Author: Akin Naphtal

Rishi Sunak announces an agreement Between the UK, Italy, and Japan to create a a combat fighter jet aircraft (The Tempest Jet) that will utilise artificial intelligence. The nations will develop a next generation fighter – due to enter service in the mid-2030s – that will eventually replace the Typhoon jet. The Tempest Jet carry an assortment of the latest weapons and defensive warfare capabilities. The new fighter aircraft can also be flown without a pilot’s input if required and is expected to carry fire hypersonic missiles. Brittish Prime Minister Rishi Sunak says the collaboration intends to generate thousands of…

Kenyan fintech startup Lipana is a cloud-based accounting and bookkeeping application for small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Founded by Shadrack Apollo, Hassan Kombo and Wyclif Okwiri in January 2021, but only launched a year later, Lipana enables businesses to send and receive payments through digital invoices that are payable via M-Pesa, the dominant mobile money service in Kenya. The startup also allows businesses to record their expenses and sales, and send receipts and estimates, using just their mobile phone and a browser. It is also currently developing a checkout product for small businesses. “We saw a need for a cheaper…

Kenyan energy company Solarise Africa has secured an additional US$3 million from EDFI ElectriFI to provide tailored financing solutions for decentralised energy solutions to selected commercial and industrial (C&I) customers across the continent. Founded by Patrik Huber, Jan Albert Valk and Sakkie van Wijk, Solarise Africa is an energy leasing company for solar and other energy assets focusing on commercial and industrial clients (C&I). The company, which provides smart financing via a selected group of partners, is already well-capitalised, most recently raising US$33.4 million in debt funding last month, and has now secured an additional US$3 million from previous investor…

Borski Fund, a venture capital firm based in Amsterdam, Netherlands has become the first venture capital fund to get investment from Visa Foundation as part of its Equitable Access Initiative, a five-year, $200 million strategic commitment to support gender-diverse and inclusive small businesses around the world in accessing capital. Named after Johanna Borski, a prominent 19th-century Dutch investor who notably was the first woman to buy shares in De Nederlandsche Bank, the fund that bears her name strives to continue this legacy by shifting the focus of gender lens investing from niche, to the mainstream, while reducing the gender gap…

London-based startup Carter has raised £1.7m in pre-seed capital to bring conversational artificial intelligence (AI) to background video game characters. Carter is targeting developers, who can use the startup’s API to build non-playable characters (NPCs) for their games. The company claims its AI can generate more realistic interactions between the human player and virtual characters. In a statement, Carter’s founder, Danial Ali, said: “We’ve all seen these incredibly meaningful human-to-machine relationships on screens growing up – ‘JARVIS and Tony Stark’, ‘C3PO and Luke Skywalker’ and ‘Samantha and Theodore’ to name a few.” Ali added: “Everybody on earth should have access…

From 1 January 2023, Microsoft will begin to roll out a European Union (EU) Data Boundary solution to public sector and commercial customers in the EU. The Data Boundary was created to bolster existing residency approaches and to provide more authority over data and enhanced visibility, while at the same time adhering to EU standards and industry-related regulations. READ ALSO: Smart TV Music Video App ROXi Adds Simon Cowell As An Investor Bp invests $20m AUD in solar technology Legal tech Sprintlaw to service startups next door with New Zealand launch End users will have the capacity to keep and…

ROXi, a UK-based music-video app for smart televisions, has added Simon Cowell as an investor and inked a partnership deal with Samsung. London-headquartered ROXi, which says that its library encompasses approximately 90 million music videos and some 400,000 karaoke tracks, formally announced both developments today. On the former front, Simon Cowell, besides taking an interest in ROXi, is now set to curate exclusive music-video playlists for the service. And in doing so, the 63-year-old (who previously coordinated with TikTok, Universal Music, and Samsung to create a collaboration tool called StemDrop) will join current ROXi curators including Robbie Williams, Kylie Minogue,…

More than a year after its UK debut, Sydney-based legal technology company Sprintlaw has ramped up its international ambitions by expanding its services to startups and small businesses in New Zealand. Founded in 2017 by Alex Solo and Tomoyuki Hachigo, who won the legal category at the 2021 Sydney Young Entrepreneur Awards, Sprintlaw has developed custom-made bots to streamline legal services and offer a cost-effective alternative for budding entrepreneurs. The online-only company offers fixed-fee packages that cover services like business set up, business structuring, contract drafting, contract reviews, intellectual property protection, privacy, lease reviews, financing and more. READ ALSO: UK…

Bp ventures has made a $20 million AUD (£11m) investment in 5B Holdings Pty, an Australian renewable company. 5B’s leading solar technology, the 5B Maverick, will enable rapid deployment of solar power at scale. It consists of up to 90 solar panels mounted on specially designed frames that can be unfolded and installed at speed. READ ALSO: UK Tech Industry Raises the Highest in Europe in 2022, says Report Telecoming Partners MTN to Boost Sportech in Africa Airtel Niger Partners Ericsson to 5G Enable Network Johnathan Stone, Principal at bp ventures said: “5B’s innovative solar technology can deliver low-cost power…

Global mobile tech firm Telecoming, which specialises in sport and entertainment monetisation technologies, has penned an agreement with the MTN Group to reach a potential 280-million user base in Africa. The agreement, the second global deal signed by Telecoming with a telco group, is intended to monetise mobile sportech across 21 countries in Africa. Telecoming said it also strengthens the company’s structure on a continent where it has been operating since 2015. “The alliance with MTN Group enriches the possibilities and penetration of Telecoming’s digital services business in the region, opening up new opportunities to access countries where it was…