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Timbaland and Swizz Beatz stepped up to the plate during the pandemic to add some joy through the concept of Verzuz. After much success and some questionable head-to-head musical battles, Triller acquired Verzuz from the two musical icons. Oh, what a tale of American economics. Many culturalists speculated that the acquisition would water down the impact of Verzuz. Others saw Triller’s money move as an attempt to stay relevant, specifically against its ever-popular competitor — Tik Tok. Whether any of those speculations are true, Triller is in the news again. This time, the short video app filed official paperwork with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission to take the company public.
Business for Rihanna’s Savage X Fenty has been booming as of late. In January, AfroTech previously shared that the lingerie brand raised $125 million in a Series C funding round — bringing its total venture capital funding to $310 million. The round included participation from Neuberger Berman, L Catterton, Avenir, Sunley House Capital, and Jay-Z’s Marcy Venture Partners. According to Savage X Fenty co-presidents Christiane Pendarvis and Natalie Guzman, the new funding is for “retail domination.” The brand’s evolution continues as Rihanna is reportedly looking to take it public. According to Bloomberg, the business maven has been “working with advisers on an initial public offering” that could possibly take Savage X Fenty to a valuation of $3 billion or more. The banks that her company is said to be working with is Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Morgan Stanley, according to the outlet’s sources. The listing could go into effect this year, but nothing has been publicly confirmed yet by...
If you’ve ever wanted to own a pair of sneakers signed by Kobe Bryant, but don’t have an extra $89,000 laying around, Collectable has a unique solution for you. Yahoo is reporting that the online sports memorabilia company is offering the late basketball legend’s signed French Blue Air Jordan 12 Retro sneakers as an IPO. Collectable’s idea is that memorabilia collectors can own a piece of sports history at an affordable price (in this case, for $10/share), so more fans can access things they otherwise wouldn’t be able to access. “Investors are limited to $5,000 in the first 15 minutes and $15,000 in the next 45 minutes. The cap will be lifted after the first hour. $10 per share, $89,000 All-in, $89,000 IPO, $5,000 share cap for first 15 mins,” explained the company. This offering is one of two pairs of Air Jordans worn by the late Kobe Bryant. The sneakers were verified as authentic, and Bryant wore them to play a Lakers vs. Boston Celtics game in December 2003. The pair features...
Nigeria-based media company IROKO has big plans to go public in the next year on the London Stock Exchange Alternative Investment Market. Founded in 2011 by Jason Njoku and Bastian Gotter, IROKO is a West African film streaming service that showcases an extensive catalog of Nollywood film content. It was rumored that the company planned to go public back in 2019, but after a few mishaps and having to weather business through the coronavirus pandemic, talks of IROKO going public are back on the table. “What we can achieve in private, we can equally achieve as a public company. We will likely open up the IPO to our loyal members too so they can capture the value too, which I am super excited about. One thing about IROKO is that we have always been pioneers and we’re okay being super experimental,” Njoku told TechCrunch. “I plan to open-source the entire process so any other African company coming behind — if we’re successful — will benefit from our experience.” This is such a big step...
Stripe just acquired Paystack , a startup out of Lagos, Nigeria that provides a faster way to integrate payments services into an offline or online transaction by way of an API. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Paystack (@paystackhq) TechCrunch reports earlier this year, Stripe announced they had picked up an additional $600 million in funding and is standing on its reason – to expand its API-based payments services into more geographies. Currently, Paystack has around 60,000 customers which include fintechs, educational institutions, larger corporates, and online betting companies. According to the company, their plan is to continue to operate independently. While the terms of the deal have not been disclosed — according to TechCrunch — sources close have confirmed that it’s over $200 million. The new deal is Stripe’s largest acquisition to date anywhere, and the biggest startup acquisition — to date — to come out of Nigeria. “There is enormous opportunity,” said...
Delivery drivers and other employees for Instacart and DoorDash have had their fair share of battles for better pay, and now Postmates drivers are rallying for their own cause. Postmates workers are now requesting minimum delivery guarantees, and higher wages after the company recently changed its pay structure, according to TechCrunch. Postmates used to pay workers a base rate per job, plus per-minute wait time rates and per-mile rates. The company also incorporated $4 minimum guarantees for each job that required Postmates to make up the difference for any orders that did not hit the minimum. Now Postmates does not have a minimum guarantee, and workers fear that they will be paid below the minimum wage. “Technological innovations reduced pick up times, and route efficiencies are increasing the rate and pace of deliveries a Postmates can choose to make in a given hour, increasing payout averages from $17/hour in 2018 to $19/hour in 2019,” a Postmates spokesperson told TechCrunch....