If successful, this raise will push its valuation beyond the $1 billion mark, giving the company unicorn status and enable Moove to become one of the top global drivers of sustainable urban transport.

In just over a year, Moove’s annual revenue jumped from $115 million to $360 million. That’s around $30 million a month, driven mostly by its core business of financing cars for Uber drivers and a newer, more focus on fleet management in the U.S. market. 

Moove is no longer just a vehicle financing outfit as it’s now embedding itself in the emerging world of autonomous mobility.

Moove is already managing fleets for Waymo, the self-driving arm of Google’s parent company Alphabet. In Phoenix and Miami, the company handles cleaning, charging, and storage of Waymo’s electric robotaxis. That may sound like back-end work, but it’s a tough role. 

As Waymo rolls out commercial operations in new cities, Moove ensures these vehicles are ready for the road every single day.

Co-founder Ladi Delano said, “The current agreement with Waymo is limited to fleet management.” But Moove wants more. The company is preparing to purchase autonomous vehicles (AVs) directly from manufacturers, lease them to entrepreneurs or businesses, and still maintain full control over their operations, from depot management to charging and cleaning.

Moove is betting that today’s Uber drivers could become tomorrow’s robotaxi fleet owners. By giving them access to mini-fleets of AVs, the company is creating a model where ownership and scale intersect, without sidelining drivers.

The strategy is already global. Moove has financed cars in Africa, India, and the UK, using a drive-to-own model that lets drivers eventually own the vehicles they work with. Now, it’s taking that experience into markets with far more complex regulatory and operational demands, like the U.S.

Its recent acquisition of Brazilian mobility startup Kovi also shows how far Moove is willing to go to scale quickly. That move instantly expanded its revenue base and widened its footprint in Latin America.

To date, the company has secured $750 million in funding, both debt and equity, from investors including Uber, which holds a stake of over 10%, and the Abu Dhabi-based Mubadala Investment Company.

Moove has hired over 90 people in the U.S. this year alone. Across the world, its workforce has grown to more than 2,100. This is a global operator with eyes on the evolving future of how people and goods move.

Moove is building the infrastructure behind the AV space. While companies like Waymo develop the tech, Moove is betting that whoever owns and runs the fleets, keeps them clean, charged, and on the road, will hold real power.

And that’s what this $300 million is really about.

The post Moove Eyes $300M Raise to Fuel Global Robotaxi Goal, Get Unicorn Status appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.

The acquisition of Twitter by tech magnate Elon Musk in October 2022 was expected to breathe new life into the struggling company. 

However, instead of experiencing a renaissance, Twitter has faced a decline in advertising revenue and other significant challenges. 

This piece delves into the implications of Musk’s takeover, analyzing the factors contributing to Twitter’s struggles and examining whether these problems emerged before or after Musk assumed control

Dwindling Revenue

Twitter’s most pressing issue revolves around a substantial drop in advertising revenue. Since Musk’s acquisition, the company has witnessed a staggering 50% decrease in advertising earnings. 

Musk himself has acknowledged the negative cash flow and stressed the importance of achieving positive cash flow before focusing on other areas. 

The decline in ad revenue can be attributed to the “extreme pressure” exerted by advertisers in Europe and North America, who have seemingly attempted to push the company towards bankruptcy.

Layoffs

Elon Musk wasted no time implementing cost-cutting measures upon assuming control of Twitter. Approximately half of the company’s 7,500 employees were laid off as part of this strategy. 

While these layoffs were aimed at reducing expenses, they also raised concerns about the platform’s ability to operate effectively with a significantly diminished workforce.

In February 2023, Twitter further exacerbated these concerns by laying off an additional 10% of its remaining staff, further impacting its operational capacity.

Emergence of Thread

Adding to Twitter’s woes is the emergence of competing platforms. Instagram’s introduction of the “Threads app” poses a potential threat to Twitter’s user base. With an estimated 150 million users, Threads leverages its connection to Instagram and Meta’s two billion users, presenting a formidable challenge to Twitter’s market share. 

The migration of users to alternative platforms underscores the urgent need for Twitter to innovate and adapt to retain its audience.

Legal Battle with Meta

Elon Musk’s legal battle with Meta, the parent company of Instagram, has also hampered Twitter’s recovery efforts. 

Musk has threatened to sue Meta over its new rival app, Threads, claiming that Meta has infringed on Twitter’s “intellectual property rights.” Twitter has expressed serious concerns about the alleged misappropriation of its trade secrets and intellectual property. 

However, legal experts suggest that the cloning of social media platforms is a common practice in the industry, making it unlikely that the courts will favor Twitter’s claims.

Downward Valuation

Twitter’s financial performance has also suffered a severe blow since Musk’s acquisition. Initially purchased for $44 billion, Musk recently stated that the company’s value has plummeted to $20 billion. 

Additionally, mutual funds giant Fidelity has valued Twitter at a mere $15 billion. These declining valuations reflect investor apprehensions regarding Twitter’s financial outlook and the effectiveness of Musk’s turnaround efforts.

While much of the focus has been on Twitter’s challenges following Elon Musk’s takeover, industry experts argue that the company was already grappling with difficulties before the acquisition. 

Former executive Meghana Dhar, who has experience with rival platforms Snap and Meta, noted a steady decline in Twitter’s revenue and growth even before Musk’s involvement. This perspective raises questions about the underlying issues within Twitter’s business model and strategy.

Final Notes 

In conclusion, despite Elon Musk’s efforts to revive the platform, Twitter continues to face significant obstacles. 

The decline in advertising revenue, workforce reductions, competition from alternative platforms, and financial challenges have all contributed to Twitter’s current predicament. 

Although Elon Musk’s acquisition has had a notable impact, indications suggest that Twitter was already encountering struggles before his involvement. 

The future of Twitter remains uncertain, requiring innovative strategies and adaptability to regain stability in the highly competitive social media landscape.

The post The Rise and Fall of Twitter appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.

This move will enable startups and businesses to develop customized software utilizing Meta’s AI technology.

The forthcoming release will allow Meta to harness the power of large language models (LLMs), capable of generating text, images, and code. These models are trained on vast amounts of data and require significant computing resources.

Unlike its competitors, Meta emphasizes an “open-source” approach for its LLMs, meaning that details of the new model will be made publicly available. In contrast, OpenAI’s latest model, GPT-4, is considered a “black box,” with the underlying data and code not accessible to external parties.

In June, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg expressed enthusiasm for generative AI breakthroughs, stating, “In the last year, we’ve seen some incredible breakthroughs — qualitative breakthroughs — on generative AI, and that allows us to now go take that technology, push it forward, and build it into every single one of our products.”

He added that Meta will play a unique and crucial role in delivering these capabilities to billions of people in novel ways not pursued by others.

Yann LeCun, Meta’s Vice President and Chief AI Scientist, anticipates a significant shift in the AI landscape soon, stating, “The competitive landscape of AI is going to completely change in the coming months, in the coming weeks maybe, when there will be open-source platforms that are as good as the ones that are not.”

Meta’s upcoming release comes amidst a fierce race among Silicon Valley tech companies to establish dominance in the AI sector.

Despite Meta’s extensive work in AI research and development over the past decade, the company has been playing catch-up after OpenAI’s release of ChatGPT, a conversational chatbot, in November. This prompted other major tech players to introduce similar products.

While Meta’s current AI technology is open source and free, insiders familiar with the matter suggest that the company has been exploring the possibility of charging enterprise customers for the ability to fine-tune the model based on their proprietary data. However, no plans to implement such charges have been confirmed for the upcoming release.

The post Meta to Launch Commercial AI Model to Challenge Rivals appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.

The announcement was made by Sean Fraser, the Minister of Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship, during the Collision 2023 event.

Under this strategy, Canada has introduced an “innovation stream” that offers open work permits for up to five years to highly skilled professionals in select high-demand occupations.

Additionally, the program includes employer-specific work permits for the same duration, benefiting individuals employed by companies that contribute to Canada’s industrial innovation objectives.

Canada’s status as the top destination for immigrant entrepreneurs has been reaffirmed by a 2023 report from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, further establishing it as an appealing location for individuals seeking new opportunities.

The new pathways also extend opportunities to holders of the H-1B specialty occupation visa in the United States. They can now apply for Canadian work permits, as well as study or work permit options for their accompanying family members.

The Canadian work permit for H-1B visa holders will be available starting from July 16 and will remain open for one year or until Immigration, Refugee, and Citizenship Canada receive 10,000 applications.

It’s important to note that only principal applicants will count towards the application cap, not their accompanying family members.

Sean Fraser expressed enthusiasm for the immigration goals, highlighting their strategic importance beyond numerical targets. The aim is to attract newcomers who can help solidify Canada’s position as a global leader in various emerging technologies.

The strategy was developed through collaboration with the tech, start-up, and business communities, which provided valuable insights. Fraser credited Canada’s fast and flexible approach, widely supported by Canadians, as the country’s immigration advantage.

In addition to the tech talent strategy, Canada has made revisions to its start-up visa program to attract skilled foreign tech workers. The improvements include increased program spots, the opportunity to apply for a three-year work permit (previously one year), and the chance to obtain an open work permit instead of being limited to working for their start-up.

Furthermore, each member of an entrepreneurial team can now apply for an open work permit, expanding eligibility beyond essential and urgently needed individuals.

These developments in Canada’s immigration policies come in the wake of Germany’s modifications to its immigration laws aimed at attracting skilled foreign workers.

They also follow the United Kingdom’s decision to restrict the ability of foreign students to bring their family members starting in 2024, prompting Canada to introduce faster temporary resident visa processing and more considerate application measures for dependents.

The post Canada Unveils Tech Talent Strategy to Attract Foreign Experts appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.

By integrating the capabilities of Tek Experts, elev8, and Cytek, YNV Tech Talent seeks to bridge the tech talent and digital skill gaps in Nigeria and provide end-to-end IT talent solutions for businesses of all sizes.

Tek Experts, with its global expertise in IT talent sourcing and managed services, combined with elev8’s deep understanding of the local Nigerian market, aims to empower workforces with innovative live and virtual instructor-led and self-paced training solutions.

This collaboration will drive digital transformation in Nigeria. Additionally, Cytek, the recently launched cybersecurity service, offers a comprehensive suite of services including third-party advisory, implementation, and managed security services.

With a more robust range of solutions, YNV Tech Talent assists organizations in Nigeria in filling their tech talent gaps, delivering exceptional customer experiences, and achieving their business outcomes. The expanded offerings also position the group to cater to the needs of larger enterprises and government institutions through skills mapping, role-based training, cutting-edge technologies, digital transformation training, and innovative technology education.

Olugbolahan Olusanya, the Country Manager of Tek Experts Nigeria, highlighted the significant challenge of the tech talent gap faced by organizations in Nigeria. Citing SAP research, he noted that 80% of Nigerian companies expect to encounter a skills gap in the coming year, hindering business growth.

The company’s commitment lies in helping Nigerians develop the necessary skills to succeed in the global workforce. Through partnerships with the government, enterprises, and universities, elev8 provides unique opportunities for Nigerians to acquire the skills and experience required to launch and advance their careers in the tech industry.

By consolidating Tek Experts, elev8, and Cytek under the YNV Tech Talent brand, the company aims to seamlessly bridge the gap between talent and opportunity, upskill the current workforce, and provide cybersecurity solutions.

Furthermore, YNV Tech Talent continues to expand its locations and solutions while striving to make a positive impact in the communities it operates in.

Through partnerships that facilitate the skilling, reskilling, and upskilling of talent, the company aims to retain such talent in Nigeria while also creating opportunities globally, thereby promoting the value of Nigerian talent on a global scale.

The post YNV Tech Talent: Bridging Nigeria’s Tech Talent Gap appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.

The initiative aims to inspire, connect, and empower women, particularly female entrepreneurs, by providing them with financial support, business skills training, and mentoring opportunities.

Abiodun Olubitan, Group Head W Initiative, stated that the Womenpreneur Pitch-a-ton program creates an enabling environment for female entrepreneurs to grow their businesses.

Access Bank has been a strong advocate for women’s economic empowerment in Africa, and the W Initiative focuses on financing, capacity building, and networking opportunities for women.

Since its inception in 2019, the program has received over 150,000 applications, awarded Mini-MBA training to 300 women, and provided over N45 million in grants.

For the 2023 Womenpreneur Pitch-a-ton program, Access Bank plans to increase the number of finalists to 120 women entrepreneurs.

The program will run to August 11, 2023. Eligible female entrepreneurs must have an existing business for at least one year, with at least 50% female ownership and be between the ages of 18 and 55. Interested applicants are required to fill out an online application on the website www.womenpreneur.ng.

The online applications will be reviewed and screened by independent business experts. Five hundred candidates will be selected to submit a sixty-second video pitch. From these submissions, the top 120 candidates will be chosen as finalists.

The program will span three months and include eight weeks of mini-MBA training in collaboration with the International Finance Corporation (IFC). The finalists will have the opportunity to pitch their businesses to a Pan-African jury panel and compete for financial grants and other consolation prizes.

In summary, the Womenpreneur Pitch-a-ton Season 5 is a comprehensive program designed to empower female entrepreneurs across Africa through financial support, business training, and mentoring opportunities. Access Bank’s W Initiative aims to be the leading advocate for women’s economic empowerment in the region

The post Access Bank Launches Season 5 of Womenpreneur Pitch-a-ton appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.

From an early age in Aba, Chukwuka was captivated by the power of design. During his university days, he discovered his passion for design advocacy, realizing the immense potential it held to shape the world around him. Fuelled by this passion, he embarked on a remarkable journey that would take him to new heights.

Chukwuka’s talent and entrepreneurial spirit led him to co-found Mogedy Technologies, a leading tech company in Nigeria. Through this venture, he harnessed the power of technology to create innovative solutions that transformed industries and improved lives. But Chukwuka’s ambitions didn’t stop there.

Driven by his desire to empower others, Chukwuka embarked on a mission to inspire and mentor aspiring designers. He became an active advocate for design, not only in Nigeria but also across international tech scenes in the US, Canada, and the UK. He shared his expertise at design seminars and webinars, leaving audiences in awe of his thought-provoking insights.

One of Chukwuka’s most impactful initiatives was the Girls in Tech project. Recognizing the untapped potential of talented girls from rural areas of Lagos, he spearheaded an initiative to provide them with laptops and training in the tech industry. Through this project, Chukwuka empowered young girls to defy expectations and embrace their passion for technology, opening doors to endless possibilities.

But Chukwuka’s quest for innovation didn’t end there. He joined forces with Chuxem Links as their Chief Technology Officer, leading the creation of customized portals and e-libraries for universities across Nigeria. His designs seamlessly blended beauty, functionality, and marketability, revolutionizing the way students and educators interacted with information.

Not content with merely transforming the education sector, Chukwuka also dedicated himself to bridging the gap in academic research. Collaborating with Nigeria’s Ministry of Education, he played a pivotal role in developing Boldscholar, the first African indigenous journal platform. This groundbreaking platform provided a voice for African scholars, amplifying their research and fostering a culture of knowledge-sharing.

Chukwuka’s commitment to his craft was evident in his academic pursuits as well. Armed with a Master’s degree in Information Technology with a specialization in user experience research from the University of West Scotland, he possessed a deep understanding of the human-centered design process. Additionally, his MBA from KROK University equipped him with the strategic mindset required to navigate the ever-evolving landscape of design and technology.

As Chukwuka’s story continued to unfold, his contributions to the design industry continued to inspire and transform. His disruptive designs challenged the status quo and pushed the boundaries of what was possible.

His unwavering dedication to his craft and his commitment to driving positive change established him as a respected figure in the field, leaving a lasting legacy that would shape the creative industry for generations to come.

And so, Chukwuka Madumere’s journey as a visionary designer and advocate for change carried on, with each new project and endeavor fueling his passion and leaving an indelible mark on the world.

The post From Aba to the UK: Chukwuka’s Transformative Journey in the World of Technology appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.

For individuals who are new to the tech world and lack knowledge of technology, starting can be intimidating. The tech industry is rapidly expanding globally and is highly dynamic. However, it also offers exciting prospects for those aspiring to build a career in this field.

Experts widely agree that embarking on the internship route can open doors for you. It provides an opportunity to gain real-world experience within a professional environment. At this stage, expectations are not excessively high because you are not yet in a full-time position. It’s akin to training and preparing you for the actual job role.

Here are several compelling reasons why you should consider starting with an internship before pursuing a tech job:

Professional Environment

Internships allow you to familiarize yourself with the professional culture and work dynamics of the tech industry. You’ll gain insight into how teams collaborate, communicate, and solve problems within a business setting.

Relationship Building

Meeting new people presents you with opportunities to shape and influence your career. Internships provide a chance to network with industry professionals, a crucial aspect of advancing your career. Building connections with mentors, colleagues, and industry leaders can lead to future employment prospects, referrals, and potential collaborations.

Practical Experience

Take advantage of the opportunity to explore and discover your interests. That’s precisely what an internship offers. It allows you to learn about various aspects of the tech sector and choose the specific area or specialty you wish to pursue.

Learning Opportunities

Starting as an intern exposes you to seasoned experts who can provide guidance, and advice, and share their expertise in the field. You’ll learn about the industry while developing the necessary skills to thrive in it. Additionally, these experienced colleagues can offer feedback on your work, help identify areas for improvement, and provide valuable career guidance.

Employment Prospects

An internship demonstrates to potential employers that you possess professional experience and a commitment to advancing your career. It shows that you have the skills, knowledge, and work ethic required for success in the field. Including an internship on your resume can make a strong impression on hiring managers and increase your chances of securing a job.

In conclusion, starting your tech journey with an internship can significantly benefit your career growth. It allows you to gain valuable experience, develop essential skills, and establish connections within the industry. It serves as a stepping stone toward a successful and rewarding career in technology

The post From Novice to Pro: How Internships Pave Way for Flourishing Tech Career appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.

Can you tell me about the main features of the Keet app?

Keet is a free, fully-encrypted chat application that utilises peer-to-peer connections to facilitate real-time audio/video calls, text chat and file sharing. It is powered by an innovative stack of distributed technology, including DHT distributed databases, that allows users to find and connect to each other to form a swarm, on real-world home and office networks.

This technique is called Distributed Holepunching and allows users to locate and connect to each other using only cryptographic key pairs upon authorization. 

Keet accomplishes all of this while eliminating the risks of a central point of failure and over reliance on third-party platforms.

Unlike traditional video chat apps, which use cloud-based software or outside servers as intermediaries to connect two or more people, Keet users can initiate a high-quality call directly to another individual’s device. This allows for video chatting to take place without a central server or company operating the network.

Additionally, Keet has a peer-to-peer payment built-in feature that allows for Bitcoin and USDt micropayments . By integrating payments through the Lightning network, our goal is for content creators to be able to monetize the amazing content they create without being dependent on third parties, from the people who consume the content directly to the creators. Keet ALPHA for Windows and Keet Mobile IOS & Android are now officially available.

What was the biggest technical challenge you faced during the development process?

We are a fully peer-to-peer company. We never compromise that idea. We do that because we believe privacy is one of the most important things in this day and age.

This also means we have no shortage of technical challenges, as basically every other communication app out there uses centralised servers. Making devices connect directly with each other, even on home networks, has been something we’ve been working on perfecting for multiple years before launching Keet and was definitely not an easy task.

The same goes for making scalable peer-to-peer data structures that allows the app to query just a subset of the data it needs to display chats, or stream terabytes of file data between users – all encrypted.

One thing we love about solving these problems though, is that once we solved them for Keet, we solved them for any other app out there that wants to build a scalable peer-to-peer app. That’s one of the really exciting things about working at Holepunch – once we solve for one we solve for all.

How did you ensure the security and privacy of users’ messages and data

What sets Keet apart from other chat apps, particularly other video chat apps, is the fact it is purely peer-to-peer. There has, rightfully, been growing concern over user privacy and users giving up control of their data.

That’s why we at Tether and Bitfinex chose to participate in the development of Holepunch together with the Hypercore team, the framework that Keet itself was built on..  Through Holepunch, Keet can establish a more efficient and decentralised connection between peers, while maintaining a high level of security and privacy through encryption.

Both Holepunch and Keet were founded to unlock global communications and empower freedom of speech, access to information and combat censorship around the world. Allowing users to be in control of their own data and communication channels are fundamental to breaking free from technology monopolies.

What are the unique selling points of Keet? 

Keet is a free, first-of-its-kind peer-to-peer chat app built on the Holepunch framework and uniquely integrated with Bitcoin payment features.

Unlike other chat apps on the market, Keet is a private and secured peer-to-peer chat app that allows high-quality and real-time audio-video calls and streams as well as the exchange of heavy chunks of files without the norm of a centralised server or any third party.

With Keet, millions of people will be empowered with the freedom of speech, easier access to information as well as having full control of their data and communication channel without worrying about the risk of leakages, hacking, or censorship, because Keet will never ask for users’ data. Keet believes that freedom of choice, communication and finances are the lifeblood of the future, and anything that will enhance those freedoms is worth amplifying. 

How did you approach user experience and user interface design?

We are a communications app. That means that there is a certain UX that users expect from similar apps. However, being a peer-to-peer app there have been so many things in UI we have had to rethink which has been a fun challenge. Since there are no servers, the app is never actually unavailable. Messages are stored locally and replicated with peers in your chat as they appear.

This means that when you enter a chat, it’s instant and just shows your latest replicated messages, unlike other centralised apps. As an example, in our recent versions, we worked on the UX around these kinds of things. The app now shows a small indicator when it is looking for new data, which helps users get a sense of what’s happening.

In fact, great UX is one of our biggest priorities in the company. We never want Keet to just be “a peer-to-peer chat app” – we want it to be “the best chat app”. That means having UX that takes advantage of all the power peer-to-peer offers, but by giving it to users in ways where it’s all about the features it provides. Right now I think file sharing in Keet especially reflects this. You can drop any file and it’s instantly shared. Other peers can see the files immediately, and start streaming them immediately. No technobabble needed.

One of the things we love about building Keet, is that it’s an app we use extensively everyday to communicate with the team and friends. That means we are heavy users and get to provide our own feedback both to the internal roadmap but also in terms of what needs improvement or fixing.

As most other companies, we also have a dedicated Q/A team that helps make sure the app has no regressions and tracks whatever bugs appear. Testing peer-to-peer apps is a bit different than testing centralised apps. Since the app is all you need, testing fully end-to-end is a lot easier than normal deployments. We just swarm a prerelease app to our network and have our team test that. Once the testing period is over, we simply update the release app – all over the peer-to-peer network obviously!

Can you tell me about any unique or innovative solutions you implemented in your app

This is a hard question as the entire app is unique and innovative behind the scenes. Similar to how we describe the UX, one of the things we keep loving about Keet is how it presents a really simple interface on top of an extremely novel and innovative engine. Some things that always stand out to us as technical people, is how the entire app itself is distributed peer-to-peer as well.

Once you get the initial installer from the web site, it’s all data swarming between you and the peers. This is truly powerful, as updates are just signed by us, but run directly between users, giving them even more privacy and resilience. This is the same internal engine, Hypercore, that runs chat replication, file replication and more, and this just shows the power of peer-to-peer. We solved general data replication once, and now every aspect of our app is using it.

Bringing the entire peer-to-peer stack to mobile, also required a lot of innovation. In the end we have to develop a completely new runtime for running Javascript based apps on mobile with the capabilities we needed for peer-to-peer, such as networking, file system apis, even timers.

We actually JUST released the latest version of this engine to our mobile app, and it is super exciting to watch that develop and mature.

What are your future plans for the development and improvement of your Keet instant messenger app

Keet is currently in ALPHA, but since the release of Keet mobile we’ve been heavily iterating it and we are getting ready to release the BETA version that incorporates a lot of feedback we’ve been getting from users. BETA runs on a fully new chat engine that we are calling Big Rooms. It allows for chat rooms with hundreds of thousands of users inside, still all fully peer-to-peer. This also includes features like emoji reactions, moderator roles and more. We are super excited to start rolling this out to users soon.

Additionally, we are implementing blind mirroring on top of the Big Rooms engine. Blind mirroring allows any peer to host a fully encrypted live copy of a chat room. With blind mirroring you can have fully private rooms, but you can offline the uptime of the rooms to peers in the network – with no loss of privacy. This is especially exciting for Keet mobile, as it allows you to offload your mobile rooms to other Keet peers, making it really easy to host mobile-only rooms.

We are also expanding our payments options in the app, integrating USDt payments and more. 2023 will definitely be a great year for Keet.

The post Paolo Ardoino Speaks on Keet App’s Revolutionary Bitcoin-Infused Chat Platform appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.

BLord took to his Facebook account to share a message and screenshot of his email exchange with Davido’s management. In his initial email, BLord approached Davido with a proposal for a one-year endorsement agreement for his airtime app.

However, Davido’s management responded with a shocking revelation – the artist’s demand was a whopping $5 million (equivalent to approximately N3.7 billion). This amount took BLord and his team by surprise, as their budget for the endorsement was $250,000 (equivalent to N150 million).

BLord, known for his entrepreneurial spirit, had recently made headlines when he turned down a $10 million funding offer from overseas investors for his latest invention, the BillPoint app.

According to him, his company firmly believed that the app had the potential to generate far more revenue than the offered sum in just a few years.

The BLord Group, a fintech firm that has diversified into real estate and other industries, developed the BillPoint app as a response to the challenges faced by traditional banks in handling small transactions like subscription payments, power bills, and recurring utility payments.

With an extensive network of over 30 service providers, BillPoint offers a secure, user-friendly platform for online bill payments, revolutionizing the way people manage their financial obligations.

BLord’s encounter with Davido’s endorsement fee serves as a reminder of the unpredictable nature of the business world, where negotiations and financial expectations can vary significantly.

Nonetheless, BLord remains steadfast in his pursuit of innovative solutions and is determined to make a lasting impact in the tech and fintech sectors

The post Davido Shocks Tech Pioneer BLord with $5m Endorsement Fee appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.