BD Insider, Letter 89: $ECHOKE social token, DevKids shutdown

This is a blog copy of the 89th version of our weekly newsletter, BD Insider. Subscribers get to read it first and can take action based it.

You can subscribe to be a BD Insider here.

Have you ever wondered how NFTs are related to Web3.0?

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are an important feature of Web3.0. They are typically used as certificates of ownership for digital objects like artworks. And being non-fungible means they are unique and irreplaceable.

In October, Eva Beylin’s meme “Love in The Time of Web3”; showing a cartoon couple admiring the prices of Bitcoin and Ethereum, got over a million impressions after Elon Musk tweeted it. Two days later, Beylin listed it as an NFT; the meme was sold at about $20,000.

Just last week, a Nigerian artiste Davido [in collaboration with Bitsika and Nestcoin] launched the ECHOKE social token. The token will enable fans to list NFTs, participate in giveaways, festivals, exclusive merchandise, and other entertainment, media, and hospitality benefits.

Aside from the $ECHOKE launch, in this letter, we are also covering:

• Why uLesson has discontinued DevKids
• ImaliPay’s partnership with Cellulant to drive gig workers' financial inclusion
• Tech Word of the Week: Platform as a Service

Why uLesson has discontinued DevKids
Last Thursday, we exclusively reported that uLesson has discontinued DevKids, its virtual coding classes for kids.

A source familiar with the issue told us "the cost of acquiring clients and customers were very high compared to the returns and revenue. Although, from the mail [referring to an internal memo], Devkids may or may not come back".

In the meantime, the sign-up feature on DevKids’ website has been disabled.

What does the partnership between ImaliPay and Cellulant mean?
ImaliPay has partnered with Cellulant to leverage the Pan-African payments company's infrastructure and solutions in Kenya and Nigeria.

The partnership would allow ImaliPay to further enhance the financial inclusion of gig workers across Africa. ImaliPay users would have easy access to financial services through Cellulant's payment rails. Find out more.

Tech Word for the Week: Platform as a Service (PaaS)
PaaS enables developers to use software developed by third-party vendors that mimic the features and functionalities of their desired project to build, deploy and scale their applications.

It’s a good choice for developers who are not interested in customising their underlying infrastructure or DevOps and just want to focus on coding. Want to know more? Read this explainer.

🗓️ Events
Some events coming up:

• December 3rd: Attend the GDG LagosDevFest2021
• December 9th: Register for Technext Coinference

💰 Fundraising
Recent startups fundraise across Africa that you should be aware of:

• Kenyan fintech startup Asilimia raised a $2m pre-seed funding
• Busha raised $4.2 million in a seed round led by Jump Capital
• Treepz closed a $2.8 million seed round and acquired Ugabus in Uganda
• Sabi closed $6 million in a bridge round to launch in South Africa
• OnePipe raised $3.5 million in a seed round to enhance its integrated finance offering.

Tip: If you're looking to improve your take-home (salary) by moving jobs, companies that have just raised are a great place to apply. Companies almost always hire after a significant raise.

🧐 Interesting? Yes!
Here are some of the most exciting stories we've written/read in the past week:

• Credit cards make money. How?
• Will payment service banks enable Nigeria to achieve its financial inclusion target of 95% by 2024? Find out!
• What?! Web 3.0 promises to make computers understand data the way humans do.

💼 Job Opportunities

We've curated a few job openings for you, check them out and share with others too.

• MTN Nigeria is hiring Senior Managers
• Flutterwave is hiring a Head of Growth
• Helium Health is hiring a Graphic Designer
• Team Apt is hiring a Growth Associate and other roles
• Apply for Deep Dive Africa (DDA) Founders Programme
• Connected Development is hiring a Social Media Manager
• Oscar Temple is hiring a Senior Android Developer and others

Thanks for reading
Have a great week!
Written by: Johnstone Kpilaakaa
Edited by: Daniel Iyanda