Mercor, the AI recruiting startup founded by three 21-year-old Thiel Fellows, has raised $100 million in a Series B round, the company confirmed to TechCrunch. Menlo Park-based Felicis led the round, valuing Mercor at $2 billion — eight times its previous valuation, The Wall Street Journal previously reported. Existing investors Benchmark, General Catalyst, and DST […]

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As payment companies increasingly explore stablecoins for cross-border payments and real-time settlement, some startups are tapping into the zeitgeist by providing liquidity via a revolving line of credit in stablecoins. One of them is Dubai-based Mansa, whose offering allows payments companies, mainly in Africa to date, to settle transactions and fund customer accounts instantly. The […]

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An employment tribunal case has placed Kuda Technologies, one of Africa’s fastest-growing digital banks, under scrutiny over allegations of workplace discrimination, harassment, and wrongful dismissal. Rosemary Hewat, Kuda’s former Group Chief People Officer (CPO), filed a complaint accusing the company and its CEO, Babatunde Ogundeyi, of sex discrimination, victimization, and unfair dismissal. According to the […]

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Consumer demand for credit options varies across regions, and for fintechs, understanding these differences is key to survival. In developed markets, where credit cards are common, consumers often view buy now, pay later (BNPL) offerings positively because of their flexible installment options. But in emerging markets like the Middle East, where credit card penetration is […]

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Africa’s top digital banking platforms typically come from high-growth, populous markets like Nigeria, South Africa, and Egypt. But Affinity Africa, an upstart from Ghana, wants to join the conversation. The startup has raised $8 million in seed funding to expand its financial products further across the country, where mobile money is the dominant financial tool. […]

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As Africa’s tech ecosystem booms, more people from the region are landing remote jobs with big tech firms and global startups. But getting paid remains a challenge for many of these freelancers and remote workers — they struggle to open accounts that accept U.S. dollars, face slow invoicing and payment processes, and it doesn’t help […]

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Construction procurement is highly fragmented, manual, and opaque, forcing contractors to juggle multiple suppliers, endure lengthy negotiations, and deal with delayed payments. In Saudi Arabia, where trillion-dollar infrastructure and real estate projects are underway, these inefficiencies are even more pronounced. To address this, BRKZ, a Riyadh-based construction tech startup, offers a tech-enabled managed marketplace that […]

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A large portion of Egypt’s population lacks access to traditional banking, forcing many to rely on cash transactions and informal lending. Khazna, a fintech startup founded in 2019, is tackling this issue by offering financial services tailored toward low- and middle-income workers. The company provides solutions like salary advances, digital payments, and microloans to help […]

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AI is changing how we shop online, making our experiences more personalized. Smart assistants recommend products, negotiate deals, and even handle customer service. Big retailers and smaller businesses are using AI to improve search, supply chains, and checkout.  If AI companies (and their investors) have their way, shopping will soon be focused on chatting with […]

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Five years ago, SpaceX launched Starlink, which has since grown into its biggest revenue driver, expanding to more than 100 countries. But as Starlink scaled, it faced a major hurdle: accepting payments in developing markets, where traditional banking infrastructure is unreliable, slow, and prone to blocking transactions. Many local banks across Africa, Latin America, and […]

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The newest generation of startups aiming to solve cross-border payments are focusing on stablecoins — cryptocurrency coins often pegged to actual currencies or other commodities to help them keep stable prices — to build solutions that work faster and often cheaper than classic financial rails. This trend is also driving a surge in investor interest […]

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Uber-backed Moove, an Africa-born mobility fintech that offers vehicle financing to ride-hailing and delivery app drivers across six continents, has acquired Kovi, a Brazilian urban mobility provider. The value of the deal is not being disclosed, but Moove confirmed it was an all-share transaction, and Kovi is now wholly owned by Moove. Moove co-founder and […]

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Until a few years ago, it used to be difficult to make payments across borders almost anywhere in the world. But it’s still a big problem in Africa, where fragmented, disconnected systems, high fees, and poor infrastructure make it tough for businesses and individuals to move money quickly and affordably. The majority of people and […]

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Visa has joined African fintech Moniepoint as a new investor. The business banking and payments platform confirmed to TechCrunch that it received a “strategic investment” from the global payments giant as both companies look to drive financial inclusion and support the growth of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across Africa. Sources close to the deal […]

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When merchants or companies launch online, they typically start by partnering with one or two payment processors. But as they grow and expand into new regions, they often need to onboard additional payment partners to meet different customer (and sometimes regulatory) needs, a process that comes with some hurdles.  That’s given rise to companies to […]

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At a recent investor meeting, early-stage African investor Oui Capital informed limited partners that it had returned its $4 million debut fund following the sale of some shares in the business banking platform Moniepoint. The African fintech unicorn has so far proven to be a standout investment for five-year-old Oui Capital. When it launched its […]

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Global fashion brands are struggling with billions of dollars’ worth of unsold inventory. Mostly, these brands avoid reselling in core markets like the U.K. and the U.S. to prevent market cannibalization. Meanwhile, emerging markets like Africa heavily rely on secondhand clothing imports, but 30% to 40% of these items are deemed unusable upon arrival, leading to […]

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For many emerging market economies, remittances have become a lifeline. Inflows surpassed $669 billion in 2023, according to World Bank research, and they now represent significant portions of GDP in these countries, often outpacing foreign direct investment as the primary source of foreign exchange.  Traditional banks and agents maintain a firm grip on the remittance […]

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Africa’s tech ecosystem just got a boost of attention, with South Africa’s TymeBank and Nigeria’s Moniepoint both raising funds in recent weeks at valuations of over $1 billion and joining the coveted unicorn pantheon. But those valuations don’t just reflect investor confidence. They signal the success they’ve had in taking disruptive fintech models originally developed […]

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Tyme Group, a South African fintech, has secured $250 million in a Series D round, pushing its valuation to $1.5 billion. The funding was led by Nu Holdings, which owns Latin America’s most valuable fintech NuBank, investing $150 million for a 10% stake. M&G Catalyst Fund invested $50 million, while existing shareholders provided the remaining […]

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