Good day,
Today, I’m discussing:
- Nabsolute's SpinHeard
- Uber’s expansion
- Klasha’s $2.4m seed
Nabsolute's SpinHeard aims to help independent artists
A peculiar situation. It's interesting how a career path as a recording artist can be full of uncertainty. You start with a passion for your craft, but to stay afloat, you need to find known agents and big record labels and hope to land that dream record deal.
Your biggest woe is either unheard songs or a flash in the pan success. Luck aside, how can a budding artist navigate the crowded world of music business and get exposure?
This is what Nabsolute Media, a media communications and marketing agency based in Nigeria, is looking to do for independent artists with its recently launched platform, SpinHeard.
Victor Okpala, a former music journalist and the founder of Nabsolute Media, understands the massive cost of getting one's music in front of the right crowd, especially with big name agencies.
With SpinHeard, independent artists can connect directly with listeners, learn the art of the music business with the starter kit provided when they sign up and get free social media publicity at a subsidised rate. But what's the economics of this? How does it work?
Our senior reporter, Oluwanifemi, wrote a detailed feature on the SpinHeard launch. Read more here.
Uber is now present in five Nigerian cities
What's the news? US-based technology company, Uber, known primarily for its ride-hailing service, has announced an expansion into Ibadan and Port Harcourt. With this move, the company is now present in five Nigerian cities, including Lagos, Benin City, and Abuja.
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As much as these expansions mean more transportation options and employment opportunities for prospective drivers, I wonder if we would see a repeat of several events.
Recall that in April, Uber and Bolt drivers in Lagos went on a warning strike to protest the high commission fees they had to pay, which led to Uber increasing the prices for riders in Lagos.
Two-edged competition? On the one hand, competition between autonomous vehicles offering ride-hailing services and Uber is expected.
But, because traditional cabs are much cheaper in these cities, they might retain their hold regardless of Uber's presence. And with Bolt available in 24 Nigerian cities, including Ibadan and Port Harcourt, it won't be surprising if there is stiff competition between these parties.
Uber's giveaway: To mark this latest foray, the platform is giving a 50% discount off eight trips with the codes MOVEIBCITY and MOVEPHCITY for riders in Ibadan and Port Harcourt, respectively.
Klasha's $2.4m seed round will be used to bolster cross-border payments infrastructure
First, the news: Klasha, a US-based, Africa-focused cross-border payments startup, has announced raising $2.4m in seed investment.
Led by American VC firm Greycroft, the round saw participation from 2.12 Angels, AVG Basecamp Fund, Berrywood Capital, Seedcamp, Plug and Play, Practical VC, MiLA Capital, First Fund, and Expert Dojo. Some Angel Investors also partook, including former TechCrunch's Head of Product, Santosh Ankola.
What does Klasha do? Jessica Anuna founded the company in 2018 as a platform for Africans to shop for fashion items on online stores globally.
At present, however, it allows Africans to make online and offline purchases in their local currencies using cards, bank accounts, and mobile money providers like M-Pesa, while the merchants receive payment in their currencies in two business days.
The startup also partners with third-party logistics companies to help merchants in Europe and the US ship to Africa in five to nine working days.
Notable eCommerce platforms like WooCommerce and OpenCart have integrated Klasha's plugins, with the startup also having an official partnership with BigCommerce.
With this seed financing, the startup wants to build plugin libraries that will be integrated into platforms like Zara, ASOS, and H&M to enable payments across Africa. Also, plans to foray beyond Nigeria into three African countries are underway.
What I'm reading/watching
- The Attention Diet. Read.
- Crazy New Ideas. Read.
- Chimamanda Adichie speech at the Humboldt Forum. Watch.
Have an amazing day!
