This line-up of stories will help you discover the latest happenings around the tech world, today
1. Nigerian-founded Calendly acquires Prelude to expand into recruitment industry
A Nigerian-owned scheduling startup, Calendly, has acquired a recruitment specialist startup, Prelude.
Prelude automates scheduling and organization processes in the recruitment space.
Will Laufer, founder and CEO of Prelude, confirmed the acquisition in a statement on Thursday.
Calendly builds tools for employees corporate organizations to book appointments, arrange meetings, and plan events that involve two or more people.
The acquisition follows closely as Prelude recently raised $2.4 million, from investors that included Sam and Jack Altman, Fuel Capital, Elad Gil, and more.
Tope Awotona is Calendly was founded by Tope Awotona, who currently leads as CEO.
“This acquisition presents a tremendous market opportunity with the amount of interactions and experiences modern companies have with their potential hires,” said Laufer.
Awotona said that the number of employers who wanted better tools to manage recruitment warranted the acquisition.
Tech Trivia: An office chair that supports a comfortable upright position is called what?
A. Technomic
B. Magnomic
C. Ergonomic
D. Kinesenomic
Answer: see end of post
2. South African Biometrics firm, iiDENTIFii, secures US$15M led by Arise
A South African biometrics tech startup, iiDENTIFii, has announced securing $15M growth funding led by an African investment company, Arise.
Read also:Nigerian fintech startup, Bamboo, expands operations into Ghana. 2 other stories and a trivia
iiDENTIFii Founder and CEO, Gur Geva, confirmed the funding in a media release seen by Ripples Nigeria on Thursday.
Ripples Nigeria gathered that the investment also drew participation from a growth-stage private equity firm, Sanari Capital, and veteran US tech entrepreneur, Bill Spruill.
The biometric authentication startup claims it uses advanced face authentication technology to securely authenticate users via their cellphones or PCs within seconds.
Commenting on the raiser, Geva stated:
“We’re excited to put the investment to work as we close in on our goal of authenticating every face in Africa. With this new funding and the networks of Arise, Sanari, and Bill – we confidently continue our mission of stopping identity theft in Africa.”
Arise CEO Gavin Tipper, added that the investment also supports their will to foray into the African fintech market.
3. French startup, Pigment, secures $65M round a Series B+
Pigment, a French business planning and forecasting platform startup have announced securing a $65M Series B+ led by IVP and Meritech Capital.
Eléonore Crespo, co-founder and co-CEO, confirmed the new raiser in a media release on Thursday.
Pigment’s technology claims to offer an intuitive and visually-driven experience, provides a 360° view of the business, updates financial models in real-time, and allows to run what-if scenarios at the click of a button.
The Paris-based company was founded in 2019 by Eléonore Crespo and Romain Niccoli.
Crespo said his business would now focus on expansion.
“In the past year, we have grown from 0 to 33 people supporting our North American operations and we expect this to double in the next year,” he said.
Trivia Answer: Ergonomics
Ergonomics is the study of how humans interact with manmade objects. The goal of ergonomics is to create an environment that is well-suited to a user’s physical needs.
For example, ergonomics is often used to create comfortable workstations for employees. This may involve choosing customized desks and chairs that fit each individual’s body type.
By Kayode Hamsat
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