BD Insider; Letter 45—Primetime for healthtech and ecommerce

Letter 45; BD Insider. Forward to a friend

Hey, <<First Name>>!

It's D-day. Lockdown has been "partially" lifted in Lagos. Will you be going out today? If yes, don't forget to #MaskUp, observe social distancing, and wash your hands frequently. But if there's no urgent and important need for you to go out, #StayHome.

SYSK: Android, which now powers more than 85% of all mobile phones, was originally developed for digital cameras. The plan was to create a camera platform that would include cloud storage for images and videos. But because the team couldn't secure investment in 2004, they had to restrategize. — Android Authority

Farmcrowdy has launched Farmcrowdy Foods. The premier agritech company in Nigeria has launched a digital marketplace that will connect consumers to fresh farm produce — currently limited to dry foodstuff, livestock products and few fruits. Farmcrowdy Foods is accessible via a mobile app. It is important to note that Farmcrowdy had launched something similar in 2019; it was called Farmgate Africa — the website is no longer available.

Flutterwave has launched Flutterwave Store. As a way of supporting small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Africa through coronavirus pandemic, Flutterwave Store will allow small business owners to set up online shops. This is similar to Merchlist which was launched by Rensource some days ago. But unlike Merchlist, Flutterwave Store merchants can easily receive payment through Flutterwave and integrate delivery with Flutterwave's logistics partners in some countries, including Nigeria (Sendbox) and Kenya (Sendy).

54gene has launched COVID-19 mobile laboratory. Relative to Nigeria's population, the country is reportedly not conducting enough tests. Thus, with accreditation from the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), 54gene has partnered with First City Monument Bank and Ogun State Government to launch COVID-19 mobile laboratories to ramp up testing across the country. Aliko Dangote Foundation has also contracted the biotech startup to set up a 400-test per day capacity mobile laboratory in Kano State, which has become a hotbed of COVID-19 in Nigeria. Recall that 54gene recently closed a $15 million (₦5.8 billion) Series A.

Helium Health secures $7 million (₦2.7 billion) investment from Global Ventures, AAIC Japan, and Tencent. Helium Health is a Lagos-based healthtech startup on a mission to reduce medical errors and wait time at Nigerian hospitals. The General Partner of Global Ventures, Noor Sweid, told Reuters that the investment firm is now excited about health tech. She added that health tech would be for the next five years what fintech has been for the past half-decade. It is important to note that this is the first investment of Global Ventures in a health tech startup.

Microtraction and Greenhouse Capital join Catalyst Fund, a global accelerator for inclusive fintech startups. The two Nigerian investment firms are among the six new members to join the Catalyst Fund. As members, the investor-members will have access to an early-stage pipeline of vetted and de-risked startups to evaluate for investment and recommend promising startups that can be fast-tracked on the fund's accelerator programme. Earlier this year, Cowrywise, a portfolio company of Microtraction, joined the Catalyst Fund Accelerator.

What we are reading...

1. In the last letter, I mentioned the launch of Amazon Web Services in Africa. This article queries and answers why Amazon is expanding cloud services in Africa but has no e-commerce footprint on the continent.

2. With the proliferation of Ankara masks and elusiveness of masks, reading about how the facemask became the world's most coveted commodity is a good read.

3. Why IROKO furloughed 28% of its staff in Nigeria. The article might help you in making a decision on how to cut cost during this period.

4. Have you been a lucky winner of any giveaway since the lockdown began? This article explores the cash giveaway culture on Instagram. P.S: I discovered this article through Cloout. Here is a message from them:

"Just like many young curious persons, I've mostly had issues with the tone and format of the news — It’s mostly negative and sensational stuff and filled with jargon that's difficult to understand. So we started Cloout.

Every week about 200 ambitious individuals read Cloout to get intelligent analysis of African Business & Politics stories.

What you gain: Join the conversation about African culture & history, strategy & power plays, causes of success and failure on the African continent.

Join in by Signing up here"

📅 Events & Opportunities

Register for University Startup World Cup

Volvo Environment Prize

Sendwave is hiring

Africa's Talking is hiring

Plan to attend free virtual Mongo World conference

Apply for the 2020 Zayed Sustainability Prize

Join GoGettaz Agripreneur Prize

Apply for GSMA Innovation Fund. Up to £100,000 and £250,000 equity-free grant up for grabs.

Apply for She Code Africa Mentorship Programme

Apply for Google Africa Developer Plurasight Scholarship

Join AdamStart COVID-19 Innovation Challenge

Thanks for reading
You can literally support us with your chest by buying our merch or just send us dollars. Contributing = loving 🙂

Got any comment, suggestions, news, or ideas? Send us an e-mail. We love to hear from you 💙

If this letter was forwarded to you, please sign up here to receive BD Insider every Monday morning. You should follow us on Twitter too.

Forward to a Friend