Thread by @eajene, 1/ Here’s what happened last week in Africa's startup ecosystem [Week 35 [...]

1/ Here’s what happened last week in Africa's startup ecosystem [Week 35 2020]

• Remittance riches

• AI, Crypto, & other deals

• Videos & Podcast appearances from many of your faves

• Reads & Tweets of the Week, News & more

Let's get started

https://afridigest.substack.com/p/afridigest-week-in-review-remittance

Afridigest Week in Review: Remittance riches

+Andreessen Horowitz invests in Africa +How to quantify product-market fit +The realities of consumer internet in Africa +Early expansion for Africa-focused startups +Nkali Fund proposal & more

https://afridigest.substack.com/p/afridigest-week-in-review-remittance

2/ Video of the Week -

• @iamtomiwa moderated a great session with @DoctorBasta about the African venture landscape & how deals get done

• Very insightful & highly recommended

• Thanks to @TechCabal for (finally) releasing it

3/ Deal of the Week

• @WorldRemit acquired @sendwaveapp for a reported $500M

• WR deepens its African remittance presence as COVID accelerates the shift to digital

• Sendwave will continue to operate independently but once the deal is done, its founders will move on

4/ Other deals

• AI-for-manufacturing startup @_DataProphet raised $6M

• Crypto exchange @yellowcardio raised $1.5M (& @a16z participated)

• Talent platform @jobcrystal raised $250K

• Foodtech firm Ordera raised a seed round

• Martech firm DigiFi raised a pre-seed round

5/ Strategic reads

• Why your startup needs a product-market fit metric - https://medium.com/technexus/why-your-startup-needs-a-product-market-fit-metric-15b3d969da06

• Resizing IROKO - https://jason.com.ng/resizing-iroko/

• Venture scale startups targeting Africa should start with a multi-country mindset - https://afridigest.substack.com/p/venture-scale-startups-targeting

Why Your Startup Needs a Product-Market Fit Metric

I Got 99 Problems, but Product-Market Fit Ain’t One

https://medium.com/technexus/why-your-startup-needs-a-product-market-fit-metric-15b3d969da06

6/ Other reads

• @gdubzfinest discusses 'The Importance of Context': https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/ground-game-importance-context-ighosime-oyofo/

• @eva_hawa writes that ‘Local capital, not Silicon Valley, has failed African entrepreneurs': https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/oped/comment/local-capital-not-silicon-valley-has-failed-african-entrepreneurs-1914414

• @asemota shares @NkaliFund details: https://docs.google.com/document/u/1/d/1_CslyU80vVkOm0nyynoCSem7U-DEN1ImxWDYWR_FS00/edit

Ground Game: The Importance of Context

The other day I was having a chat with someone who asked me whether I knew of companies that required USD funding, given the havoc that COVID caused. I asked how much, and he said, “probably about...

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/ground-game-importance-context-ighosime-oyofo/

7/ Interviews

• @wizaj was interviewed by @builtinafrica_: https://www.builtinafrica.io/blog-post/wiza-jalakasi-africas-talking

• @FutureHubAfrica's Laura Li was interviewed by @Techpointdotng: https://techpoint.africa/2020/08/24/how-future-hub-invests/

• @SilvertreeHold's @ManuelKoser was interviewed by @BusInsiderSSA: https://africa.businessinsider.com/local/leaders/expert-interview-co-founder-of-south-african-vc-firm-manuel-koser-shares-top-tips-for/7w1zhf9

Code Switcher: Combining Business Acumen with Technical Expertise

https://www.builtinafrica.io/blog-post/wiza-jalakasi-africas-talking

8/ Podcasts

• @YeleBademosi appeared on @drdotun's BTF podcast: https://share.transistor.fm/s/3618c339

• @DOkoudjou, @LukeKyohere, @CarinaRumberger, & @RachelBalsham visited @TheFlipAfrica: https://podcasts.google.com/?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5zaW1wbGVjYXN0LmNvbS9KQnhHUmtZRQ&episode=OTFmNDJiZjktNmFjNi00MmMzLWFhNzAtZWI2ODc1NjFhYTU5

• @lonelytripping was on @InvestAfrica1's podcast: https://podcasts.google.com/?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly9hbmNob3IuZm0vcy8xNjM2ZGIyOC9wb2RjYXN0L3Jzcw&episode=ZjA4NTNlMTctYTE5Ny00YzBkLWIwMDktNzQyY2U5YmY0NGUz

9/ Jobs of the week

• @FoundersFFA - CTO/Technical Co-Founder AI: https://jobs.lever.co/foundersfactory/8c0966ce-8a3a-4435-ab98-3fd940218999

• @Change - Country Director, South Africa: https://www.change.org/careers/b4b0d9d7-b7c1-4481-90d9-4dd6fec28016

• @TalaMobile - Growth Manager: https://jobs.lever.co/tala/468d6ac8-4ca6-464e-a74b-e3d3d250f1d4

• @pargopoint - Biz Dev Manager: https://apply.workable.com/pargo/j/097E4C2466/

Founders Factory - Technical Co-Founder, CTO (Project Neo)

What is Neo? Artificial intelligence will define the financial services sector within the next five years, but incumbent institutions cannot adopt artificial intelligence due to two core problems:...

https://jobs.lever.co/foundersfactory/8c0966ce-8a3a-4435-ab98-3fd940218999

10/ Other news & info

• Safaricom allocated $5m to invest in Kenyan tech startups via its latest Spark Fund: https://kenyanwallstreet.com/safaricom-spark-fund-540m-for-local-startups/

• Malware is affecting some Transsion devices: https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/craigsilverman/cheap-chinese-smartphones-malware

• Gozem launched its new super app interface: http://venturesafrica.com/blog/2020/08/29/gozem-officially-launches-new-super-app/

Safaricom's Spark Fund Dedicates Ksh 540m to Grow Local Startups - Kenyan Wallstreet

Safaricom's Spark Fund has allocated Ksh 540 million ($5m) to fund local tech startups in the country, looking to grow strategically aligned tech-enabled startups for either a partnership or acquis...

https://kenyanwallstreet.com/safaricom-spark-fund-540m-for-local-startups/

11/ Bonus content

• @tolushola & @TechCabal (webinar):

• @eosiakwan & @vtw_hq (podcast): https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5hY2FzdC5jb20vcHVibGljL3Nob3dzLzVlYzVhY2E4NjA5ODI4NzliNDQ4NzY5ZQ/episode/NWY0N2YxMGRjYmRkNjAyYzk3OTMzNjhk?sa=X&ved=0CAkQ38oDahcKEwiwhu-Sm8brAhUAAAAAHQAAAAAQCw

• @BenjaminPHardy writes about "flow" (article): https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/simple-secret-being-flow-state-all-times-benjamin-hardy-phd/

12/ Tweets of the week

• Odun Odubanjo shares lessons learned from moving from the Nigerian tech ecosystem to the Canadian one in this thread: https://twitter.com/ODT___/status/1299341788893908998

https://twitter.com/ODT___/status/1299341788893908998

13/ Tweets of the week (continued)

• Spencer Greenberg offers a long list of various problem archetypes in this thread

• And he ends with an essay on problem-solving techniques: https://twitter.com/SpencrGreenberg/status/1296426161774485512

https://twitter.com/SpencrGreenberg/status/1296426161774485512

15/ That's all for Week 35

Thanks for reading!

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https://twitter.com/eajene/status/1300524109110161409

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