Good day,
Múyìwá Mátùlúkò here
Today we are discussing
- iROKOtv IPO
- Connected Analytics’ 7-figure pre-Series A and some other startup related news
- Facebook Clubhouse clone
iROKOtv’s renewed plans to go public
Nollywood video-on-demand platform, iROKOtv will be listing on the alternative bourse of the London Stock Exchange (LSE) in 2022. Founder and CEO, Jason Njoku revealed this to The Africa Report on Tuesday.
According to the report, iROKOtv is looking to raise between $20m and $30m with a post-money valuation ~$100m that could make Njoku at least $15m richer.
Déjà vu? If you are reading this thinking, “I could have sworn they already announced plans to go public,” you can’t be blamed.
In October 2019, we had good reason to deduce that iROKOtv was looking to go public by 2021. But it appears that plan fell through, thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020, the company was mostly focused on staying alive, even if it meant laying off 28% of its workforce or increasing subscription fees by as much as 230%.
Sidebar: iROKOtv will be listing on a subset of the LSE called the Alternative Investment Market (AIM). The AIM caters to smaller, more risky companies that would otherwise struggle to fulfil regulatory requirements of the main market.
The Nigerian Stock Exchange launched a similar derivative in 2020.
Which begs the question, why do African startups prefer to list on foreign stock markets?
Connected Analytics, parent company of ThankUCash, raises seven-digit pre-Series A
Nigerian retail-tech/analytics startup, Connected Analytics, has secured a seven-digit pre-Series A funding round. This follows previous investments of up to $410k from notable investors, and a year after getting accepted into US-based accelerator, 500 Startups.
The pre-Series A round (exact figure of which CEO, Simeon Ononobi asked to keep private) was led by Hong Kong’s Betatron Venture Group.
Emmanuel Paul will publish more details of the funding – including identities of other investors, the startup’s milestones, expansion plans and a brewing Big Fintech partnership – later today at 11am (WAT). Remind me.
More startup funding news across Africa
- Egyptian prop-tech startup Sakneen raises $1.1m seed round
- Egyptian healthtech startup, DilenyTech secures $160k non-equity grant.
Clubhouse: Et tu, Facebook?
It was only a matter of time. Facebook is rumoured to be working on an audio-chat app called Fireside, just 6 days after Zuckerberg joined Clubhouse.
A quick timeline:
- April 2020: Alpha Exploration Co. launches Clubhouse, an invitation-only audio-chat social networking app.
- May 2020: Clubhouse, with only 1500 users, raises $12m from Andreessen Horowitz, valuing it at $100m! Traction picks up fast.
- June 2020: Twitter introduces voice tweets, but it never catches on.
- December 2020: Twitter rolls out Spaces, a Clubhouse-styled feature, to an extremely selected audience on iOS.
- January 2021: Clubhouse raises $100m led by Andreessen Horowitz, valuing the company at $1bn.
- February 4, 2021: Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg joins Clubhouse, with username ‘Zuck23’, for an interview.
- February 9, 2021: Twitter expands Spaces to 3000 more people, just 5 days after Zuckerberg joins Clubhouse.
- February 10, 2021: Facebook is rumoured to be working on an audio-chat app called Fireside, just 6 days after Zuckerberg joined Clubhouse.
Why is Silicon Valley suddenly obsessed with audio? Read this prophetic year-old article – The Audio Revolution.
Unmissables from Techpoint Africa this week
- How Nigerian-founded CribMD evolved to become a telemedicine healthtech startup. Read.
- GIG Logistics wants to reduce delivery costs for merchants with new Class Plan. Read.
What we are following
- Cyber-attacks in Kenya up by half to hit 56m in three months. Read.
Have a great day!
Múyìwá Mátùlúkò for Techpoint Africa.
