This line-up of stories will help you discover the latest happenings around the tech world, today
1. South Africa’s online SweepSouth halts operations in Nigeria.
A South African online home services platform, SweepSouth, is set to halt Nigerian operations citing ‘unfavorable conditions’ as the reason.
The startup made this statement via its Twitter page seen by Ripples Nigeria on Wednesday.
Launched in 2014, SweepSouth bills itself as a provider of on-demand home services.
The South African startup was founded by Aisha Pandor and Alen Ribic.
“SweepSouth Nigeria has made a very difficult decision to pause our Nigerian Operations effective Nov 25th, 2022.
“Due to the unfavorable global macroeconomic environment. the home service industry continues to be hit hard,” the statement read in part.
Ripples Nigeria gathered that the company launched its Nigerian office earlier this year with Awazi Angbalaga leading the operations.
Tech Trivia: HiDPI describes what kind of peripheral?
A. Keyboard
B. Mouse
C. Monitor
D. External storage device
Answer: see end of post
2. Tanzania’s YC alum, Ramani, secures $32 million in Series A
A Tanzanian startup focused on consumer-packaged goods (CPG) supply chains, Ramani, has secured fresh $32 million in Series A debt-equity funding.
CEO and confounder, Iain Usiri, confirmed the funding in a media release on Wednesday.
Ripples Nigeria gathered that the latest round follows an undisclosed seed funding round last year.
The new funding was led by Flexcap Ventures and serial entrepreneur Jared Schreiber.
The Y Combinator (W20) backed startup, was co-founded in 2019 by Martin Kibet (COO), and brothers Iain Usiri (CEO) and Calvin Usiri (CTO).
“We deploy our app on a specialized point-of-sale device and a printer, which salespeople use in warehouses to manage their inventory and operations. The data is also accessible on computers, and WhatsApp,” Lain explained.
The company said that it planned to introduce new financial services and expand operations in the East African country with the new funding.
3. Pan-African VC firm, LoftyInc, closes third at $14.3 million
LoftyInc Capital Management, a Pan-African VC firm, has announced closing its LoftyInc Afropreneur Fund 3 (LAF3) at $14.3 million.
Idris Ayodeji Bello, Founding Partner of LoftyInc Capital Management, confirmed the development in a media release seen by Ripples Nigeria on Wednesday.
Ripples Nigeria gathered that the fund was raised from limited partners from its second fund, including FBNQuest Funds, syndicates from The Green Investment Club, HNIs from multinationals like Google, Facebook, and ExxonMobil; and Andela CEO Jeremy Johnson.
The early-stage African-focused venture capital firm, announced the launch of its third fund—LoftyInc Afropreneurs Fund 3 (LAF3)—at $10 million in August last year.
“The close is significant in that it brought together an array of investor types including young African operators and founders, African HNWIs, and African financial institutions,” said Bello.
Ripples Nigeria gathered that LAF3 has already invested in 52 companies across the continent in fintech, e-commerce, media, logistics, and healthcare sectors.
Trivia Answer: HiDPI
HiDPI is an adjective that describes a display with high pixel density or DPI. A HiDPI screen can display sharper text and more detailed images than a standard DPI display.
While there is no official DPI threshold for a HiDPI display, a typical HiDPI monitor has a DPI of at least 200.
By Kayode Hamsat
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