Bfree, a Nigerian credit management fintech has embarked on global expansion after raising $1.7 million in a pre-Series A round, to tap the opportunities in emerging markets, where digital lending apps have recently sprung up in droves. Funds that participated in the latest round included 4Di Capital, Octerra Capital, VestedWorld, Voltron Capital, Logos Ventures, and […]
Google’s Area 120 launches Qaya, a service offering web storefronts for digital creators
A team at Google is today launching a new service called Qaya, which will allow creators to easily set up new web storefronts where they can sell their products and services directly to their audiences. The project is the latest to emerge from Google’s in-house project incubator, Area 120, which was recently a part of […]
How good are face masks, really?
Massive Random-Controlled Trial of Face-Mask Protection against COVID-19 “Critics of mask mandates have cited the lack of relevant randomized clinical trials, which assign participants at random to either a control group or an intervention group. But t…
Meet the startups changing mobility for emerging middle classes
In emerging economies, where spending billions to build public transit infrastructure can be out of reach, startups are using technology to meet the mobility needs of a rising urban middle class. Swvl, Treepz, Jatri, SafeBoda, Urbvan, Chalo and Buser are just a few of the startups that have popped up in Africa, Asia, the Middle […]
UN quizzed over role in prison-like island camp for Rohingya refugees
Rights groups raise concerns over deal to provide services on Bhasan Char, as Bangladesh plans to increase camp’s population by 80,000The UN’s refugee agency (UNHCR) is facing questions over whether it is helping to detain Rohingya refugees in prison-l…
Turkey’s border wall and deported Haitians: human rights this fortnight – in pictures
A roundup of the struggle for human rights and freedoms, from Kenya to France Continue reading…
Chaldal, Bangladesh’s largest grocery delivery platform, raises $10M Series C
Founded in 2013, Bangladesh’s Chaldal was one of the first grocery delivery startups in the world to use the “dark” store model, picking up orders from its own warehouses instead of retail stores. Now the company says it is the country’s second-largest grocery player and the largest grocery e-commerce platform, with 27 warehouses located in […]
Amu Darya, Brahmaputra, Ganga, Indus, Irrawaddy, Mekong, Yangtze
The Third Pole is a multilingual site focused on the Himalayan Mountains, the rivers that originate there and the stories of the peoples who live in its watersheds. Stories on unravelling air pollution in Asia. Songs about loss, longing and rivers in …
Commerce platform ShopUp raises $75 million led by Valar in Bangladesh’s largest funding
ShopUp, a startup that is digitizing neighborhood stores in Bangladesh, has raised $75 million in a new financing round that is also the largest in the South Asian market. Peter Thiel’s Valar Ventures led ShopUp’s $75 million Series B round. Prosus Ventures as well as existing investors Flourish Ventures, Sequoia Capital India, and VEON Ventures […]
Boat accident in Bangladesh leaves at least 20 people dead
Passenger boat carrying more than 100 people reportedly sank after being hit by two cargo vesselsMore than 20 people have died and about 50 remain missing in Bangladesh after a passenger boat carrying more than 100 people sank in a large pond.The accid…