Thursday, March 28, 2024

Africa’s Flutterwave to acquire UK fintech, Railsr. 2 other stories and a trivia

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This line-up of stories will help you discover the latest happenings around the tech world today

1. Africa’s Flutterwave to acquire UK fintech, Railsr

African payment unicorn, Flutterwave, has announced plans to acquire UK fintech, Railsr.

This was contained in a media release seen by Ripples Nigeria on Thursday.

As of 2022, Railsr rebranded from Railsbank to Railsr with a last raiser of Series C round $26 million in equity and $20 million in debt, at a steeply discounted valuation of $250 million.

Ripples Nigeria gathered that inflationary pressures, rising interest rates, cashflow pressures and VC pullback have reportedly hit Railsr.

Commenting on the expansion plans, Flutterwave founder and CEO Olugbenga Agboola said:

“We plan to grow inorganically through acquisitions, and it will happen when we find a fit and see a company with the same core values or culture and goal of making payments simpler across emerging markets. So we still have plans for that.”

Nigel Verdon and Clive Mitchell founded Railsr in 2016.

Tech Trivia: What was the name of the first Apple silicon processor?
A. A1
B. C1
C. M1
D. X1
Answer: see end of post

2. Alibaba sells $125m stake in Paytm

Beryl TV images-10 Africa’s Flutterwave to acquire UK fintech, Railsr. 2 other stories and a trivia Technology

Alibaba Group, a business trademark established in 1999 by 18 people led by Jack Ma, has reportedly sold a 3.1% stake in Indian digital payments firm, Paytm worth $125 million.

Read also:Elon Musk expands Twitter blue subscription to Japan. 1 other story and a trivia

Sources close to the deal disclosed on Friday that Alibaba sold its state through a block deal.

The development comes as shares of fintech One97 Communications, which owns Paytm, fell to 8.82% as the day’s low amid a significant block transaction in the afternoon session.

The stock was among the worst performers in the calendar year 2022.

Ripples Nigeria understands that Alibaba held a 6.26% stake in Paytm as of end-September.

3. Kakao Entertainment secures $966m, eyes international expansion
Beryl TV images-1-8 Africa’s Flutterwave to acquire UK fintech, Railsr. 2 other stories and a trivia Technology

South Korean internet giant, Kakao Entertainment, has on Thursday announced securing $966M to push for international expansion.

Kakao’s chief investment officer, Jae-Hyun Bae, disclosed this in a statement.

Launched in 2021 by merging Kakao Page and Kakao M, the company has now raised a total of $1.2 billion (1.53 trillion won).

Kakao claims it manages K-pop singers, music streaming services, storytelling platforms (webtoons and books), and other media businesses (movies and TV shows) domestically and internationally.

“This is a testament to the global competitiveness and future growth of potential of Kakao Entertainment’s unique intellectual property (IP) value chain, which spans multiple categories in the entertainment industry,” Bae said.

The company raised the fund from sovereign wealth funds, such as Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) and Singapore-based PWARP Investment.

Trivia Answer: M1

The M1 is the first Apple silicon chip. Apple launched the M1 in November 2020 with the Mac mini and MacBook Air.

By Kayode Hamsat

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