Tag: Naspers

Online retailer Takealot appoints Mamongae Mahlare as Group CEO

Frank

SOUTH AFRICA – Naspers-controlled online retailer Takealot Group has appointed Mamongae Mahlare as its new Group Chief Executive Officer, effective 1 October 2021. In a statement, the online retailer says Mahlare’s appointment follows the announcement that Kim Reid will transition to chairman of Takealot Group during the course of this year 2021, where he will focus on the group’s longer-term growth ambitions. In February 2021, Takealot made some changes to its executive team. At the time, the company said once he becomes chairman, Reid is set to work closely with the Group CEO…

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Insurtech firm Naked gets US$8.4m funding from Naspers

Frank

SOUTH AFRICA – Naspers, through its early-stage tech investment vehicle Naspers Foundry, announced a R120 million (US$8.4 million) investment in Naked, an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven insurtech company that offers a new, fully digital way for consumers to insure their cars, homes, and valuables. In a statement, Naspers says the transaction is Naspers Foundry’s second insurtech investment in two weeks and its biggest investment to date. In July 2021, Naspers announced a R34 million (US$2.4 million) investment in the digital insurance advice platform, Ctrl. The investments are part of Naspers’s R1.4 billion (US$98.2…

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Mobility startup WhereIsMyTransport secures US$14.5m Series A extension round led by Naspers

Frank

SOUTH AFRICA – Mobility startup WhereIsMyTransport has raised a US$14.5 million Series A extension round as it bids to continue its expansion across emerging markets. Formed in 2016, WhereIsMyTransport is a big data platform for sustainable mobility in emerging markets, which connects and collects data and integrates this information on its open data platform. Its products are used by cities to coordinate and monitor services, operators to integrate their systems, and passengers, who access the platform through apps and endpoints connected to the WhereIsMyTransport platform. The company, which is active in South…

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Tech investment group Prosus to sell 2% stake in Tencent for increased flexibility

Frank

SOUTH AFRICA – Technology investment group Prosus, a unit of consumer Internet company Naspers, has announced its intention to sell more than 191 million shares, or 2 percent of its shares in tech behemoth Tencent  valued at about US$15 billion  as it seeks further acquisitions for growth amid Covid-19. Prosus will reduce its stake to 28.9 percent from 30.9 percent in Chinese tech giant Tencent and intends to use the proceeds of the sale to increase its financial flexibility to invest in growth sectors and for general corporate purposes. Naspers…

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Agritech startup Aerobotics raises US$17m in funding round led by Naspers

Frank

SOUTH AFRICA – Agritech start-up Aerobotics founded in Cape Town, has raised US$17-million in a series-B funding round led by Naspers, one of the world’s top 10 technology investors. Report of the investment comes barely a year after Naspers said it would invest US$6.7 million in Aerobotics through its Naspers Foundry business, which funds early-stage ventures. Other than Naspers, there was also “significant participation” from Platform Investment Partners, FMO: Entrepreneurial Development Bank and Cathay AfricInvest Innovation. The series-B investment will used to further technology development and product delivery in the US, a…

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E-commerce group Naspers invests US$2.9m in online learning platform, The Student Hub

Frank

SOUTH AFRICA – Naspers, the South African e-commerce group, has announced an investment of US$2.9 million in online learning platform, The Student Hub. The Student Hub platform helps TVET colleges to overcome physical infrastructure constraints and improves students’ access to vocational education and training. The investment coincides with the South Africa Investment Conference 2020 where Naspers is a lead partner. Naspers said it was on track with an original US$293 million investment commitment in growing South Africa’s tech sector. Phuthi Mahanyele-Dabengwa, South Africa chief executive of Naspers said, “The work…

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E-commerce group Prosus raises US$2bn through debt offering to bolster its acquisition plans

Frank

SOUTH AFRICA – Prosus, an e-commerce group, has raised more than US$2 billion (R33bn) through an over-subscribed debt offering to bolster its acquisitions plans amid industry consolidation and Covid-19. Prosus, which listed on the Euronext Amsterdam and JSE last September, said that it had raised the money through debt, comprising its longest-dated dollar offering. It said the purpose of the offerings was to raise proceeds for general corporate purposes, including potential future merger and acquisition activity, as well as to further augment the company’s liquidity position. Takaendesa said Prosus was…

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Prosus listing to reduce Naspers’ dominance on Johannesburg Stock Exchange – experts

Frank

SOUTH AFRICA – NaspersAmsterdam Foray, a global internet group has been dominating the South African stock market but this is about to be reduced partially. According to Fin 24, this is good news for a number of fund managers concerned about the tech giant’s weighting in the main local index. After Naspers lists its unit Prosus NV in Amsterdam on Sept, the company will drop to about 15% of Johannesburg’s equities benchmark from a massive 21% currently Peter Takaendesa, a Cape Town-based fund manager, estimates. The role Naspers plays in…

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Naspers leads US$2.33 m funding in blockchain platform DappRadar

Frank

SOUTH AFRICA – Global Internet titan, Naspers, together with two other venture capitalists, has raised close to R30 million (US$2.33 million) to invest in DappRadar, a platform for discovering and analysing blockchain-based decentralised applications (dapps). Dapps are applications that run on peer-to-peer computer networks, rather than on centralised machines or servers. Their code is typically open source and the core function is handled by open source smart contracts deployed on a blockchain. According to IT Web, the investors, will use the investment primarily for research and development, developing new functionality…

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Naspers’s largest investor mulls cutting US$17.09bn stake to 16%

Frank

SOUTH AFRICA – South Africa’s Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF), Naspers’s biggest shareholder is considering to reduce its US$ 17.09 billion (R245bn) stake. According to sources with knowledge of the development, GEPF is being advised by its manager the Public Investment Corporation, to cut the stake to about 16% following concerns that it is overexposed to a single stock. As one of the Africa’s biggest company,  Naspers’s value has grown 72-fold since 2004 on the back of the success of an early-stage investment in Chinese games developer Tencent, which listed…

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