article thumbnail

Squire, a barbershop tech startup, triples its valuation to $250M in latest round

TechCrunch

Salvant and Squire’s other co-founder, Songe LaRon, began the business as a back-end barbershop management tool for independent businesses in 2016. This market is underserved by traditional financial institutions,” Salvant said. Going forward, Squire plans to expand into new markets, including Australia, Canada, and the U.K.

article thumbnail

Nigeria’s Mono raises millions to power the internet economy in Africa

TechCrunch

While it appears to have figured out product-market fit, CEO Abdul Hassan is quick to remind everyone that the burgeoning API fintech space is just an entry point to its pursuit of being a data company — a case he also made in February. “The way I see it, our market is not that big. Image Credits: Mono.

Internet 364
article thumbnail

Make no bones about it, Fuzzy expands reach into pet care market with capital infusion

TechCrunch

The company, founded in 2016, provides 24/7 live chat and telehealth, ship-to-home prescriptions, vet-curated items in its e-commerce marketplace and educational content and programs. The San Francisco-based company previously raised $18 million in a Series B round in March.

Marketing 245
article thumbnail

Butternut Box wolfs down $354M for subscription canine cuisine

TechCrunch

Founded out of London in 2016, Butternut Box serves a handful of European markets with myriad culinary products spanning the meat and vegetable fray, […]

Marketing 289
article thumbnail

AI in the C-suite: Using AI to shape business strategy

CIO

Lazarev now urges clients to use AI for analytics and decision-making and believes AI can bridge the gap between companies and customers, creating better market understanding and boosting profits. “It was a lightbulb moment for me, seeing AI … as a bridge to deeper customer insights,” he said.

article thumbnail

FlexID gets Algorand funding to offer self-sovereign IDs to Africa’s unbanked

TechCrunch

million in 2016. And that’s what the Zimbabwean government sought to accomplish when it introduced a financial inclusion scheme from 2016 to 2020. These are issues that affect Africa and emerging markets, not just Zimbabwe. The number of bank accounts in the country stood at 1.5 million in 2020.

article thumbnail

Nigerian healthtech startup Reliance Health raises $40M led by General Atlantic

TechCrunch

Reports say healthtech in Africa should reach a market value of over US$11 billion by 2025 and Reliance Health is looking to play a pivotal role in the continent reaching that capitalization. The company was founded in 2016 by Femi Kuti , Opeyemi Olumekun and Matthew Mayaki. year-over-year revenue growth from 2016.