Author: Kaluka wanjala

Fintech startup Jahazii has announced the close of its $400,000 pre-seed round, a mix of equity, debt, and grant financing. The round drew participation from Antler East Africa, DEG Impulse, Jozi Angels, Innovest Afrika, and several angel investors. If you have a startup you want featured on TechArena, let us know through this contact form here. The new capital will help Jahazii accelerate its mission to build Africa’s workforce operating system. This unified platform integrates HR, payroll and embedded financial services to promote financial inclusion for workers across the continent. Sub-Saharan Africa has the largest informal workforce globally with millions of workers earning…

B2B fintech startup Kuunda has announced the completion of its $7.5 million pre-Series A round. This funding will help the startup accelerate its financial inclusion efforts across Africa and the MENA region. If you have a startup you want featured on TechArena, let us know through this contact form here. The round was led by Portugal Gateway Fund with participation from Seedstars Africa Ventures, 4Di Capital, Accion Ventures, Nedbank and E4E Africa. The funding will go toward expanding Kuunda’s presence in new markets and scaling its embedded finance products for banks and digital platforms. Kuunda was founded in 2018 and provides “Lending-as-a-Service” technology,…

Vertiv has announced a collaboration with Airtel Africa’s data centre division, Nxtra, to support its large-scale data centre rollout across the continent. It will start with a 42MW facility in Nigeria. The partnership was announced at GITEX Global 2025 in Dubai. This marks the first step in Nxtra’s broader strategy to build one of the largest networks of high-capacity data centres across Africa’s key cities. “Nxtra has been a valued customer for nearly three decades,” said Karsten Winther, President of Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) at Vertiv. “This next chapter demonstrates the power of combining local support in Africa…

Kenya’s plan to create Africa’s Silicon Savannah is taking shape with the official launch of Phase 1 of Konza Technopolis. Konza aims to position the country as a hub for innovation, technology and smart urban development. “Konza is not merely infrastructure, it is the architecture of Kenya’s future economy,” President William Ruto said during the event. Phase 1 of the project now delivers key components that form the backbone of the smart city, these include: These developments transform Konza from a concept on paper into a living model of a smart, green, and globally competitive city. The city integrates a…

216 Capital and Plug and Play Africa have partnered to launch the 216 Capital Venture Accelerator. This is a six-month program whose aim is to help Tunisian startups become investment-ready and scale to regional and global markets. If you have a startup you want featured on TechArena, let us know through this contact form here. This accelerator plans to support up to 20 tech startups that are in the pre-seed stage. Each startup is set to receive €50,000 in initial funding, as well as personalized mentorship, investor access and business development support. Applications are open until October 31, 2025. “This program marks an…

Four young Kenyan women are set to represent the country at the upcoming continental finals of the Absa Bank Kenya–GirlCode Women-in-Tech Hackathon. This is after their innovation, an AI-powered fintech platform dubbed “Jasho – Powering Your Hustle”,  emerged victorious in the national round. If you have a startup you want featured on TechArena, let us know through this contact form here. The winning team, Team Avytria, is made up of women aged between 21 and 26. Their solution stood out for its focus on empowering gig economy workers and persons with disabilities. Jasho uses artificial intelligence to offer real-time expense tracking, personalised financial…

Samsung continues to refine its midrange lineup and the Galaxy A36 5G is the latest to show just how much progress the company has made. It’s positioned as a step up from the Galaxy A26 5G and the successor to the A35 from last year. This phone brings more premium design, a brighter display, improved performance and better cameras. At Ksh 31,800, it aims to be the best everyday smartphone for users who want Samsung reliability, good camera performance, Galaxy AI support and future-ready 5G connectivity without breaking the bank. Design and Build Quality The Galaxy A36 5G adopts Samsung’s…

As global technology distributors redefine their roles in the digital era, Westcon-Comstor is taking steps to make sure Africa isn’t left behind. I spoke with Vincent Entonu, Managing Director of Westcon-Comstor Sub-Saharan Africa, during the Westcon Microsoft Partner Summit 2025 in Nairobi. At the centre of this transformation is Vincent Entonu, the Managing Director overseeing operations across 45 countries, what he calls “the rest of Africa,” outside South and North Africa. Under his leadership, Westcon-Comstor is helping partners and businesses across the continent transition from traditional hardware distribution to a cloud-first, subscription-driven future. “We are witnessing a global transformation in…

Samsung’s Galaxy Buds FE are the company’s latest attempt to offer premium features at a friendlier price. They come in as the “Fan Edition” of Samsung’s earbuds lineup. These deliver solid active noise cancellation, good sound and a comfortable fit. All this is at a fraction of what you would pay for Galaxy Buds2 Pro. But as with many Samsung accessories, these earbuds truly shine only when paired with a Samsung smartphone. Design and Fit The Galaxy Buds FE are small, lightweight and sit comfortably in the ear for long listening sessions. Their fit feels secure enough for workouts or…

Absa Bank Kenya, in partnership with GirlCode, has kicked off a 30-hour Women-in-Tech Hackathon that will see 112 young women aged between 18 and 35 compete to build digital solutions shaping the future of Africa’s financial ecosystem. Themed “Future-Proofing Africa: Innovation at the Intersection of FinTech, Cybersecurity, and AI,” the hackathon begins on October 11–12, 2025, at Absa’s headquarters in Westlands. It forms part of a pan-African initiative running simultaneously across seven cities in five countries, Nairobi, Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban, Kampala, Gaborone, and Dar es Salaam, with a grand continental prize of USD 5,500 up for grabs. The participants…