Investor Updates: Gozem launches taxi-booking service in Cameroon

West African super app Gozem launches operations in Cameroon

Highlights

• Gozem, the super app already operational in Lome, Cotonou, Libreville, and several other West African cities, has announced the launch of its taxi-booking service in Douala, Cameroon.
• Launched in Togo in November 2018 as a taxi-hailing service, Gozem operates in 12 cities across Togo, Benin, Gabon, and Cameroon, with more than one million downloads and over seven million trips since its launch.
• The startup has been pivoting towards a super app model, a process accelerated by a $5 million funding round secured last year, and now provides a suite of services, including transportation, e-commerce, and financial services.

Source: TechCabal

Our Takeaway

Following the successes of WeChat and Alipay in China, many startups in Africa have emerged with ambitions to replicate the super app model. These players often start by offering a core service, through which they get a foothold, before adding a variety of other offerings to their customer base. In addition to Gozem, OPay, Gokada, and SafeBoda are some players currently operating super apps on the continent and their growth suggests consumer appetite for all-in-one services platforms.

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MTN to rebrand as it morphs into a technology company

Highlights

• Africa’s biggest telecom company MTN is preparing for a brand refresh that will position it as a technology company, rather than a telecommunications company. 
• The brand refresh includes forgoing the white, yellow and red lettering in favour of a black lettered MTN logo surrounded by an oval, similar in shape to a rugby ball.
• The new brand, expected to roll out from 27 February, is part of the group’s “Ambition 2025” strategy, which is aimed at creating “leading digital platforms for Africa’s progress”. 

Source: TechCentral

Our Takeaway

With more than 277 million subscribers in 20 countries in Africa, the $11 billion-valued MTN Group is currently on an expansion drive to become a fully-fledged technology services company. The group currently offers a range of services such as short-form video content (MTN Shortz), music streaming (Music Plus), social media service (MTN Ayoba), mobile money services, voice and data services. Last year, it valued its mobile money arm at about $5 billion and mentioned that it’s considering a listing of that division.

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South Africa-based Zindi raises $1m seed round

Highlights

• South African startup Zindi, a professional network of data scientists, has raised a $1 million seed funding round to build on its impressive early growth.
• Launched in 2018, Zindi hosts a community of over 34,000 data scientists solving some of the world’s most pressing business and social challenges using machine learning and AI.
• Companies come to Zindi to source top solutions and talent for their organizations. Its registered users represent 150 countries around the world, and it has run over 100 challenges, delivering around 100 machine learning solutions to clients.

Source: Disrupt Africa

Our Takeaway

While Africa has seen a proliferation of tech startups taking on the continent’s several problems, Zindi stands out as a unique platform. Founded by Celina Lee, Megan Yates, and Ekow Duker, the solution makes data science accessible to everyone and aids the use of AI to solve real-world problems for companies and individuals. In 2020, a team of data scientists under Zindi used machine learning to improve air quality monitoring in Kampala as another group helped Zimnat, an insurance company in Zimbabwe, predict customer behavior.