Pivo powers up Nigerian freight carriers with a bespoke digital bank, gets $2M seed funding • TechCrunch

Most small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in supply chains across different sectors in Africa execute orders in days but receive invoices after several weeks and sometimes months. It’s such an inefficient way of doing business that ultimately leads to cash-flow problems — and on top of that are fragmented payment collection and tracking processes. Recently,…

Ukio, a premium apartment rental platform for Europe’s ‘flexible workforce,’ raises $28M • TechCrunch

Ukio, a short-term furnished apartment rental platform aimed at the “flexible workforce,” has raised €27 million ($28 million) in a Series A round of funding. The cash injection constitutes €17 million in equity and €10 million in debt, and follows some 14 months after the Spanish company announced a €9 million seed round of funding.…

Bitpanda obtains German crypto license as crypto platforms want to prove they are legit • TechCrunch

All eyes are currently on the collapse of FTX in the crypto industry. That’s why today’s news from Bitpanda is an important signal for the Austrian unicorn company. Bitpanda has received a crypto license from Germany’s financial regulator (BaFin). Its German subsidiary is now officially allowed to process cryptocurrencies for German customers under its Crypto…