Archive for November 2019
Telecel, MEST, and the IFC look to give African startups a leg up
There’s no doubt that Africa’s startup sector has been booming. Last year saw a four-fold increase in funding raised for African startups, with the total number of deals doubling. Startups across the continent raised over $725 million, soaring nearly 40 percent from $528 million the year before. There were also more large funding rounds over $5 million, with the […]
Paris-based startup Virgil raises €2.1m to help young professionals buy homes
The fintech startup Virgil has raised €2.1 million to provide funding for cash-strapped young professionals aiming to buy a home despite rising cost of living and stagnant wages, according to Tech.eu. Virgil has now drawn investment from Alven Capital, LocalGlobe and Kima Ventures, along with angel investors such as Greg Marsh and Demetrios Zoppos, founders of onefinestay, […]
French startup Leavy.co raised $14m in seed funding, with an app to help travelers rent out their home while away
The Paris-based travel tech platform Leavy.co has disclosed a seed funding round that earned $14m earlier this year, according to TechCrunch. The company says it’s the most seed funding ever earned in a round by a travel tech startup. The platform allows travelers to rent out their home while away, and is geared toward millennials who […]
London revokes Uber’s license to operate, saying drivers were using fake identities
Uber has lost its license to operate in London, following findings that drivers had faked their identities to register on the platform, according to BBC News. The city’s transit authority, Transport for London (TfL), declined to renew the company’s license at the end of a two-month probationary extension. The ridesharing platform had been warned that it […]
Investment in Europe’s tech startups surged 40 percent to a record $34.3 billion this year
European startups earned a record level of investment in 2019, drawing $34.3 billion in venture capital since the start of the year, according to the latest “State of European Tech” report from the London-based VC firm Atomico. It’s a 40 percent increase from the year before, and occurred even as US and Asian markets saw investment slowing. […]
French startup Angell unveils advanced, connected e-bike with integrated dashboard screen
The French startup Angell revealed its first e-bike this week, a ‘smart bike’ with advanced design and features, according to TechCrunch. The company is positioning itself to take advantage of an opportunity in the French market, where their data shows only 2 percent of commuters travel cities by bike, compared to 31 percent in the Netherlands […]
Twitter says the UK’s Conservative Party altered its account to pose as an independent fact-checker
Twitter says that the Conservative Party altered an official account to give the impression of an impartial fact-checking service, in an attempt to mislead the public ahead of the UK’s general elections, according to The Guardian. During a debate Tuesday night between Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn, the party changed the name of its campaign headquarters press office […]
Textbook subscription platform Perlego, the ‘Spotify of books,’ raises £7m in Series A funding
Textbook subscription service Perlego has raised $9m (£7m) in a Series A funding round, to add new features and expand its platform into the European market, according to TechCrunch. Perlego bills itself as “Spotify for textbooks,” offering access to a large collection of educational books for a flat monthly subscription fee. The library includes 300,000 eBooks […]
Instagram expands test run to hide the number of ‘likes’ earned by posts
Instagram is expanding its testing of a new policy hiding the number of ‘likes’ received by a post, from an initial set of countries to select users in the rest of the world. It could be the final step in testing before the change is applied to all of the platform’s users worldwide, according to The Independent. […]
With its political ad ban, Twitter will also limit microtargeting for ‘issue’ ads
Twitter says it will place limits on microtargeting for issue-based ads, as part of its wider ban on political advertising, according to The Telegraph. The move could put additional pressure on Facebook to make similar changes. The debate over political ads on digital platforms has heated up in recent months, driven in part by Facebook’s decision to […]