CAIF raised €110m, Most powerful UX Skill, Failing India edtech
...and more
VC Fund: Cathay AfricInvest Innovation Fund (CAIF) raised €110m
CAIF, formed by Tunisia-based AfricInvest and France-based Cathay Innovation, says it has reached the final close of a €110 million ($112 million) fund to invest in a lot more African startups. Since October 2019, CAIF has invested in at least 10 African startups across the continent with initial check sizes between €1 million and €10 million. This new fundraising amount makes CAIF one of the largest Africa-focused venture capital funds, alongside others like TLcom Capital which reached the first close of a $150 million fund earlier this year.
Accessibility: The missing key to connecting with customers
Building accessible user experiences will soon become a regulatory requirement too. This year, European Union member states are adopting the European Accessibility Act into their laws. The expectation is that all products and online services will need to be accessible once the requirements come into force in 2025. It's especially important to cater to people who are typically underserved in the digital world. For example, people who are blind or have low vision, are deaf or hard of hearing, are neurodivergent, or who have motor impairments.
Data Privacy: Google is postponing the date to kill third-party cookies
Over the past several months, Google has released trial versions of a number of new Privacy Sandbox APIs in Chrome for developers to test. The most consistent feedback received is the need for more time to evaluate and test the new Privacy Sandbox technologies before deprecating third-party cookies in Chrome. Google is expanding the testing windows for the Privacy Sandbox APIs before disabling third-party cookies in Chrome. The plan is to phase out third-party cookies in Chrome in the second half of 2024
Design: The most powerful UX Skill
You might think that your visual design talent, research skills or ability to present and communicate your design decisions are among the most important skills to master as a UX/UI or Product Designer. But, while these are all important, the key to doing great work and having a long, happy and successful career in product design is actually predicated on another skill you may not have thought of. the real challenge in our work is in how we observe, think through and react to problems and how we show up to solve them and for that, we require a healthy degree of what is known as psychological flexibility
Product Features: Twitter to revamp Spaces
Twitter is developing an updated version of its audio chat rooms product known as Spaces. However, screenshots of one of the earlier versions of this test include what appear to be thematic audio stations as well as a personalized audio digest. The test shows a revamped look-and-feel for Spaces that organizes the audio rooms into topics, like Music or Sports, for instance. These are represented with colourful cards and imagery from the programs. (Oddly, the images appear to represent traditional podcasts in some cases.) There’s also a feature dubbed “Your daily digest” which includes a selection of programs that can be played with a click of a button
Regulation: Hundreds of complaints”: India’s edtech startups are failing to regulate themselves
Customer dissatisfaction with edtech products has triggered demand for greater regulation of the edtech industry in India. Up until now, edtech companies have largely had a free run in terms of the courses they offer, the consumer data they collect, their grievance redressal mechanisms, and how they market and advertise products. Misleading ads and unethical behaviour are perhaps one of the leading causes of customer dissatisfaction, which has actually led to the massive growth in the industry but also contributed to an increasingly bad reputation. The edtech in India is the third most funded sector in India's startup phase. Now, this sector is coming under rigorous scrutiny and pressure as the activities of the players need to the checked.
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