Olumide Soyombo launches Pan-African VC Firm, Voltron Capital

Olumide Soyombo, one of Africa’s most prolific and active early-stage investors in tech startups, has today announced the launch of Voltron Capital – a Pan-African pre-seed & seed firm for elite tech founders tackling critical problems in the continent’s largest markets. Co-founded alongside Abe Choi, CEO of Simple Dealer, the new firm will deploy capital in up to 30 startups across a range of sectors and marks a major bid to address the severe lack of access to early-stage funding for African tech companies.

With a ticket size of $20,000 – $100,000 per company, Voltron Capital’s portfolio will primarily focus on startups in Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa and Northern Africa, and is headed by a founding team with a robust investment track record.

In Soyombo, who is also the Co-Founder of LeadPath Nigeria and Bluechip Technologies, the team has over 10 years of experience of early stage investing, with a portfolio of 33 African tech startups including Mono, PiggyVest, Spleet, Migo, TeamApt and Paystack. During his time as an investor, Soyombo’s portfolio has raised over $70m, ranging from pre-seed to Series A, and he has also overseen two secondary and one primary exits.

Voltron Capital’s Co-Founder, Abe Choi, has also invested in 15 tech startups – two of which have been exited and collectively, the founders’ existing portfolio spreads across a vast range of sectors including finance, energy, logistics, retail and education.

Speaking on the launch of his new firm, Olumide Soyombo, Co-founder at Voltron Capital, says “Voltron Capital is the beginning of another incredibly exciting journey for Abe and I, but it is also a celebration of the road Africa’s entire tech space has travelled to-date.”

Soyombo was an early investor in Paystack, the fintech company that exited to Stripe in October 2020. The exit and subsequent liquidity event revealed a maturing in the African tech market, validating early investment decisions. His work in corporate Nigeria has also allowed him to access non-traditional capital for the tech VC ecosystem.

Soyombo continues, “We hold a track record of identifying and supporting some of Africa’s most high-growth startups to-date with capital at pre-seed stage and also hold long-established relationships with corporates and regulators, which can make what can often be a difficult path for African startups much smoother. We want the next wave of African tech success stories to not only make an impact on the continent, but to be truly global; through Abe’s strategic connections to the USA, we’re confident we can provide our portfolio with the best possible opportunities to achieve this through our US and global network. ”

Despite total funding for African tech startups passing the $1bn mark last year, according to Briter Bridges, more than half of these deals were attracted by a select group of late-stage startups, leaving numerous early-stage tech firms competing for a limited share of funds. According to the IFC, 82% of African tech startups face major problems in accessing capital with insufficient seed funding and a lack of angel investors, some of the most prominent issues mentioned.

With Africa’s internet economy projected to contribute over $180bn by 2025, emerging tech companies are set to play a crucial role in unlocking this value across the continent’s key verticals. However, without early-stage funding, many of the startups primed to drive this growth are missing out on vital capital to support their early operations and generate revenue, which is a key requirement for securing later rounds of funding and a larger scale.

The end result of this could not only impact the immediate lifespans of these businesses but also result in a major loss in value for Africa’s consumers, wider tech ecosystem and ultimately, its economy.

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source https://www.jbklutse.com/olumide-soyombo-launches-voltron-capital/

Out There Media and MTN Ghana launch telco-driven mobile advertising with leading agencies and brands

Out There Media (OTM), a global leader in mobile advertising, today announced its partnership with MTN Ghana to provide digital advertising services for its customers. MTN Ghana will adopt OTM’s award-winning mobile engagement technology platform, Mobucks, and leverage its network of brands and brand agencies, driving advertiser interaction and engagement with its 25 million subscribers in Ghana, three times the reach of Facebook in Ghana.

OTM’s proprietary mobile technology Mobucks will enable MTN Ghana to bring its customers targeted and interactive messaging campaigns from their chosen brands and agency partners. MTN’s telco insights and wide reach combined with Mobucks’s precise targeting and personalization capabilities will enable “micro-targeting at scale” for its future brand clients. This will yield outstanding results, including 70x better performance in terms of engagement, response, conversion and ROI compared with industry benchmarks.

Several brand partners have signed up to be among the launch partners and innovation leaders on the Mobucks platform including Cadbury Richoco, Glitz Natural Care, Mandela Mile, Marie Stopes, Mycare Mobile, Odibets and PharmaAccess.

One project came from Cadbury Richoco which ran a mobile messaging campaign to raise awareness for its national educational support program “My Ghana, My Pride”, by inviting school children to enter an essay competition to win scholarship funding. The campaign achieved an average Click Through Rate (CTR) of 5.5% beating current industry benchmarks for campaign engagement levels.

“Ghana has the highest mobile penetration rate in West Africa, and mobile technology plays an increasingly important role here,” says Dario Bianchi, Digital Transformation Lead at MTN Ghana. “As MTN works towards becoming a digital operator by 2023, it is extremely important that we partner with the best brands to bring our customers the right content, to enhance their digital experience and enable them to enjoy modern connected life. Out There Media is the perfect partner for this, combining its technology with our data and our reach to deliver impactful engaging, interactive and innovative mobile advertising campaigns for our subscribers. We’ve already seen the impressive outcomes of the technology and we’re excited to continue seeing similar results with campaigns in the future.”

This announcement builds on OTM’s recent work with MTN Ghana which saw the operator join a humanitarian initiative led by Out There Impact (OTI), OTM’s impact division committed to using the power of mobile technology for the greater good.

Together with several global mobile operators, OTM launched an educational mobile campaign on behalf of the World Health Organization to help contain the ongoing spread of COVID-19. To date, the campaign has reached almost 300 million global citizens via OTM’s global network of mobile operators, including MTN Ghana’s subscribers, making it the largest mobile messaging campaign in the fight against COVID-19 thus far.

“Telco-driven deterministic data is the richest form of data one can get and we’ve seen firsthand how valuable it is in increasing the impact and reach of advertising campaigns and since we will soon be in a world without cookies, the value of this data is exponential,” says Donald Mokgale, CEO, OTM Africa. “Since this partnership means a mobile solution for a mobile-first continent, it completely enables the businesses, brands and agencies to target consumers at scale in ways that have not been possible before. We are all mobile subscribers before we are social media users and through this partnership, MTN Ghana is providing brands with an opportunity to go beyond traditional social media advertising channels, and to instead gain access to MTN Ghana’s captive audience.”

The contract win with MTN Group, first announced in March 2019, will see OTM’s Mobucks technology rolled out across the 21 countries MTN Group operates in throughout the African continent. The launch in Ghana follows the already successful roll out of Mobucks in other MTN Opcos such as MTN South Africa and MTN Nigeria.

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source https://www.jbklutse.com/mtn-ghana-launch-telco-driven-mobile-advertising/

Win a brand new Itel P37 Smartphone and Itel Earbuds from Kuami Eugene

If you’ve been thinking of getting a new smartphone with great camera or an earbud device to play music you love, then worry no more because Itel Ghana has teamed up with Boomplay and global superstar Kuami Eugene to help you win the new Itel P37 smartphone.

Here’s how you can participate to stand to win

• Create a playlist of 10 songs of your favourite Kuami Eugene songs on Boomplay
• Name the playlist “Power37 Playlist”
• Post a screenshot or link of the playlist on your social media. Ie Facebook, Instagram or Twitter with the hashtag #KuamiPower37
• When you post, kindly remember to tag @itelghana in your posts
• Remember to share the playlist with your loved ones and encourage them to stream
• Top 3 playlists with the most number of streams will win a brand new Itel Power 37 smartphone.
• 4^th to 6^th winners also receive free Itel earbuds

This promo will run from Thursday, July 22^nd – August 13^th  

So remember to share your playlist with your friends and encourage them to stream your playlist as much as possible.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

• Winners should have registered accounts on the app
• Playlists should be created within the competition period July 22^nd – August 13^th
• Winners should have posted a screenshot of the playlist on social media with the hashtag #KuamiPower37 and your Boom ID
• Promo is exclusive to Ghana

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source https://www.jbklutse.com/win-a-brand-new-itel-p37-smartphone-and-itel-earbuds-from-kuami-eugene/

Calls for accessibility for all at Sixth Sub Sahara Spectrum Management Conference

The sixth edition of the Sub Sahara Spectrum Management Conference kicked off this week with regulators, experts, and other industry players looking for the African common stand on spectrum management.

As more and more of the African continent comes online, spectrum management will be critical to ensuring consistent, affordable, and equitable internet access. Across the region, approximately 800-million people are not connected to the mobile internet. Of those, some 520-million can access the mobile internet but don’t, because of factors such as smartphone penetration and lack of skills while 270-million cannot access the mobile internet because they don’t have the requisite coverage. Across the region, less than half of the population is covered by 4G mobile broadband.

Achieving consensus on spectrum management will play a major role in addressing those shortfalls.

“We live in a time when we talk about digital as a default, about digital transformation of our societies and economies, and the need for a fully connected society,” says Mario Maniewicz, Director of ITU’s Radiocommunication Bureau. “If this is to become a reality, broadband connectivity needs to be made accessible to all, even in the most remote areas.”

“Society’s increasing need for radio-based technologies and the tremendous opportunities for social development that these technologies provide have elevated the importance of the radio frequency spectrum and of national spectrum management,” he adds.

John Omo, Secretary General, African Telecommunications Union (ATU), echoes these needs, emphasising the need for collaboration and the ability to come up with common solutions.  The events of the past 18 months, he says, have only made that need more urgent.

“COVID-19 has kept people apart from each other, but spectrum on mobile networks have built bridges and kept us together,” he says. “Whether we succeed in our quest to further bridge the digital divide and address other challenges is pinned on our dedication to duty and the extent to which we want to go in using spectrum to address these challenges.”

He also points out that bringing the 1.1-billion Africans who need to be brought more online will require “exceptional and coordinated efforts from government, from the private sector, from development partners, and civil society.”

This is echoed by Samuel Chen, Vice President for Huawei Southern Africa region. “Radio Spectrum plays an important role in increasing Africa’s broadband penetration and throughput. African countries can allocate more spectrum to operators to accelerate the deployment of wireless broadband networks and increase people’s access to wireless broadband and data services at affordable prices, this will in turn promote the development of Africa’s digital economy,” said Chen.

Among the other issues that the conference will address are the importance of the 700Mhz-800Mhz frequency bands for widespread coverage, and the need to address the skills gap when it comes to installing the technologies that will enable the widespread adoption of spectrum.

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source https://www.jbklutse.com/sixth-sub-sahara-spectrum-management-conference/

vivo Y53s to launch in Kenya; Bringing clarity into life

vivo is set to launch its latest smartphone, the vivo Y53s on the 4th of August in Kenyan stores. The device, which goes by the slogan ‘Clear shot, Unlock more fun’ is expected to have upgraded functions to set a high bar for mid-range products being made for this generation to live life to the fullest.

According to the company statement, the device will come with a high-definition 64MP main rear camera bringing impressive clarity to its users at unbeatable value. Users will enjoy tailored enhancements across five aspects, including skin tone, texture, and facial features. They will be able to adjust the details manually, to create portraits and selfie videos that showcase their unique personality and selves. Additionally, the selfie camera will be a 16 MP shooter that is supported by an intelligent algorithm that enhances vivo’s expertise in front camera photography.

The vivo Y53s will allow users to take quality photos even with minimal external lighting with the super night mode also keeping objects into constant focus by locking their eyes to make sure they are the center of attention using the PDAF technology.

According to Mr. James Irungu, vivo Kenya Brand and Communications Manager, the brand seeks to create products with leapfrog performance and trendsetting design at an affordable price, to build a smart life for young people with the Internet of things and is looking to launching more exciting products in the market.

Additionally, the vivo Y53s will come with 5000mAh battery fitted with a 33W flash charge fast charging technology which has the ability to recharge of up to 70% in just 41 minutes, which is 37% faster than the 18W Fast Charge.

The exterior of the vivo Y53s will allow users to match their phone to their look. The phone’s appearance has been constructed with much consideration of both practicality and aesthetics. It comes in two stunning colors: Deep Sea Blue and Fantastic Rainbow. The device will be placed on pre-order on the 26th of July 2021.

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source https://www.jbklutse.com/vivo-y53s-to-launch-in-kenya/

MTN Ghana adjudged Business of the Decade by Millenium Excellence Foundation

The Millennium Excellence Foundation has conferred on MTN Ghana the ‘Business of the Decade’ award at the Millennium Excellence Awards held on Saturday, July 17, 2021 at Manhyia in the Ashanti Region. MTN was among a few selected companies who achieved the highest rating by the esteemed Millennium Excellence Foundation Research and Award Committee team.

A citation presented to MTN Ghana for the award read, “MTN Ghana has been delivering best services in the telecom industry. In the past decade, MTN has distinguished itself as the market leader and pacesetter in all aspects of communication services provision.

MTN Ghana has been in the forefront of technology, digitization and innovation. MTN Ghana was the first to deliver a Data Center, 4G, MoMo and more, enabling it to stay miles ahead of the competition. The company has also been a leading tax payer and employer. The MTN Foundation has also changed many lives with its series of CSR programmes. MTN also contributes immensely to sports development.”

The Chief Executive Officer of MTN Ghana Mr. Selorm Adadevoh who accepted the award on behalf of the company said, “MTN is pleased to receive this recognition which is an affirmation of the organization’s quest to ensure the provision of exceptional services to its customers through immense investments in all aspects of its operations. As a leading telecommunications service provider, we believe everyone deserves the benefits of a modern connected  life therefore the organization continues to commit resources to meet both the digital and communication needs of customers.”

Commenting further on the award the CEO said, “This award is coming at the time of MTN Ghana’s 25^th Anniversary celebration and it is an affirmation of the company’s contribution to national development over the years. We wish to sincerely thank the Life Patron, His Royal Highness Otumfuo Osei Tutu II and the Millennium Excellence Foundation, for the recognition. This award will encourage us to go the extra mile in ensuring our customers and the nation as a whole continues to benefit from the operations of MTN in Ghana”, he added.

The Millennium Excellence Awards is hosted only once every five years to recognize institutions and individuals who have contributed to national development. The ‘Business of the Decade’ award is the first award MTN Ghana has received from the Millennium Excellence Foundation since the inception of the awards.

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source https://www.jbklutse.com/mtn-ghana-adjudged-business-of-the-decade/

Top 3 tech-savvy tips to protect your data & dusiness

Staying on top of your businesses cybersecurity needs can seem like a truly daunting task – this is exactly why most businesses outsource their IT Support to a provider who they can trust to manage and maintain their entire IT System and Infrastructure too. Staying safe and secure in your business also entails other things, like location security, alarm systems, and such. Having looked at some top providers of proven IT Support London companies use, we saw that there were particular trends in security threats and attacks. We will take a look at our top three things to consider to make sure that you keep your business safe, secure, and ahead of the curve.

1. Malware and Viruses

The term Malware basically applies to any malicious software that targets one’s devices or systems. This can include viruses, trojans, spyware and other forms of threatening software that you do not want on your device. Almost always, someone will accidentally download a harmful piece of software, and it will then attack your PC, laptop, etc. Luckily, for those businesses who have a dedicated Managed IT Support Provider, they are usually properly protected from these kinds of threats. It’s almost necessary to have an IT Support Provider in place to remain protected.

2. Backing up your Data

Keeping a recent backup of all your most important data is certainly a must-have for any business. As many UK-based companies know, they have to trust the services of their Managed IT Services London Provider. A good partner will have daily back-ups being stored to their cloud server, so if anything happens to your data, you can quickly restore what was there and continue with what needs to get done. Less downtime and one less thing you need to stress about as a business owner.

3. Two-factor Authentication

If you aren’t already making use of the readily available two-factor authentication applications out there, you need to be doing so right now! These applications are making businesses safer and much more secure at literally the click of a button; with so many companies now employing people from different states and even different countries, having a handle on who is accessing what and having the right restrictions in place can greatly impact how safe your company data remains.

With the changes in technology and how we are moving towards a more hybrid way of working, monitoring your companies cybersecurity is an important element to consider. With cybercrime on the rise, it only makes sense to employ the best solutions out there to stay on top of your game.

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source https://www.jbklutse.com/top-3-tech-savvy-tips-to-protect-your-data-business/