A $1.63 million bounce back

Sky.Garden is blossoming again                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 December 05, 2023 | [Read Online]( $1. In partnership with Share this newsletter: //link.mail.beehiiv.com/ss/c/_p8mO7pBiG6zFvckPDjzaZkxNnUja96KSCTzHXx2gCinQbxw_qdxxuopG-d0baJxAdN5L7OHU5ZQxpp-wRCFTXy9w8I_zIELgRe_S3coUxeYwOcBj9ten7owM0eUmoEB_A5QSQz7pTv5HCqHibaxEeaWerircaGtIb3RT_F_1ihocWebU7cwIj1v1hJ9g1KT/41v/Llf4QNLaRfOt9c-EdO4Brw/h2/rfO-lRM3t483fSAY8pT7-k-2hRRbFdRo4uyk6CcAeXU [Lire en Français]( [اقرأ هذا باللغة العربية]( Good morning☀️ Do you remember [Paxful](, that bitcoin marketplace that shut down because all its staff—engineers, compliance team members, and security personnel—left to work elsewhere? Well, its CEO, [Ray Youssef](, has found a new adventure. Youssef was recently [appointed]( CEO of a similar business, NoOnes. Like Paxful, NoOnes allows users to buy and sell bitcoin and stablecoins; and also like Paxful, most of NoOnes’ users are in Africa. So Youssef’s local knowledge should come in handy. In today's edition - [Kenyan Sky.Garden relaunches after $1.63 million investment]( - [Mastercard invests $27 million in three African funds]( - [MTN launches AI chatbot]( - [Google postpones the launch of its generative AI model]( - [The World Wide Web3]( - [Job openings]( Startups //link.mail.beehiiv.com/ss/c/_p8mO7pBiG6zFvckPDjzaZkxNnUja96KSCTzHXx2gCinQbxw_qdxxuopG-d0baJxAdN5L7OHU5ZQxpp-wRCFTXy9w8I_zIELgRe_S3coUxeYwOcBj9ten7owM0eUmoEB_A5QSQz7pTv5HCqHibaxEeaWerircaGtIb3RT_F_1ihocWebU7cwIj1v1hJ9g1KT/41v/Llf4QNLaRfOt9c-EdO4Brw/h16/FjsHMVJtozs86P0HBRMMm8CShLUGqI26r29zbrXLa7g Sky.Garden relaunches after Lipa Later's $1.6 million buyout [a photo of a happy man](Image source: Zikoko Memes Kenyan e-commerce startup Sky.Garden, has [relaunched]( following a Ksh250 million ($1.6 million) buyout by BNLP company, Lipa Later Group in December 2022. The relaunch includes a move into social commerce and building a merchant marketplace to connect 100,000 merchants in the next year. A relaunch? Yes. In September 2022, Sky.Garden revealed plans to[shut down]( its operations on October 16, 2022, citing difficulties in securing additional funding. However, in November 2022, the e-commerce startup [rescinded]( its shutdown announcement, stating it had found a buyer without disclosing the buyer's identity. In December, it was revealed that LipaLater had [acquired]( Sky.Garden. Under new ownership, the e-commerce startup is relaunching with four new products. What products? Sky.Garden has introduced new products—Sky.Tickets, Sky.Logistics, Sky.Commerce, and Sky.Wallet—to support its expansion into social commerce. Sky.Wallet offers financing and bill payments, Sky.Logistics provides same-day delivery for local businesses, and Sky.Commerce integrates social interactions with e-commerce, revolutionising customers' online shopping experience. Additionally, Sky.Garden has also introduced Lipa Later’s buy-now-pay-later model as a convenient alternative payment option. Zoom out: In September 2023, after Lipa Later secured $5 million in private debt issuance, the company still planned to [raise $20 million](for its expansion plans. This relaunch aligns with the growing e-commerce market expansion in Kenya and Africa, driven by increased internet penetration and more affordable data costs. Access payments with Moniepoint Moniepoint has made it simple for your business to access payments while providing access to credit and other business tools. Open an account today [here](. Funding //link.mail.beehiiv.com/ss/c/_p8mO7pBiG6zFvckPDjzaZkxNnUja96KSCTzHXx2gCinQbxw_qdxxuopG-d0baJxAdN5L7OHU5ZQxpp-wRCFTXy9w8I_zIELgRe_S3coUxeYwOcBj9ten7owM0eUmoEB_A5QSQz7pTv5HCqHibaxEeaWerircaGtIb3RT_F_1ihocWebU7cwIj1v1hJ9g1KT/41v/Llf4QNLaRfOt9c-EdO4Brw/h27/RMIy9yQy1UjYnGyjgJKVF9VNRH4W3kBfvk5QlGKSc4k Mastercard invests $27 million in three African funds [a photo of pawpaw counting money ]( Mastercard, through its Africa growth fund, [will invest in three African investment firms](: Chui Ventures, VestedWorld, and SME Impact Fund. The three firms will receive $9 million, $10 million, and $8 million, respectively. Who are the invested companies? [Chui Ventures is a Kenyan early-stage]( venture capital firm that invests in gender-inclusive startups in Kenya and Nigeria. The firm has a portfolio of over 20 startups, including Fastizers, CrowdForce, Taeillo, Pngme, and Lifestores Pharmacy. VestedWorld is [a Nigerian impact investment]( firm that invests in businesses that are driving financial inclusion and social progress in Africa. The firm has a portfolio of over 30 businesses across Ghana, Kenya, and Nigeria, including Sabi, Shuttlers, Anka. [SME Impact Fund](, the third recipient of the fund recipients, is a Tanzanian fund manager dedicated to fostering growth in the country's agricultural sector. The firm has made 44 investments worth over $15 million, directly impacting 23,000 smallholder farmers and generating more than 3,000 employment opportunities. Lights out: The latest investment brings Mastercard’s funds to five on the continent. The firm had previously invested $2.2 million in Aruwa Capital Management and $5 million in Inua Capital. Launched in 2022, the Africa Growth Fund is a $200 million fund aimed at bridging the financing gap in Africa's impact investment landscape. The fund collaborates with a network of partners who offer comprehensive business development services to portfolio companies, including fund advisory, communications, and diversity/inclusion support. Telecom //link.mail.beehiiv.com/ss/c/_p8mO7pBiG6zFvckPDjzaZkxNnUja96KSCTzHXx2gCinQbxw_qdxxuopG-d0baJxAdN5L7OHU5ZQxpp-wRCFTXy9w8I_zIELgRe_S3coUxeYwOcBj9ten7owM0eUmoEB_A5QSQz7pTv5HCqHibaxEeaWerircaGtIb3RT_F_1ihocWebU7cwIj1v1hJ9g1KT/41v/Llf4QNLaRfOt9c-EdO4Brw/h35/5CE8W0AbUi8u1bgcUOXC3W83zFSMiNOsQJygPolnlL4 MTN launches AI Chatbot source: TechCabal MTN offers an AI chatbot for its employees alone. The telecom has launched SiYa, [an in-house AI chatbot]( to assist employees with inquiries about company policies and share insights from MTN’s knowledge base. MTN expects the interactions with SiYa to shape the way customer engagement is done at the company. A little about SiYa: The chatbot, SiYa, takes its name from Siya Kolisi, [the rugby Springbok captain](. MTN said it chose the name to embody qualities—unity, harmony, and effective communication. It is unclear whether MTN is creating a version of SiYa for public use. But MTN South Africa is committed to helping its workforce benefit from the use of artificial intelligence-powered tools. This raises questions about whether other South African telecommunications companies will follow suit with similar AI-powered tools in the future. This is not MTN’s first rodeo at [building AI-powered solutions](. In 2019, MTN launched Mobile Money (MoMo) “chatbot”. The chatbot enabled users to navigate MTN’s MoMo services, including payments, on various social media platforms such as WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger and via SMS, and provide other useful information. Pay With Transfer support on the Paystack API We made it possible for merchants to white label a Pay with Transfer option on their custom checkout experience. [Learn more →]( Big Tech //link.mail.beehiiv.com/ss/c/_p8mO7pBiG6zFvckPDjzaZkxNnUja96KSCTzHXx2gCinQbxw_qdxxuopG-d0baJxAdN5L7OHU5ZQxpp-wRCFTXy9w8I_zIELgRe_S3coUxeYwOcBj9ten7owM0eUmoEB_A5QSQz7pTv5HCqHibaxEeaWerircaGtIb3RT_F_1ihocWebU7cwIj1v1hJ9g1KT/41v/Llf4QNLaRfOt9c-EdO4Brw/h44/-Zh3lI1wmuTfP6KCbSUZqyT1_lQXyTm38BJojOHH_7k Google's Gemini AI launch delayed to 2024 Google has [rescheduled]( its plans to launch its new AI model, Gemini, to early 2024. Sources with knowledge of the decision say the launch event was originally slated for next week, but the AI model is having challenges in responding to non-English prompts. source: Zikoko Memes How has Google been faring in the AI race so far? In recent years, Google AI has achieved notable milestones. In 2020, Google AI introduced [Meena](, an NLP model capable of engaging in human-like conversations. In 2022, the development of PaLM showcased a versatile machine learning model handling tasks like question answering, translation, and code generation. In 2023, Bard, Google's large language model, emerged as a rival to OpenAI's ChatGPT, uniquely capable of offering information on recent events, setting them apart. What’s different about Gemini? Gemini will stand out as a revolutionary multimodal AI system. This means that it will be capable of comprehending and producing diverse forms of content, including text, images, and even websites, from sketches or written descriptions. It is also said to have unmatched text and image generation capabilities, and is “built to enable future innovations, like memory and planning”. Analysts [argue]( that Gemini, with its advanced features, may alter consumer awareness, and become a threat to ChatGPT, the most popular AI model. UK Expansion with Traavu Traavu enables tech businesses expand into the UK market by providing premium advisory and support to their founders, senior executives and teams to secure the Tier-1 UK Global Talent Visa (Tech Nation Visa) endorsement. [Get started now](. Crypto Tracker //link.mail.beehiiv.com/ss/c/_p8mO7pBiG6zFvckPDjzaZkxNnUja96KSCTzHXx2gCinQbxw_qdxxuopG-d0baJxAdN5L7OHU5ZQxpp-wRCFTXy9w8I_zIELgRe_S3coUxeYwOcBj9ten7owM0eUmoEB_A5QSQz7pTv5HCqHibaxEeaWerircaGtIb3RT_F_1ihocWebU7cwIj1v1hJ9g1KT/41v/Llf4QNLaRfOt9c-EdO4Brw/h53/48udX1r5R4qUsxXbyMUuWzn-FF9tDj_UbuQAFbzIKIs The World Wide Web3 Source: [OneLiquidity logo] Coin Name Current Value Day Month Bitcoin $41,744 + 2.55% + 18.57% Ether $2,227 + 0.37% + 18.38% IOTA $0.32 - 10.27% + 88.72% Chainlink $15.62 - 2.77% + 25.62% * Data as of 5:32 AM WAT, December 5, 2023. [OneLiquidity GIF]( Effortlessly make global settlements in over 30 currencies across 120+ countries spanning four continents, delivering cost-effective and reliable solutions to your clients, suppliers, and customers. [Get started today](. Job openings //link.mail.beehiiv.com/ss/c/_p8mO7pBiG6zFvckPDjzaZkxNnUja96KSCTzHXx2gCinQbxw_qdxxuopG-d0baJxAdN5L7OHU5ZQxpp-wRCFTXy9w8I_zIELgRe_S3coUxdcBBa7VmpIrQRGszfGNkeqzS88uC1sL0d0etmw2c8RE3xhcHBGYvC7OJ85tNlO1ZAGU_2oA-StH4z8tUxaxeOpCwfeyQBqobBQ8p9dQzd4sw/41v/Llf4QNLaRfOt9c-EdO4Brw/h58/C2AsV1RtLN1NeyF1Qa5lJmppagw-UD13tM60Thl-org - TechCabal - [Senior Reporters]( - Nigeria/Kenya/South Africa - 9mobile Nigeria - [Videographer]( - Lagos, Nigeria - White Light Digital Marketing - [Social Media Manager](- Nigeria (remote) - Tech365 - [- Lagos, Nigeria]( [Next Basket -]([Deputy Chief Technology Officer]( - Nigeria (remote) - Africa Resource Company - [Full Stack Engineer]( - Nigeria (remote) - Pegasus - [IT Project Lead (German speaking)](- South Africa (remote) - Tree Top Staffing - [IT Manager](- EMEA (remote) There are more jobs on [TechCabal’s job board](. If you have job opportunities to share, please submit them at [bit.ly/tcxjobs](. What else is happening in tech? - [More capital needs to flow into northern Nigeria]( - [Spotify lays off 17% of its employees]( - [Former Nigerian governor El-Rufai to launch VC fund in 2024.]( Written and Edited by: [Mariam Muhammad](, [Faith Omoniyi](, [Ngozi Chukwu]( & [Kelechi Njoku]( Want more of TechCabal? Sign up for our insightful newsletters on the business and economy of tech in Africa. - [The Next Wave](: futuristic analysis of the business of tech in Africa. - [Entering Tech](: tech career insights and opportunities in your inbox every Wednesday at 3 PM WAT. - [In a Giffy](: business decisions powered by data-driven insights and analysis you can trust. P:S If you’re often missing TC Daily in your inbox, check your Promotions folder and move any edition of TC Daily from “Promotions” to your “Main” or “Primary” folder and TC Daily will always come to you. 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