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At Healthlane’s Nigeria launch event in November 2021, it was said that Alain Nteff (CEO) and Agbor Ashu (Co-founder and Medical Director) started the company to help Africans get quality and affordable healthcare services.

One of Healthlane’s in-house physicians revealed that the startup provided up to 78 different tests, with results normally out in 45 minutes. The company offered a feeding, supplement, or exercise plan from the results of the tests.

So, in 2022, some Techpoint Africa employees tried out the platform.

One employee, Yinka Awosanya, signed up to get his Hepatitis B vaccination.

But when, in September, he wanted to take the last dose of the vaccine, he noticed worrying signals suggesting that Healthlane might not be working.

“The initial response was that the doctor wasn’t around,” Awosanya recalls, “Later, I was told that their office was being renovated and that they’d come to my house or office to administer it. But they never did. And afterwards, their app stopped working.”

Several sources maintain that Healthlane had a great work culture when it first launched in 2021 in Nigeria and Cameroon.

Employees in Nigeria had access to the company’s fitness facilities.

There were also complimentary fruits, salads, and lunch, with the company covering half the cost of lunch. The company also promised the employees a retreat later in 2022.

But none of these perks, however, prepared them for "the termination" and "unfriendly work environment" that was to come. Also, the retreat never happened.

According to a Cameroonian source, the company's initial goal was to use preventive telemedicine to help people live longer and better lives. But, their business model "had no marketing and sales strategy and relied solely on faith."

Another source told Techpoint Africa that currently, "the work culture is nothing but lack of communication (silence), lying, implementation without consulting relevant opinions, and unnecessary meetings and headaches."

But how did a company with an excellent work culture suddenly change?

Read our full exposé into Healthlane's activities in Nigeria and Cameroon. https://techpoint.africa/2022/11/18/healthlane-owed-salaries-layoffs

Before he founded Patricia, CEO Hanu Fejiro Agbodje (@mightblowyourmind) says he tried and failed at 13 businesses, all of which, in his words, “ended in tears”.

The businesses ranged from a commercial bike business — in which his employee carted away with the bike — to a thriving fast-food joint with 3 in-campus locations that got him arrested and almost expelled from the University of Port Harcourt.

Today, his barely 4-year-old alternative payment solutions platform, Patricia employs over 300 people around the world. But Agbodje is never quick to dismiss his humble entrepreneurial beginnings.

In this interview with Techpoint Africa, he talks about everything from his entrepreneurial journey, to how the Bible inspires him to make bold moves, to why Patricia recently moved its headquarters to Estonia, and plans for the future.

Follow the link below to read or watch the full interview.

https://techpoint.africa/2021/10/05/patricia-hanu-fejiro-abgodje-interview/

Following the announcement of #TwitterBan in Nigeria on Friday, June 4, many Twitter users in Nigeria have opted for VPNs to bypass the ban. But while VPNs can be a quick fix, not all VPNs are safe.

Some free VPNs are not safe enough to protect or keep users’ data private because they compromise their security.

Research by the ICSI Networking and Security Group found that 38% of the 283 Android VPNs studied contained malware.

Some free VPNs contain malware used by cybercriminals to steal users’ data, gain access to their data, or launch a cyberattack.

Like the ISPs and government, some also track their users’ online activities allowing them to sell the information they collect to third parties.

Some free VPNs conceal information about sharing or selling user data, but others disclose it in their privacy policies. But how many people read privacy policies before accepting them?

Free VPNs are not free because they raise money in other ways. To make revenue, they either sell users’ data to third parties or flood you with ads without your permission.

The adage then comes to mind, if you are not paying for the product, you are the product.

A few steps to protect your data:

Carefully choose what country you connect with because VPNs are illegal in some countries. Do your research to ensure your connection is not established in countries like Russia, Uganda, Turkey, and China, amongst others.
Look for a provider that has a VPN kill switch feature. This helps users exit specific programs if an Internet connection fluctuates, reducing the risk of sensitive data being disclosed.

Also, ensure the VPN you are selecting supports Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA). This ensures that only authorised users can gain access to it.

To learn more about the type of VPNs to use and what to look out for while choosing one, read the full explainer here: https://techpoint.africa/2021/06/07/twitterban-vpns-nigerians/

Just two days after a ban on microblogging platform, Twitter, the Nigerian Federal Government is reportedly working to gain control over what Nigerians can access on the Internet.

If reports by the Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ) are anything to go by, the Nigerian Presidency has reached out to the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) to discuss plans to build an internet firewall.

Fij also reports that Ibrahim Gambari, the Chief of Staff to the President, and Lai Mohammed, Minister of Information and Culture were among those present in the meeting.

The Internet Firewall will be similar to China’s Great Firewall, which allows the Chinese government to prevent access to social media platforms like Facebook, Google, Twitter, Instagram, Whatsapp, and any other website it chooses.

https://techpoint.africa/2021/06/06/nigeria-china-internet-social-media/?utm_source=nairaland&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=news

African cross-border payments startup, Chipper Cash has raised a $100 million Series C led by US-based Venture Capital (VC) firm, SVB Capital.

The three-year-old startup, founded by Ham Serunjogi and Maijid Moujaled in 2018, offers mobile-based, no fee, P2P cross-border payment services, across up to seven African countries — Ghana, Uganda, Nigeria, Tanzania, Rwanda, South Africa and Kenya.

According to Techcrunch, the company has also expanded to the UK, the first country it has expanded to outside Africa.

https://techpoint.africa/2021/05/31/chipper-cash-raises-100m/?utm_source=nairaland&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=article

People caught sharing pornography on the Internet in Kenya might soon find themselves guilty of an offence punishable by either a 25-year-jail term, a Ksh 20 million fine ($186,020.28), or both.

This is proposed by a bill currently before the Parliament of Kenya titled, The Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes (Amendment) Bill, 2021.

This bill seeks to amend the current Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes Act 2018, which has been severely scrutinised in Kenyan courts.

Apart from the initial proposal which we have mentioned, the bill also empowers the government to block access to certain websites in Kenya. The bill also provides for regulating online activities related to terrorism, cultism, and religious extremism.

Read more about this story here: https://techpoint.africa/2021/05/27/kenya-outlaws-pornography/?utm_source=nairaland&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=article

Another funding round on the way: African digital payment platform, OPay, is reportedly about to close a $400 million seed round at a valuation of more than $1.5 billion. This is coming after raising $170 million in 2019 to expand to Kenya, Ghana, and South Africa.

Although OPay is an African platform, some Chinese VCs backed its funding rounds of 2019.

This could become the second-largest ever funding round by an African startup. It will be topped only by Jumia’s $603m Series C. This could also be Africa’s second unicorn in 2021.

https://techpoint.africa/2021/05/27/techpoint-digest-90/?utm_source=nairaland&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=news

After raising $250k in a pre-seed round and $100k in February 2021, an 11-month-old Nigerian healthtech startup, CribMD, has closed a $2.6 million seed round led by US-based VC, Sputnik ATX; Swedish accelerator, Norrsken; and mass media company, The Guardian Nigeria.

Ifeanyi Ossai (CEO) told Techpoint Africa that they exceeded their $2 million target for this round because of investors’ interest.

Launched in 2020 to build 300 clinics to solve sub-Saharan Africa’s inadequate healthcare problem, CribMD now wants to expand its current team of 36 professionals and grow its network of partners.

https://techpoint.africa/2021/05/26/nigerian-startup-cribmd-2-6m-seed/?utm_source=nairaland&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=news

Nigerian wealth management startup, Cowrywise, has announced that it has raised $3 million pre-series A funding.

The round was led by Washington DC-based Quona Capital, with participation from Sahil Lavingia, Tsadik Foundation, and a syndicate of local and diaspora based Nigerian angels.

Cowrywise says it will use the funds to expand its product offerings to more asset classes, support the onboarding of more fund managers in Nigeria and across the globe, and deepen its investment management infrastructure.

With 19 different mutual funds available through its platform, the company says it uses algorithms to tailor investments options to the customer’s needs.

In June 2018, Cowrywise closed an Angel round of $50,000 led by Microtraction. In August 2018, it raised a $120,000 seed round from Y Combinator and another seed round from Kairos by December of the same year.

It received undisclosed funding from K-50 Ventures in April 2019, before receiving an $80,000 grant from UK-DFID backed accelerator, Catalyst Fund. A first for a Nigerian startup.

The Quona led investment brings Cowrywise’s total funding amount anywhere from $3.3 million to $3.5 million since its 2017 launch.

via Techpoint Africa: https://techpoint.africa/2021/01/28/cowrywise-3m-quona-capital/

After an unpleasant experience with a gig worker in 2017, Femi Taiwo founded an online freelance startup, TERAWORK -- an on-demand talent marketplace that focuses on digital services and encourages non-digital professional services to provide value for others. [team photo]

Similar to the likes of Fiverr, talents sign up and are verified on TERAWORK free of charge. After opening an account and building a profile, the team carries out a vetting process before users’ profiles are made public. After users go live, they can give or receive jobs.

Verified users being onboarded as sellers have a homepage equivalent to a personal website that includes their portfolio. Depending on how soon the minimum requirements are met, the onboarding process can take as little as a day or more than a week.

After a client reaches an agreement with a seller, the payment is placed in escrow in TERAWORK’s account until the client gives a job completion confirmation. Following the deduction of its commission, TERAWORK sends the funds to the freelancer’s wallet.

Despite the similarities with other platforms, Taiwo believes one part of the business model is unique.

Depending on the type and volume of work done, TERAWORK charges talents between 7% and 13% commission. The founder believes it is reasonable compared to the average of 15% common in the freelance marketplace.

It is common to find online freelance platforms that focus on digital products, but TERAWORK also encourages professionals in fashion, fitness, events, confectionery, design, and artwork, among others.

Users can register under one or more of 56 services in 9 categories.

While this seems like a lot for a three-year-old startup, Taiwo says this is deliberate because it wants to pride itself as a one-stop platform for professional services.

[url=techpoint.africa]Techpoint Africa[/url] took a tour of the platform and talked to the founder to better understand how it works. Read the full interview and analysis here: https://techpoint.africa/2021/01/18/nigerian-freelance-startup-terawork/