Category: finance
SoftBank files for a double scoop of SPAC
The SPAC mania continues unabated, with new SPACs being filed with the SEC on an almost hourly basis at times. SoftBank, the Japanese telecom conglomerate which has also been running the gigantic Vision Fund and its successor, doesn’t want to be left out. Yesterday, it filed back-to-back SPAC registration statements…
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YC-backed Djamo is building a financial super app for consumers in Francophone Africa
Djamo, a financial super app for consumers in Francophone Africa, is the first startup from Ivory Coast to get backing from Y Combinator. While there has been a huge profusion of financial services that have emerged in recent years in Africa, Djamo’s mission is to try to plug one specific…
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Will Carbon and Shahry usher in a wave of buy now, pay later services in Africa?
Affirm, Afterpay, Klarna, Quadpay. These are some of the big global players in the buy now, pay later (BNPL) movement. They allow shoppers to purchase products online and pay in installments with nominal or no fees, and have become more prominent due to how the pandemic accelerated e-commerce market growth…
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Seyna is building an insurance-as-a-service startup for the French market
French startup Seyna is getting a new CEO. Stephen Leguillon is joining the company as chief executive while Philippe Mangematin is stepping back from day-to-day activities for personal reasons — he’ll become honorary chairman. If you’re not familiar with the company, Seyna is an insurtech startup that has obtained an…
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As contactless menu ordering becomes the norm amid COVID, China pushes back
Digital ordering and paying at restaurants was already gaining much ground in China before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. The tap-to-order method on a smartphone is part of the greater development in China where cash and physical documentation is increasingly being phased out. Many restaurants across large cities go as far…
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India proposes social security benefits for gig workers in annual budget
India’s Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman proposed a handful of benefits for the startup ecosystem and to accelerate the growth of digital services in the annual budget Monday as the South Asian nation looks to revive the economy that plunged into deepest recorded slump amid the coronavirus pandemic. Sitharaman said the…
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