Broken bridges

Founders of Barbados-based crypto startup Bridge Network have split up.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 October 09, 2023 | [Read Online]( Founders of Barbados-based crypto startup Bridge Network have split up. In partnership with Share this newsletter: //link.mail.beehiiv.com/ss/c/_p8mO7pBiG6zFvckPDjzaZkxNnUja96KSCTzHXx2gCinQbxw_qdxxuopG-d0baJxAdN5L7OHU5ZQxpp-wRCFTXy9w8I_zIELgRe_S3coUxdNtfnvGNFGHTiGvOhGXQQ-kVF-yV--fkJ0jzhsRUqR12yp_WlaVNB3U1kzOdKk4K4XyBMRf29i8h2FAB50eMAy/40a/bZ3tZtsXTAuV4VLXFG0uAw/h2/zPT-hgdhJCE0gS0ULvQsVkQawR5yzK0rxUfipDvMVuw [Lire en Français]( [اقرأ هذا باللغة العربية]( Happy Moonshot Week 🌙🚀 We’re two days away from the [Moonshot Conference]( where Africa’s most audacious thinkers and doers will celebrate innovation on the continent. For our TC Daily readers, we’ve got some great news: our partner, Enza Capital, is giving out tickets to Moonshot! To win these tickets, simply post on social media using the #MoonshotxEnzaCapital and #MoonshotbyTechCabal, and tell us why you too want to attend Moonshot. That’s it! In today's edition - [Dash shuts down]( - [Co-founders Bridge Network split up]( - [Telkom Kenya loses 1.6 million subscribers]( - [TC Insights: Do Africans like credit?]( - [The World Wide Web3]( - [Opportunities]( Two days till the Moonshot Conference [countdownmail.com] Calling all creators 🔊 Join Korty EO, Fisayo Fosudo, Adetutu Laditan, Abiodun Animashaun, and Ruth Zakari at Moonshot to learn hw to create engaging content, monetisation options, and how to grow your audience for long-term success [Get your ticket now!]( Startups //link.mail.beehiiv.com/ss/c/_p8mO7pBiG6zFvckPDjzaZkxNnUja96KSCTzHXx2gCinQbxw_qdxxuopG-d0baJxAdN5L7OHU5ZQxpp-wRCFTXy9w8I_zIELgRe_S3coUxdHy3Jku8zcrz7NZQsRskQgdEr3V4yvyLgEu95OSrqxbAzbvyJooyNzz5zqyEQSrgFWsWFPclc_hweOBiO9kXzrIZq-stjGPfn3eunYigUh4hBJa4b4T1NvTUWl_b5C5nw/40a/bZ3tZtsXTAuV4VLXFG0uAw/h16/hl8-E55mlMO6x9394a4P0dAK8zRIr-U40nwWF9fqsMc Dash shuts down Dash, a Ghanaian fintech founded in 2019 to connect mobile money wallets and banks in Africa, is shutting down. The shutdown was confirmed last week at a virtual company-wide meeting where the company informed its 70+ employees that it would be [winding down, and laying off]( all staff members. The startup raised $86.1 million in five years and attracted big-name investors like 4DX Ventures and Global Capital Partners. In 2021, it closed [a $32.8 million seed round](—the second-largest seed round for an African startup. More than a dash of salt: Dash’s slowdown began when its board started to raise eyebrows at the startup’s reported numbers and ex-CEO Prince Boakye Boampong’s activities. [We must make it Meme](Prince Boakye Boampong Two years after launch, Dash reportedly had 200,000 users and had processed $250 million in transactions by October 2021. Barely five months later, the startup announced that it had reached 1 million users across Ghana, Nigeria and Kenya; it also said it had processed $1 billion in transactions, numbers many now believe to be false. In February 2023, the startup’s board of directors [suspended Boampong]( due to allegations of financial misreporting, and instituted a financial audit of the company. While Dash’s board of directors did not confirm the reason behind Boampong’s suspension, sources revealed that the company’s executives repeatedly hid firm financials and fostered a disorderly workplace where employees were fired at will. Boampong was eventually fired and replaced by Kenneth Kinshua. The internal audit later revealed that Boampong inflated and exaggerated user numbers. Tech publication Weektracker also reports that the audit [revealed a shortfall of $25 million]( in the company’s account. Dash—which has no revenue—was allegedly burning $500,000 per month, paying its ex-CEO Boampong, $50,000 per month. Zoom out: The news has ignited discussions on board oversight for startups and ignited questions on how or if Boampong—who is accused of financial impropriety—is evading accountability for his actions. Get a working card from Moniepoint With the Moniepoint personal banking app, you get reliable payments every time and a card that always works. Enjoy seamless payments powered by the infrastructure that 1.5 million businesses trust. [Download the app](. Startups //link.mail.beehiiv.com/ss/c/_p8mO7pBiG6zFvckPDjzaZkxNnUja96KSCTzHXx2gCinQbxw_qdxxuopG-d0baJxAdN5L7OHU5ZQxpp-wRCFTXy9w8I_zIELgRe_S3coUxcolbXAqaoJ-0ifQAp8F3RWHlE00A5_Jb-IPwl7POPtKsbXc3ZOCR4tRZtGPSxiVK6ZVMbpJOzbMCuZhUmNr93hdsij83vTZTvVcw0ltR4PT_kLXNx9O7puxf-pl3m19OZ6kKQ214HsKPYtCkcKpiR7/40a/bZ3tZtsXTAuV4VLXFG0uAw/h26/Aq6fgXYKPYkMws0UkQ0GWQa4QyM5mKOi1gJb0_GkX1I Co-founders of Bridge Network split up source: Tenor The founders of Barbados-based crypto startup Bridge Network have split up. Last week, TechCabal confirmed that founding director Kimberly Adams and COO Favour Uzoaru have left the company, leaving former CTO Samuel Eke as the new CEO. How the bridge broke: Founded in 2021 to help people move digital assets from one blockchain to another, Bridge Network raised $3.8 million from about 50 investors including the now-bankrupt FTX. Things began to fall apart when my brother Jaja as the company struggled to gain traction shortly after launch—it saw only 600–1000 transactions daily, one source confirmed. With the company's struggles exacerbated by the bitcoin crash of late 2022, [squabbles began to arise]( among the founders. While some sources claim that Adams and Uzoaru often discussed kicking Eke out, others sources claim that it was Uzoaru who wanted Adams out. The dispute escalated in December 2022 when Adams requested Uzoaru’s signature to revoke Eke’s access to the company. When Uzoaru declined—and informed Eke of Adams’ plan—Adams requested that both co-founders step down, and restricted their access to company tools which temporarily caused their platform, the Brigde app, to shut down. The co-founders also failed to reach an agreement on how much would be paid in severance. After a slew of letters to investors from both Adams and Uzoaru which saw [Adams resigning]( in February 2023, investors began to lose confidence in the company and began asking for refunds. By April 2023, Uzoaru also left the company to focus on personal projects, leaving Eke as the CEO. Zoom out: According to new CEO Eke, the company has [refunded all the investors]( who demanded refunds and is still operating even though the repayment of investors has left a hole in the company’s finances. The company’s domain name has, however, expired and its token BRDG was delisted from crypto exchange platform MEXC. Eke has, however, assured users that he’s speaking with potential investors to turn the situation around. Telecoms //link.mail.beehiiv.com/ss/c/_p8mO7pBiG6zFvckPDjzaZkxNnUja96KSCTzHXx2gCinQbxw_qdxxuopG-d0baJxAdN5L7OHU5ZQxpp-wRCFTXy9w8I_zIELgRe_S3coUxdNtfnvGNFGHTiGvOhGXQQ-kVF-yV--fkJ0jzhsRUqR12yp_WlaVNB3U1kzOdKk4K4XyBMRf29i8h2FAB50eMAy/40a/bZ3tZtsXTAuV4VLXFG0uAw/h33/FJXKL4W5o0UnllrpPd3EYtDo09ngMvUN84tWWBzl34Y Telecoms: Telkom Kenya lost 1.6 million subscribers in one year [SSorry man GIF](GIF Source: Zikoko Memes Kenya’s SIM card crackdown is having adverse effects on its telecoms. Telkom, a South African telecom, reportedly lost 1.6 million subscribers in one year, [according to a report]( by tech publication Business Daily. Per the report, Telkom had 2.25 million active Kenyan subscribers in June 2023, a 39% drop from March 2022’s 4.14 million subscribers. What went wrong? In April 2022, the Communications Authority of Kenya (CAK) began [switching off inactive]( and irregularly registered SIM cards in the country. Per the CAK, these SIM cards are used to perpetrate mobile money fraud, cybercrime and money laundering. The CAK had previously carried out similar exercises in 2012 and 2018. Its latest event was scheduled to [turn off over 11.5 million]( improperly-registered SIM cards by October 2022. It is unclear whether this is the number of SIM cards that were deactivated, or if some Kenyans were able to re-register their cards before the deadline. Meanwhile, other Kenyan telecoms were also affected by the deregistration exercise with Safaricom and Airtel—who lead Kenya’s telecoms market—reporting slow growth since last year. The big picture: For Telkom Kenya, the loss of its subscribers doesn’t seem to have fazed its sale to the Infrastructure Corporation of Africa (ICA) LLC. Last week, the Kenyan Treasury announced that the ICA had [acquired a majority stake](, about 60%, in the company following the exit of Helios Investment Partners. Accept payments fast with the Paystack Virtual Terminal Paystack Virtual Terminal helps businesses accept blazing fast in-person payments at scale, with ZERO hardware costs. Enjoy instant transfer confirmations via WhatsApp, multiple in-person payment channels, and more. 👉🏿[Learn more](. TC Insights //link.mail.beehiiv.com/ss/c/_p8mO7pBiG6zFvckPDjzaZkxNnUja96KSCTzHXx2gCinQbxw_qdxxuopG-d0baJxAdN5L7OHU5ZQxpp-wRCFTXy9w8I_zIELgRe_S3coUxdNtfnvGNFGHTiGvOhGXQQ-kVF-yV--fkJ0jzhsRUqR12yp_WlaVNB3U1kzOdKk4K4XyBMRf29i8h2FAB50eMAy/40a/bZ3tZtsXTAuV4VLXFG0uAw/h43/wNs7g8d_RDPKSe8Tl5gLqF1PmPLZjKZpgPdHbHuZ8LQ Do Africans like credit? With an estimated [$7.1 billion]( market size and rising investors' interest, Africa’s buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) sector is growing. In the past, credit financing was tedious for private individuals to access. Most people relied on cooperative societies to access credit as interest rates from commercial banks meant credit was out of the reach of many. Yet, Africans are not entirely credit-averse, they mostly avoid taking loans for things they do not need. South Africa has one of the most advanced credit systems on the continent yet credit card penetration remains low at [about 10%](. Traditional credit operators focused on knowing their customers and covering the debt before disbursing loans. They managed default by leveraging community and collateral. Collaterals, on the other hand, grant credit operators access to the best loan recovery system. Image source: TC Insights Startups playing in the space have come up with interesting models to ensure default rates are low. For instance, M-KOPA does not run credit assessments on its customers. To keep their customers in check and ensure repayment, they use an [IoT]( (internet of things) technology to lock and unlock functionalities on the product. For CredPal, the company runs creditworthiness checks by leveraging data from credit bureaus in Nigeria. CD Care, on the other hand, does not run credit checks beyond the initial KYC checks. The company requires that customers [pay 50%]( of the purchase price of a product before taking ownership. Leveraging data enables credit operators to manage default risk on payments. This is particularly important for tech startups as it helps them use alternative data points to determine creditworthiness and as such, are not legally obligated to report credit history to the credit bureaus. Building creditworthiness using robust credit score analytics is only the starting point. Sensitising more Africans on the importance of credit facilities will require concerted efforts from both startups playing in the space and credit bureaus. Apply for the Mest Africa Challenge Good news! You have one more week to submit your MEST Africa Challenge applications. Do not miss out on this opportunity to grow the next phase of your startup with a $50k equity investment. Applications close on October 16, 2023. [Apply today!]( Crypto Tracker //link.mail.beehiiv.com/ss/c/_p8mO7pBiG6zFvckPDjzaZkxNnUja96KSCTzHXx2gCinQbxw_qdxxuopG-d0baJxAdN5L7OHU5ZQxpp-wRCFTXy9w8I_zIELgRe_S3coUxdNtfnvGNFGHTiGvOhGXQQ-kVF-yV--fkJ0jzhsRUqR12yp_WlaVNB3U1kzOdKk4K4XyBMRf29i8h2FAB50eMAy/40a/bZ3tZtsXTAuV4VLXFG0uAw/h52/OkRcIZbvQgUGZsT-ghR7-_DR5rOIksYWrtvrbvd7nEA The World Wide Web3 Source: [Coin Market Cap logo] Coin Name Current Value Day Month Bitcoin $27,974 - 0.09% + 8.09% Ether $1,634 - 0.44% + 0.10% Bancor $0.58 + 39.82% + 35.28% Bitcoin Gold $13.14 - 0.83% + 4.62% * Data as of 05:50 AM WAT, October 9, 2023. [OneLiquidity GIF]( Elevate your business with One Liquidity's seamless integration. Choose from 10+ services to craft a custom solution. Join Obiex, Wewire, and others in providing trading, liquidity and compliance services. [Start now with zero fees](. One Integration. One Solution. One Liquidity. Opportunities //link.mail.beehiiv.com/ss/c/_p8mO7pBiG6zFvckPDjzaZkxNnUja96KSCTzHXx2gCinQbxw_qdxxuopG-d0baJxAdN5L7OHU5ZQxpp-wRCFTXy9w8I_zIELgRe_S3coUxecuxXQ4h39wVsASeAMGo3qi4RfJZhPJ98UDXsR1Qrfag/40a/bZ3tZtsXTAuV4VLXFG0uAw/h57/arWlk9fwirqGLojRFcTEwgvRHIDlh5D0NaIeO6eIyEs - The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), through the Office for Nigeria Digital Innovation (ONDI), in collaboration with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), are organising a one-week networking visit to Japan by selected Nigerian CleanTech Startups. [Apply here](. - Applications are open for the Aurora Tech Award 2024. The Award is an annual global prize for women founders of tech startups. Winners of the first prize get $30,000, the second prize gets $20,000 and the third prize gets $10,000. [Apply by December 1](. What else is happening in tech? - [VFD’s Nonso Okpala shared the firm’s investing thesis and plans ahead of NGX’s listing]( - [Nigerian EV manufacturer SAGLEV partners with petrol stations to offer EV charging]( - [Twiga confirms it’s in talks with Incentro Africa over $260k cloud bill]( - [Meet DockHive, a marriage between docker and blockchain technology]( Edited by - [Timi Odueso]( & [Mobolaji Adebayo]( [fb]( [tw]( [ig]( [yt]( [in]( Update your email preferences or unsubscribe [here]( © 2023 👨🏿‍🚀TC Daily 18 Nnobi Street Surulere, Lagos 101212, Nigeria [[beehiiv logo]Powered by beehiiv](