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iflix Secures Additional $133m Funding

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By Modupe Gbadeyanka

World’s leading Subscription Video on Demand (SVoD) service for emerging markets, iflix, has announced completing a $133 million funding round as it continues to deliver on its vision of bringing the world’s best entertainment to its audiences.

The funding round, which attracted significant interest from both new investors and existing shareholders, was led by Hearst, one of America’s largest diversified media, information and services companies, and also included additional new investors Singapore-based EDBI and clients of DBS private bank.

Existing shareholders Evolution Media, Sky PLC, Catcha Group, Liberty Global, Jungle Ventures and PLDT Inc. also increased their investments.

Since going live in May 2015, iflix rapidly established a clear leadership position in emerging markets, setting a new standard for delivering a world-class streaming entertainment service, passionately focused on local customer experiences.

Over the last 12 months, the service has seen extraordinary growth across all segments of the business, expanding from four markets to 19 across Asia, the Middle East and Africa.

The company has additionally built deep integrated distribution partnerships with 27 leading telecommunications operators to bundle the iflix service with customers’ mobile and data subscriptions, all sponsored by the telecommunications provider.

During the period, iflix also achieved tremendous growth across subscriber numbers and engagement by 3x and 2x respectively, and recorded some of the highest average active mobile viewing durations of any service in the world at 2.5-2.75 hours per session.

The company saw 230 percent growth in year on year revenue, and increased its commitment to localization, producing 26,000 hours of subtitles in nine languages, with locally-curated content in every market.

iflix’s full content library showcases thousands of award-winning and iconic first run programs and library content from over 230 studio partners from 30 countries.

The new round brings total funding raised by iflix this calendar year to an excess of $220 million. Proceeds from the round will be used to invest in its local content strategy.

iflix recently unveiled its first exclusive original production, Oi Jaga Mulut, an audacious, uncensored, no holds barred stand-up comedy series, which since debuting in Malaysia last week, has skyrocketed to the leading show on the service.

Partnering with TVOne, iflix also launched live premiere football streaming, available for the first time in Indonesia, which immediately became one of the highest performing shows there with more than 34,000 unique viewers tuning in the first week of airing.

Last week, iflix Philippines announced its collaboration with the Philippines’ Queen of All Media, Kris Aquino, to commission an original drama series.

iflix Co-founder and Group CEO Mark Britt said: “We are thrilled to welcome Hearst President and CEO Steven Swartz and Hearst Entertainment & Syndication President Neeraj Khemlani to the iflix family. As iflix continues to grow and pioneer new ways for consumers to enjoy entertainment on their terms, we were looking for a partner who could bring additional expertise and knowledge to our business.

“Hearst is a leading investor and has many of the world’s most innovative and iconic video brands, including ESPN, A+E Networks, Vice, AwesomenessTV, Complex and more. This collaboration significantly deepens our bench of experts with our longstanding partners Evolution Media, Sky and Liberty Global to help drive iflix’s continuing growth.”

“From the beginning, our vision for iflix has been to build a word-class service for the local customer, transforming the way everyday consumers enjoy entertainment in emerging markets. These new funds will allow us to further execute on our local content strategy and expand our technology and development teams so we can continue to rapidly evolve the iflix service to meet the unique challenges of emerging markets,” continued Britt.

President of Hearst Entertainment & Syndication Neeraj Khemlani said: “iflix is riding the wave of exponential growth of the middle class in emerging markets that want more access to premium regional, local and Western content. We look forward to working with our new partners Sky, Liberty Global, Evolution Media and Catcha Group, as well as emerging market telcos, to support iflix’s innovative founders and management team in their rapid expansion plans.”

Founding shareholders Evolution Media and Catcha Group have participated in all preceding capital raisings and further increased their support this round.

Evolution Media Founder and Co-Managing Partner Rick Hess said: “As a founding partner of iflix, Evolution Media, along with Catcha Group and Mark, were inspired by the opportunity to reach the ‘next’ 1bn consumers. The phenomenal growth of iflix has challenged many of the preconceptions we have in Hollywood about how entertainment is consumed in emerging markets around the world. It’s fascinating to see iflix learn, scale and forge this new path.”

Catcha Group Co-founder and Group CEO Patrick Grove commented: “Today marks the next step in our journey in creating a category defining company that revolutionizes the way people in emerging markets consume and enjoy content. Since launching in May 2015, iflix has consistently delivered an exceptionally high-value service with strong, unparalleled focus on customer experience.”

iflix was advised by Moelis & Company LLC, Delta Partners and Herbert Smith Freehills on the transaction.

Modupe Gbadeyanka is a fast-rising journalist with Business Post Nigeria. Her passion for journalism is amazing. She is willing to learn more with a view to becoming one of the best pen-pushers in Nigeria. Her role models are the duo of CNN's Richard Quest and Christiane Amanpour.

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Investors Arm Refold AI $6.5m to Eliminate Enterprise ‘Integration Tax’

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Refold AI team

By Aduragbemi Omiyale

An Artificial Intelligence (AI) startup, Refold AI, has completed a $6.5 million round in seed funding to develop a platform that removes API complexity into repeatable, productized software with AI.

Every year, companies pay about $350 billion to big consultancies and systems integrators to ensure API’s work smoothly, but Refold AI is coming to end this tax on business with an AI-native infrastructure.

In a statement shared with Business Post, it was disclosed that this seed funding was led by Eniac Ventures, Tidal Ventures, with participation from Better Capital, Ahead VC, Karman Ventures, Z21 and other notable angels.

The company will use the new capital to expand its engineering team, deepen product integrations, and support its growing enterprise customer base.

Refold AI currently works with over 30 paying enterprise customers, including Incorta and Naehas, has grown 2X in two months, supporting more than 1,500 active users and processing 30+ million API calls per month, with ARR already in the seven figures.

The startup flips the traditional playbook. Instead of hiring teams or middleware to maintain system connections, companies can deploy Refold’s autonomous agents – small AI programs that learn how systems interact, write and maintain integration code, and adapt automatically as software changes.

The platform is already being used to manage ERP-to-CRM syncs, finance automation, and mission-critical supply chain flows across its early customer base.

Refold’s platform is built on three-layered architecture that supports everyone from engineers to end users. At the foundation are Workflow Code Agents, used by solution engineering teams to generate, test, and maintain integration logic without boilerplate. On top of that sits MCP Chains, a natural language interface where business teams can describe outcomes and have agents generate working workflows automatically.

For SaaS product teams, Refold also includes an Embedded Integrations Platform — a plug-and-play toolkit for offering native integrations, complete with prebuilt UI components. Together, these layers let teams turn edge-case service requests into repeatable software products in days, not months.

While legacy iPaaS tools offer templates and global consultancies bill by the hour, Refold turns every edge-case request into a repeatable, productized agent. The platform’s incentives are flipped: it profits not by extending complexity, but by eliminating it. At its core, Refold combines reasoning and reinforcement learning to enable agents that make decisions.

Refold’s agents have already delivered real results. In production, they’ve automated reconciliation in finance workflows, unified inventory and order systems for supply chains, and built real-time data sync pipelines across ERP and CRM stacks. Previously, these were multi-quarter projects. Refold ships them in days and maintains them without tickets.

With a 20-person team across San Mateo and Bangalore and plans to grow to 30 by year-end, Refold is now focused on deepening its enterprise integration catalog and pushing toward zero-friction deployment.

“We were spending more time managing chaos than building software. We started Refold with a simple idea: integrations are repeatable and cumbersome, it should not need humans,” the chief executive and co-founder of Refold AI, Jugal Anchalia, said.

Also, the CPO and co-founder of Refold AI, Abhishek Kumar, noted, “We’re not building another workflow tool. We’re replacing the consultant economy with agents that learn and scale. In the future, integrations should be free, fast, and invisible.”

One of the investors, Hadley Harris from Eniac Ventures, said, “As we enter the agentic era, enterprise integrations stand out as one of the most compelling and valuable use cases.

“For decades, companies have burned billions on brittle, bloated workflows. Refold has rebuilt the stack from the ground up to make integrations seamless and intelligent, and the market is already catching on.”

Another investors, Nicholas Muy from Tidal Ventures, said, “Finally, someone is fixing the most broken part of enterprise software. For decades, we’ve been patching integrations with expensive consultants and manual work. Refold’s AI agents don’t just patch the problem—they eliminate it. This is a fundamental leap forward.”

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Google, GOMYCODE to Train 1000 Nigerian Developers on Generative AI

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Build with AI Nigerian developers

By Aduragbemi Omiyale

No fewer than 1,000 Nigerian developers are expected to benefit from a training programme put together by Google in collaboration with GOMYCODE.

The initiative is to educate participants on generative artificial intelligence (AI) and it is for 11 weeks, according to a statement made available to Business Post.

This training is under the Build with AI scheme and it is part of efforts to accelerate Nigeria’s participation in the global AI economy.

It was designed to foster a new generation of tech talent capable of building transformative products that are both locally relevant and globally competitive.

The initiative comes at a pivotal moment as industries across Nigeria and Africa increasingly look to technology to solve pressing challenges and drive economic growth.

By providing access to advanced AI tools like Gemini and a curriculum with oversight from Google’s experts, the program is set to bridge the gap between raw talent and the specialized skills required to innovate in the AI era.

This strategic focus is intended to accelerate the development of solutions in key sectors such as fintech, healthtech, and agritech, positioning Nigerian developers at the forefront of the continent’s digital transformation.

The 11-week programme will be delivered through GOMYCODE’s extensive network of hackerspaces, combining in-person instruction with hands-on, mentored lab work. This approach ensures that the training is both accessible and practical, allowing developers to immediately apply their learning to real-world projects.

Developers interested in being part of the AI revolution can apply via bit.ly/BwAIDevTraining. The initiative will culminate in a demo day where top participants will showcase their AI-powered solutions to a team from Google and other industry leaders.

Commenting on the development, the Head of Developer Ecosystem for Google in Sub-Saharan Africa, Mr John Kimani, said, “We are witnessing a technological renaissance in Nigeria, driven by a vibrant community of developers who are eager to solve the challenges around them.

“Our collaboration with GOMYCODE is about more than just training; it’s about empowering this community with the tools and expertise they need to build the future.

“By equipping them with Google’s generative AI, we are helping to unlock a new frontier of innovation that can deliver significant economic and social impact across the continent.”

On his part, the Country Director for GOMYCODE, Mr Babatunde Olaifa, said, “Our role is to provide the critical infrastructure and local expertise needed to nurture Nigeria’s tech talent. Partnering with Google allows us to bring world-class curriculum and technology directly to our developer community.

“We are creating an environment where innovation can thrive, and we are incredibly excited to see the solutions that will emerge from this program, built by Nigerians, for Nigeria and the world.”

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Orange Joins $1m Hedera Africa Hackathon to Accelerate Web3 Skills in MEA

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$1m Hedera Africa Hackathon

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

The $1 million Hedera Africa Hackathon for the development of blockchain solutions has got bigger with the inclusion of Orange, through its Orange Digital Center (ODC) network.

More than 10,000 innovators across 16 countries are competing for the prizes.

The Hedera Africa Hackathon, launched on August 1, 2025, is co-organized with Exponential Science Foundation. The hybrid event will take place online and in person, with physical spaces offering participants access to technical infrastructure, personalized mentoring, and strategic networking.

Orange is partnering with the organisers to promote the adoption of decentralized technologies, education, and innovation.

At the heart of this partnership, a certifying training program in Hedera technology will be deployed within Orange Digital Centers (ODC) in 16 countries in the Middle East and Africa.

Accessible online, this training aims to equip young people, professionals, and project leaders with solid skills in a fast-growing field: blockchain and Web3, which will be required for their participation in the Hedera Africa Hackathon.

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