Zanifu, a Kenyan fintech providing inventory financing to micro, small and medium-sized businesses, has raised $11.2 million in debt-equity funding in a pre-Series A round led by Beyond Capital Ventures and Variant Investments. Founders Factory Africa, AAIC Investment, Google Black Founders Fund and existing investor Launch Africa also participated in the round.
Autolab, which provides management software to car service facilities, has successfully raised USD $4.1 million in a funding round. The company seeks to bring transparency, standardization, and convenience to an industry often viewed as informal and untrustworthy and its software links car service facilities with diverse clients, from corporate fleets to individual vehicle owners. Autolab operates a network of more than 150 repair shops that serve over 70 vehicle fleets.
The competition regulator in Kenya has given Moniepoint Inc. the green light to acquire Kopo Kopo, a Kenya-based company offering payments services and credit to businesses. Following the approval by Competition Authority of Kenya (CA), Moniepoint (formerly TeamApt) will expand its services to Kenya continuing its growth plans across the continent.
Twilio is adding ‘contextual awareness’ to its Segment CDP, which in plainer English means data stored in Segment will be available when creating event-triggered, real-time messages. This and a redesigned journey architecture are part of Twilio’s “next generation” customer engagement platform, which also includes natural voice AI agents, voice and text analytics, and RCS and WhatsApp messaging. Twilio separately announced a multi-year partnership with Microsoft to speed the adoption of conversational AI for customer engagement.