India’s bus market is a US$20 billion opportunity, almost twice the size of cabs. The startup was operating about 1,900 buses before the pandemic hit last year. Now the startup is operating 2,500 buses and has signed up several thousand more. As part of the new financing round, the startup said it will use US$10 million of the proceeds to buy back stock options to reward its current and former employees as well as some early angel investors.
Like the determined optimist who tells his boss the factory is on fire by reporting they’ll soon be able to update their equipment, let’s find some silver linings in a batch of gloomy surveys today, Dear Reader. We’ll start with this Fivetran report, which finds that 85% of data leaders say their company has lost money by basing decisions on bad data, and 66% believe their C-suite can’t tell when that happens. The bright side is there’s lots of room for improvement.