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The African tech scene was met with fanfare in 2021: Venture capital investments in the region totaled between $4 billion and $5 billion and produced five unicorns. In my piece detailing this progress, I predicted there would be more unicorns in 2022. Those predictions proved to be way off the mark by year’s end.

Data from market insights trackers Briter Bridges and The Big Deal reveal that funding raised by African startups exceeded $5 billion (including undisclosed deals) in 2022 — a slight percentage increase from the figures reported in 2021 despite a global pullback in VC funding. And yet, no unicorns popped up throughout the year, compared to five in 2021.

That fact may appear insignificant because, at the end of the day, private valuations don’t pass an actual test till startups go public. However, producing no unicorns despite raising more venture capital suggests it’s perhaps too early to assume African markets are mature enough to consistently pop out private billion-dollar companies like their Global South counterparts: India, Southeast Asia and Latin America.

That said, 2022 was peculiar. The global economic downturn and venture capital crunch ensured that every region produced fewer billion-dollar companies than the previous year. Globally, 216 unicorns were minted in 2022, per Tracxn, compared to 541 in the previous year. In India, 22 companies became unicorns last year, compared to 46 in 2021. While 18 companies in Latin America got their horns in 2021, that figure fell to just eight last year.

Unlike Africa, these regions raised way less venture capital in 2022 than in 2021, so it makes sense that their unicorn numbers dropped. For example, in India, the number of unicorns dropped by more than half as VC activity dropped by 33%. Latin America and Southeast Asia also witnessed a double-digit decline in VC funding last year compared to 2021, though the drop in unicorns indicates more damage.

So what happened in Africa in 2022 that made it so … weird?

Why Africa had no unicorns last year despite record fundraising haul by Tage Kene-Okafor originally published on TechCrunch

After years of denials and loathing, Apple may finally be getting around to bringing touchscreens to MacBooks. According to Bloomberg, Apple is actively working on this project and may break away from its long-standing approach of designing a traditional desktop system without a touchscreen.

Apple could launch MacBooks with touchscreens by 2025 as a part of a new MacBook Pro lineup, the Bloomberg report adds. This lineup revamp could also see the company switching from LCD to OLED displays for the 14-inch and 16-inch Pro models.

Earlier this week, another Bloomberg report indicated that Apple was aiming to make its own screens for Apple Watch and iPhone. However, there was no mention of the company building displays for its Mac lineup.

Apple executives have long maintained the stance that MacBooks don’t need to have a touchscreen. Instead, for years they have invited people to try an iPad if they want a large computing device with a touchscreen. The closest Apple ever got around to bringing a touchscreen on a Mac was adding the TouchBar on the keyboard— which is slowly being phased out — on MacBook Pros.

Apple has long maintained that iPad is the best touchscreen “computer” out there. The company might have to slowly move away from that narrative if they are planning to launch MacBooks with a touchscreen. Meanwhile, Apple’s competitors, including Microsoft, have built a long line of touchscreen laptops with different form factors.

Steve Jobs famously called touchscreens on laptops “ergonomically terrible” back in 2010.

“We’ve done tons of user testing on this, and it turns out it doesn’t work. Touch surfaces don’t want to be vertical. It gives a great demo, but after a short period, you start to fatigue, and after an extended period, your arm wants to fall off. It doesn’t work; it’s ergonomically terrible,” he had said. But technology has evolved since then and Apple has also introduced things like the Apple Pencil, another product idea that Jobs hated.

More recently, Apple senior VP Craig Federighi also referred to touchscreen PCs as “experiments” and said he is “not into touchscreens.”

On the positive side, iOS apps on MacBooks could work better if Apple decided to go ahead with this plan. The company first introduced Project Catalyst in 2020 to bring iOS apps to desktop systems.

The iPhone-maker is treading on a convoluted line. On one hand, it has made its iPads more powerful in recent years, giving them desktop-class processors, decent add-on keyboards, and added a number of desktop features to the iPadOS. So to sell both iPad and MacBooks with touchscreen, Apple will have to keep enough differentiation between the two lineups.

Apple is reportedly working on MacBooks with touchscreens by Ivan Mehta originally published on TechCrunch

Stripe, a richly-valued payments startup, has cut its internal valuation yet again, according to sources familiar with the manner. It is now valued, internally, at $63 billion.

The cut, first reported by The Information, puts Stripe’s internal per-share price at $24.71, down 40% since peaking. The 11% cut comes after a prior internal valuation cut that occurred six months ago, which valued the company at $74 billion.

The valuation change was not triggered by a new funding round, but instead a new 409A price change. 409A valuations are set by third-parties, which means that they are not tied to what a venture backer or other investor thinks. It’s an IRS-regulated process that measures the value of common stock against public market comps to help set a fair market value.

Companies are supposed to do a 409A at least every 12 months or when a material event might lower its valuation. In Stripe’s case, alongside other late stage companies, the 409A valuation reviews are now getting conducted on what looks like a quarterly basis. Material events in the background range from the evergreen, and ever-tense macroeconomic climate; and let’s not forget that Stripe’s public market comps are certainly showing signs of trouble, with Shopify, Block and Paypal all down from their 52-week highs.

Internal valuation cuts offer a different signal than an investor-led markdown. In fact, many founders and industry experts see a company receiving a 409A valuation that’s lower than its private, investor-led valuation, as a good thing. Per analysts, that’s because a low 409A valuation allows companies to grant their employees stock options at a lower price. Companies can also use the new, lower 409A valuation as a recruiting tool, luring prospective employees with cheap options and the promise of cashing out at a higher price when the company eventually exits.

Still, in Stripe’s case, a second internal valuation cut may not necessarily be being used to attract new talent. In November 2022, the fintech laid off 14% of its workforce, impacting around 1,120 of the fintech giant’s 8,000 workforce. Back in August, TechCrunch learned that Stripe laid off employees behind TaxJar, a tax compliance startup it acquired last year.

In a memo addressing Stripe’s layoffs, CEO Patrick Collison shared some of his reasoning for the personnel pullback: “We were much too optimistic about the internet economy’s near-term growth in 2022 and 2023 and underestimated both the likelihood and impact of a broader slowdown.” Instead, the valuation cut could help with retention of existing employees, or even adjust expectations ahead of a wishful IPO.

Stripe’s internal valuation gets cut to $63 billion by Natasha Mascarenhas originally published on TechCrunch

Kakao Entertainment announced today it has raised $966 million (1.2 trillion won) in financing from sovereign wealth funds, such as Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) and Singapore-based PWARP Investment. The entertainment subsidiary of South Korean internet giant Kakao operates storytelling platforms (web novels and webtoons), music, K-pop artists management, and other media (movie and TV series) businesses at home and abroad.

With the latest funding, the company will further push ahead with its international expansion and make more investments and acquisitions.

Kakao Entertainment, which has built a webtoon platform in the U.S. and South Korea, aims to extend its storytelling content and intellectual property sources for its readers around the globe, stressing its key growth strategy in North America. In 2021, Kakao EntertainmentacquiredU.S-based storytelling platforms such as Tapas, a webtoon platform;Radish, a serial fiction app; andWuxiaworld, a fantasy fiction platform.

The company claims it has 100,000 storytelling creators and plans to seek opportunities to turn popular webtoons or web novels into movies or TV series.

Kakao’s chief investment officer Jae-hyun Bae said in a statement that it’s a significant deal that the company was able to raise this scale of funding amid global economic uncertainties. “This is a testament to the global competitiveness and future growth of potential of Kakao Entertainment’s unique intellectual property (IP) value chain, which spans multiple categories in the entertainment industry,” Bae said.

Kakao Entertainment lands $966M from sovereign wealth funds, including Saudi Arabia’s PIF by Kate Park originally published on TechCrunch

Indonesia’s PasarPolis is now able to underwrite its own products, making it one of Indonesia’s first full-stack insurtechs. This means PasarPolis will be able to offer new products and work with partners like Tokopedia, Gojek, Traveloka, Xiaomi and IKEA Indonesia to create custom insurance policies.

PasarPolis is able to underwrite insurance products because of its strategic partnership with Tap Insurance. Tap Insurance received a full license for insurance underwriting from OJK (Otoritas Jasa Keuangan, or the Financial Services Authority of Indonesia).

Cleosent Randing, the founder and CEO of PasarPolis, told TechCrunch that the first products from the strategic partnership will include fire and vehicle insurance.

Founded in 2015, PasarPolis has raised over $59 million in total to date and is backed by investors like Gojek, Tokopedia, Traveloka, Leapfrog and SBI. Its policies include travel, home content, logistics, electronic devices, life and vehicle insurance.

PasarPolis currently has 60,000 registered agents in Indonesia, and partners with 50 insurance providers. It says it has served more than 80 million customers and issued one billion policies between 2019 and 2021, partnering with 40 companies to distribute products.

Distribution partners include Shopee, Tokopedia, Gojek and Xiaomi. Customers can add micro-insurance policies to their purchases from their platform for about 5,000 to 20,000 Indonesian rupiah (or 32 cents to $1.29 USD).

PasarPolis is able to scale because it uses machine learning and data analytics to make the underwriting and claims process faster and more cost-effective. It claims 87% of non-credit insurance claims in 2022 were settled within 24 hours. PasarPolis’ tech includes algorithms that automate the claims approval process, based on data submitted by customers, like photos, chronology and date and time of events. The algorithm then filters information to PasarPolis’ faster “green” channel.”

The company’s most recent launches include its Unified Claims Interface (POLI), which lets customers file multiple claims through different channels like email , WhatsApp, SMS and PasarPolis’ mobile app.

Randing says PasarPolis’ goal is to reduce the cost of insurance and increase penetration in Indonesia, where insurance penetration rate was only 4% as of 2022.

“We think that inclusive insurance is a vital add-on to basic state social,” he said. “Particularly the health protection in line with the increasing concern of many to protect their families’ health, especially during the pandemic.”

PasarPolis is now one of Indonesia’s first full-stack insurtechs by Catherine Shu originally published on TechCrunch