Binance plans 2023 hiring spree, and FTX recovers $5 billion in assets
FTX has located more than $5bn (£4.1bn) of assets, an attorney for the firm says.
Greetings!
In recent years, African tech startups have been receiving lots of attention, which has brought in investments with it, especially outside funding - think YC. And those that only made their first Africa investment last year - A16Z did. Howbeit, in-house investors have been building on their own and pulling their weights also, taking up the first risks in early-stage startups, pre-revenue inclusive. Olumide Soyombo, the cofounder of Voltron Capital, tweeted that they’ve invested in 53 African startups so far, in the first year of deploying as Voltron Capital. Despite the whole economic down times that investors’ wallet has tightened. There’s some hope that this year will be great for African startups, with a tiny rumour in the air that “investors are getting ready to unleash and deploy their bottled up funds”. Get ready.
Welcome to This Week in Tech, Sam.
This Week in Tech
Soyombo's Voltron Africa invested in one startup every week of 2022.
Launched in the third-quarter of 2021, Voltron is on a mission "to back extraordinary entrepreneurs out of Africa solving important problems in large markets". Their investment thesis is to back exciting founders in large markets, where large markets mean large exits, and investing early means large multiples. With Voltron's Fund 1, they intended to invest $20,000 - $100,000 in 30 startups headquartered in Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa and Northern Africa. But surpassed that. BD
Comparing Africa’s “big four” startup ecosystems – how do they match up?
South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, and Egypt have established themselves over the last few years, by various criteria, as the “big four” African tech startup ecosystems. Slowly but surely, especially when it comes to funding, other countries are catching up, but the vast majority of activity and investment on the continent from a startup perspective come from those four markets. But how do they actually match up? Well, having released detailed research publications on each country within the space of a year, Disrupt Africa is in a position to let you know. Disrupt-Africa
[Kenya] Google to start charging 16% VAT on taxable goods and services
Google has announced it will introduce a 16% Value Added Tax (VAT) on some of its goods and services sold in Kenya from February 1, 2023. This follows the introduction of a new levy by the Kenyan government through the Digital Marketplace Supply (Amendment) Regulation, 2022. Google has already asked its customers to submit tax information, including their KRA PIN, to help comply with the new regulation. “Due to new tax legislation in Kenya, starting February 1, 2023, Google will be required to charge a 16% tax on all taxable goods and services,” Google said in a statement. Africa Business Communities
Researchers want Africa's tech role recognized
In order for Africa’s contribution in the global history of technology that has not been captured for a long time to be at the centre of research and teaching, African researchers have to step up and change the modus operandi, it has been stated. The African experts said that in order to better realise the possibilities of research in the African history of technology and material culture, they needed to participate in collaborative research that involves not only many disciplines but also the participation of many regions, especially North-South engagements. The Citizen
FTX: Collapsed crypto giant recovers over $5bn of assets
Collapsed cryptocurrency exchange FTX has located more than $5bn (£4.1bn) of assets, an attorney for the firm says. Prosecutors have accused FTX's former chief executive Sam Bankman-Fried of orchestrating an "epic" fraud that may have cost investors, customers and lenders billions of dollars. Mr Bankman-Fried has pleaded not guilty to charges that he cheated investors. "We have located over 5 billion dollars of cash, liquid cryptocurrency and liquid investment securities," Andy Dietderich, an attorney for FTX, told US Bankruptcy Judge John Dorsey in Delaware. BBC News
Catalyst Fund invests into 10 startups
Catalyst Fund has announced a $2m investment into 10 startups building solutions to improve the resilience of climate-vulnerable communities in Africa. This is the inaugural cohort of the new $30m VC fund of Catalyst Fund, anchored by financial sector development agency FSD Africa, aimed at supporting early-stage founders to develop technology that will make Africa more resilient to the impacts of climate change. Each of the 10 startups will be offered $100K of equity investments as well as $100K of hands-on venture-building support. Africa Global Funds
Nigerian agritech Releaf gets more capital as it launches new tech for food processing
Releaf, a Nigerian agritech startup that supplies ingredients (starting with the oil palm) to consumer goods manufacturers and their food factories, has received $3.3 million in an oversubscribed pre-Series A round. The Jack Ma Foundation-backed startup, which announced a $4.2 million (including a $1.5 million grant) seed raise in September 2021, said the funding will support the launch of two new technologies: Kraken II and SITE. Releaf focuses on value chains where smaller factories are set up near smallholder farmers, allowing them to get better processing yields and less expensive logistics costs. Tech Crunch
Meta denies African content-moderator firm exit poses risk
Meta has denied harmful posts will escape review, after the contractor running Facebook's main moderation hub for east Africa, Sama, announced it would stop providing content-review services to social-media platforms.
Meta said it had been "Sama's decision" and Sama blamed the "economic climate". In May, a former moderator who claims the work harmed his mental health sued both firms. Daniel Motaung says posts he reviewed showed beheadings and child abuse. Mr Motaung, who says he was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), says he was paid about $2.20 (£1.80) an hour for his work. BBC News
New MIT internships expand research opportunities in Africa
University placements through MISTI aim to contribute to Africa’s growing research ecosystems. With new support from the Office of the Associate Provost for International Activities, MIT International Science and Technology Initiatives (MISTI) and the MIT-Africa program are expanding internship opportunities for MIT students at universities and leading academic research centres in Africa. This past summer, MISTI supported 10 MIT student interns at African universities, significantly more than in any previous year. “These internships are an opportunity to better merge the research ecosystem of MIT with academia-based research systems in Africa,” says Evan Lieberman, the Total Professor of Political Science and Contemporary Africa and faculty director for MISTI. MIT News
Why Africa had no unicorns last year despite record fundraising haul
The African tech scene was met with fanfare in 2021: Venture capital investments in the region totalled between $4 billion and $5 billion and produced five unicorns. In my piece detailing this progress, I predicted there would be more unicorns in 2022. Those predictions proved to be way off the mark by year’s end.
Data from market insights trackers Briter Bridges and The Big Deal reveal that funding raised by African startups exceeded $5 billion (including undisclosed deals) in 2022 — a slight percentage increase from the figures reported in 2021 despite a global pullback in VC funding. And yet, no unicorns popped up throughout the year, compared to five in 2021. Tech Crunch
Binance plans 2023 hiring spree, and FTX recovers $5 billion in assets
Crypto World features the latest news and daily trading updates from the digital currency markets and provides viewers with a look at what’s ahead with high-profile interviews, explainers, and unique stories from the ever-changing crypto industry. On today’s show, Dan Ashmore of CoinJournal breaks down bitcoin’s 2022 market trends and what it means for 2023. CNBC
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