internet penetration

New report examines Africa’s growth in the digital economy and VC investment landscape

A new report from Endeavor Nigeria reveals that Africa’s digital economy and tech ecosystem is set to experience exponential growth periods. The report is dubbed “The Inflection Point: Africa’

Norrsken Foundation’s hub opens in Rwanda, to house 1,000 entrepreneurs by next year

In 2019, Swedish coworking space and investment fund Norrsken Foundation announced the launch of its first entrepreneurship hub outside the Scandinavian nation in Rwanda. The center, located in Kigali

Investors are doubling down on Southeast Asia’s digital economy

Southeast Asian tech companies are drawing the attention of investors around the world. In 2020, startups in the region raised over $8.2 billion, about four times more than they did in 2015.

The LatAm funding boom continues as Kaszek raises $1B across a duo of funds

Long before SoftBank launched its $2 billion Innovation Fund in Latin America, and before Andreessen Horowitz began actively investing in the region, São Paulo-based Kaszek has been putting money int

Carry1st has $4M to invest in African mobile gaming

Gaming development startup Carry1st has raised a $2.5 million seed round led by CRE Venture Capital. That brings the company’s total VC to $4 million, which Carry1st will deploy to support and i

Solar-based ISP startup Tizeti launches 4G LTE network in Nigeria

Nigerian internet service provider Tizeti has launched its first 4G LTE network. The Y Combinator-backed startup — which uses solar-powered towers to deliver net connectivity — has built its premi

China Roundup: Xi’s power on bitcoin, the rise of Alibaba’s new rival

Welcome back to TechCrunch’s China roundup, a digest of the latest events that happened at major Chinese tech companies and what they mean to tech founders and executives around the world. Alibaba&#

Canal+ acquires Nollywood studio ROK from IROKOtv to grow African film

French television company Canal+ has acquired the ROK film studio from VOD company IROKOtv for an undisclosed amount. Founded by Jason Njoku in 2010 — and backed by $45 million  in VC — IROKOtv b

Norrsken opens East Africa startup fund and hub in Kigali

Startups in East Africa have a new source for investment and mentorship. Sweden’s Norrsken Foundation — a co-working space and investment fund based in Stockholm — opened its tech fund and e

Nigerian startup Tizeti launches WifiCall.ng IP voice call service

Nigeria based startup Tizeti, an internet service provider, today launched WifiCall.ng—an internet voice-calling platform for individuals and businesses. WifiCall is a VoIP—or Voice over Internet

Acquisitions, more than IPOs, will create Africa’s early startup successes

Africa has made its global IPO debut. Pan-African e-commerce company Jumia—a $1 billion-valued company—began trading live on the NYSE last week. The stock offering made Jumia the first upstart ope

China wants its rural villages to go cashless by 2020

Residents of even the tiniest far-flung villages in China may soon be able to pay on their phones to run daily errands as Beijing announced this month that it aims to make mobile payments ubiquitous i

EVs and online marketplaces thrive despite slump in Chinese car sales

China’s massive auto market hit the brakes last year as trade tensions and a softening economy dampened consumer confidence, but one segment soared on account of increasing internet penetration

Brazilian startup Yellow raises $63M — the largest Series A ever for a Latin American startup

After selling their ridesharing startup, 99, to Didi Chuxing for $1 billion last year, Ariel Lambrecht and Renato Freitas didn’t waste any time throwing their hats back in the ring. Months aft

The dramatic rise and fall of online P2P lending in China

Editor’s note: This post originally appeared on TechNode, an editorial partner of TechCrunch based in China. When Emily Zhang was interning with a peer-to-peer (P2P) lending firm in the Summer of 20

India Will Have 500 Million Internet Users By 2017, Says New Report

Inexpensive smartphones and 2G subscriptions are expected to help boost Internet usage rates in India over the next two years, according to a new study by the Internet and Mobile Association of India