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Supported By
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Good morning!
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We are building companies and raising lots of money but the valuation is not adding up, underscoring that we can only be as big and prosperous as our systems. A new report on startup valuation globally ranks Sub-Saharan Africa at the very bottom of the pile.
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A comparison of statistics from the second half of 2020 to 2022 reveals that Sub-Saharan Africa lags well behind other regions. During this period, the region’s cumulative ecosystem value was $24 billion, a fraction of the over $5.3 trillion and over $2.6 trillion that regions like North America and Asia had attained.
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Meanwhile, Opay, Flutterwave and Andela top the list of most funded Nigeria startups, with $570 million, $475 million and $381 million respectively.
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While Elon Musk is a savvy meme creator, running a social media company might not be his strong suit. After he rebranded or more appropriately changed the name of his defector town square from Twitter to X, weekly active users drop 4%.
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Below are the tech stories and news you need to know to start your day, carefully curated by Technext.
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We are thrilled to share that MyCover.ai has successfully raised pre-seed funding of $1.25M! This round was led by Ventures Platform and Founders Factory Africa, with participation from TechStars Toronto.
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With this funding, we can strengthen our operations in Nigeria and strategically fuel our expansion into other African markets. Join us on this exciting journey as we tackle the issue of inadequate insurance access, coverage and affordability in Africa and beyond!
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Summary of the news
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- Sub-Saharan Africa was ranked the least startup ecosystem in the world
- Twitter’s renaming to X also saw its weekly active users drop 4%
- Google and Meta tend to pay their software engineers the highest
- Opay, Flutterwave and Andela are atop the list of most funded Nigeria startups
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Ecosystem
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Bottom of the pile: Sub-Saharan Africa ranked the least startup ecosystem in the world according to a report by StartupGenome, highlighting the urgent need for change and seriousness, especially from regulators.
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A comparison of statistics from the second half of 2020 to 2022 reveals that Sub-Saharan Africa lags well behind other regions. During this period, the region’s cumulative ecosystem value was $24 billion, a fraction of the over $5.3 trillion and over $2.6 trillion that regions like North America and Asia had attained.
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While North America ($139 billion) and Europe ($67 billion) lead in early-stage funding, with significant investment in seed and Series A rounds of tech businesses between H2 2020 and 2022, Sub-Saharan Africa lags far behind with a total of $2 billion. (Technext)
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- Opay, Flutterwave and Andela top the list of most funded Nigeria startups, with $570 million, $475 million and $381 million respectively. (Nairametrics)
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Policy
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Tijani's big collab plan: Nigeria’s Minister of Communications, Innovations, and Digital Economy, Bosun Tijani is inviting top researchers, both Nigerians and non-Nigerians, who possess experience in working within the Nigerian market to join the research for a National AI strategy.
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Tijani is seeking their expertise to contribute to the development of an improved strategy for fostering technological innovation. According to him, the goal is to enhance the tech landscape by incorporating insights from those who have previously engaged with the Nigerian market, ultimately leading to more effective and impactful innovations in the field of technology.
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"We’re curating a list of the top researchers of Nigerian descent from all over the world to join us in co-creating a National AI Strategy. The strategy will help shape our approach to building innovative tech solutions to our most pressing national problems," Tijani said. (Technext)
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- Anambra government has started the implementation of zero charges on Right-of-Way per linear meter, the first State in the Southeastern region to implement the waiver of the per linear meter RoW. This is part of Governor, Charles Soludo's ‘Everything Technology and Technology Everywhere’ vision. (Technext)
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Social Tech
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Meta engineers earn $780k: Google and Meta tend to pay their software engineers more than their peers in Big Tech at $655,000 and $780,000 respectively, according to new data from Blind, an anonymous forum for tech employees.
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Apple and Microsoft, meanwhile, pay the least for entry-level engineers on average, though compensation tends to become more comparable across Big Tech for senior talent. Amazon’s promotions can take longer than its peers, and its pay ranges for engineers are the widest.
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The data is based on self-reported compensation packages from Blind users from January of last year to this month. (TheVerge)
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- Google Flights has released a new feature that will help travellers better determine the right time to book, leveraging historical trend data that lets consumers see when prices have typically been lowest. (TechCrunch)
- An unidentified Nigerian man in Kenya has reportedly been beaten to a pulp by a mob after he physically assaulted a female Bolt driver. (Technext)
- DoorDash is launching a new answering service for restaurants that could put you on the phone with AI when ordering takeout or delivery. With the new service, restaurants can have AI field phone calls and take orders from customers, with live agents available “to support customers at any time.” (TheVerge)
- Revolutionary podcast, I Said What I Said celebrated 6 years this week.
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Global News
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Mercedes-Benz's first EV charging station: Mercedes-Benz announced its first electric vehicle DC fast charging hubs will launch in the fourth quarter of 2023, with the first station locations coming to Atlanta, Georgia; Chengdu, China; and Mannheim, Germany. The so-called “Mercedes-Benz High-Power Charging Network” will have 2,000 chargers installed worldwide by the end of 2024, the automaker said.
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At the beginning of this year, Mercedez-Benz announced it would go halfsies on spending about $1 billion with solar company MN8 Energy to build out a major worldwide charging network for electric vehicle owners. At the time, its plans included the installation of more than 2,500 DC fast chargers provided by ChargePoint at 400 hub locations in North America.
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Yesterday, Mercedez-Benz says it plans to offer ridiculously fast 400kW charging at its upcoming stations, although no consumer EV on the market currently has the ability to charge faster than 350kW. The stations will include current regional charging connector standards, including Combined Charging System Combo 1 (CCS1) for the US, CCS 2 for Europe, and GB/T for China. (TheVerge)
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- Apple has announced the sale of a handwritten Apple computer ad by its founder, Steve Jobs at an auction for $175,759. (Technext)
- Twitter’s renaming to X also saw its weekly active users drop 4% over the following weeks after the rebrand (August 6-20), while the X app fell four spots in the Overall category rankings to No. 36. (TechCrunch)
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Latest in funding
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Other stories we are following
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