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Maad raises $3.2 million amid turmoil in Africa’s B2B e-commerce sector

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Senegal

EarthSenegal-based B2B e-commerce startup has raised $3.2 million in debt financing to support its expansion in the West African country and explore latest opportunities in the broader French-speaking region.

The seed round was led by the Ventures platform, with participation from, amongst others, Seed stars International Ventures, Reflect Ventures, Oui Capital, Launch Africa, Voltron Capital and Alumni Ventures. It raised $900,000 in debt financing from French DFI Proparco and native banks.

Maad’s end-to-end distribution platform enables informal retailers (mom and pop stores) to source fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) directly from partner suppliers, solving key issues they face, including out-of-stocks and high inventory costs attributable to multiple tiers dealers.

Sidy Niang (CEO) i Jessica Long (COO) launched Maad in 2020, initially as an information collection provider, after which began constructing software to assist corporations manage their very own internal distribution. The way FMCG suppliers used software to deal with distribution challenges inspired the launch of a B2B e-commerce business in September 2021.

“We were inspired by watching our customers use our software to self-distribute. The software provided a lot of value, and we could imagine much greater value if we put all the products purchased by small shops on the same platform,” Niang told TechCrunch.

Customers place orders through the startup’s call center, field agents or apps, accounting for almost all (75%) of orders, that are then fulfilled from the startup’s warehouses and use an in-house delivery service to cut back costs and ensure consistency in ordering its services.

“We decided to maneuver all of the logistics… The reason we’re doing that is just because it’s a low-margin business. We imagine that in this fashion we will provide good service and meet customers’ reliability needs. I do not think we’d give you the option to supply an identical service if we relied on a third-party provider,” Long said.

The startup has grown to serve 6,500 energetic retailers through a network of 80 suppliers and claims to have achieved $3 million in monthly GMV. Maad says working closely with suppliers has given it exclusive access to certain products and competitive product prices, which attracts informal retailers. Retailers provide a crucial channel for manufacturers to sell products as they arrive 80% household retail sales in sub-Saharan Africa because of proximity to customers.

Startups like Maad also collect data on products and retailers to attract insights that help suppliers make higher business decisions while solving inventory sourcing and financing challenges for casual retailers.

Maad has raised the financing at a time when investors proceed to shrink back from supporting B2B e-commerce corporations in Africa because of their low margins and capital-intensive business model, which has forced the likes of Wabi, Wasoko and MaxAB to reduce operations and likes Zumi and RejaReja of YC MarketForce to shut. This happened after the industry experienced a financial boom in 2021 and 2022.

The startup, which claims first-mover advantage in Senegal, now plans to expand its reach to distant locations in the country and desires to enter a brand new market in francophone regions by the top of the yr. It also plans to introduce a buy now, pay later (BNPL) service to permit store owners to access inventory on credit.

This article was originally published on : techcrunch.com
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US medical device giant Artivion says hackers stole files during a cybersecurity incident

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Artivion, a medical device company that produces implantable tissue for heart and vascular transplants, says its services have been “disrupted” resulting from a cybersecurity incident.

In 8-K filing In an interview with the SEC on Monday, Georgia-based Artivion, formerly CryoLife, said it became aware of a “cybersecurity incident” that involved the “compromise and encryption” of information on November 21. This suggests that the corporate was attacked by ransomware, but Artivion has not yet confirmed the character of the incident and didn’t immediately reply to TechCrunch’s questions. No major ransomware group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack.

Artivion said it took some systems offline in response to the cyberattack, which the corporate said caused “disruptions to certain ordering and shipping processes.”

Artivion, which reported third-quarter revenue of $95.8 million, said it didn’t expect the incident to have a material impact on the corporate’s funds.

This article was originally published on : techcrunch.com
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It’s a Raspberry Pi 5 in a keyboard and it’s called Raspberry Pi 500

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Manufacturer of single-board computers Raspberry Pi is updating its cute little computer keyboard device with higher specs. Named Raspberry Pi500This successor to the Raspberry Pi 400 is just as powerful as the present Raspberry Pi flagship, the Raspberry Pi 5. It is on the market for purchase now from Raspberry Pi resellers.

The Raspberry Pi 500 is the simplest method to start with the Raspberry Pi because it’s not as intimidating because the Raspberry Pi 5. When you take a look at the Raspberry Pi 500, you do not see any chipsets or PCBs (printed circuit boards). The Raspberry Pi is totally hidden in the familiar housing, the keyboard.

The idea with the Raspberry Pi 500 is you could connect a mouse and a display and you are able to go. If, for instance, you’ve got a relative who uses a very outdated computer with an outdated version of Windows, the Raspberry Pi 500 can easily replace the old PC tower for many computing tasks.

More importantly, this device brings us back to the roots of the Raspberry Pi. Raspberry Pi computers were originally intended for educational applications. Over time, technology enthusiasts and industrial customers began using single-board computers all over the place. (For example, when you’ve ever been to London Heathrow Airport, all of the departures and arrivals boards are there powered by Raspberry Pi.)

Raspberry Pi 500 draws inspiration from the roots of the Raspberry Pi Foundation, a non-profit organization. It’s the right first computer for college. In some ways, it’s a lot better than a Chromebook or iPad because it’s low cost and highly customizable, which inspires creative pondering.

The Raspberry Pi 500 comes with a 32GB SD card that comes pre-installed with Raspberry Pi OS, a Debian-based Linux distribution. It costs $90, which is a slight ($20) price increase over the Raspberry Pi 400.

Only UK and US keyboard variants will probably be available at launch. But versions with French, German, Italian, Japanese, Nordic and Spanish keyboard layouts will probably be available soon. And when you’re in search of a bundle that features all the things you would like, Raspberry Pi also offers a $120 desktop kit that features the Raspberry Pi 500, a mouse, a 27W USB-C power adapter, and a micro-HDMI to HDMI cable.

In other news, Raspberry Pi has announced one other recent thing: the Raspberry Pi monitor. It is a 15.6-inch 1080p monitor that’s priced at $100. Since there are quite a few 1080p portable monitors available on the market, this launch is not as noteworthy because the Pi 500. However, for die-hard Pi fans, there’s now also a Raspberry Pi-branded monitor option available.

Image credits:Raspberry Pi

This article was originally published on : techcrunch.com
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Apple Vision Pro may add support for PlayStation VR controllers

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Vision Pro headset

According to Apple, Apple desires to make its Vision Pro mixed reality device more attractive for gamers and game developers latest report from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman.

The Vision Pro was presented more as a productivity and media consumption device than a tool geared toward gamers, due partly to its reliance on visual and hand controls moderately than a separate controller.

However, Apple may need gamers if it desires to expand the Vision Pro’s audience, especially since Gurman reports that lower than half one million units have been sold to this point. As such, the corporate has reportedly been in talks with Sony about adding support for PlayStation VR2 handheld controllers, and has also talked to developers about whether they may support the controllers of their games.

Offering more precise control, Apple may also make other forms of software available in Vision Pro, reminiscent of Final Cut Pro or Adobe Photoshop.

This article was originally published on : techcrunch.com
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