Nigerian media startup, Dataphyte, raises $100,000 in seed investment

Dataphyte, a Nigerian media startup, on Thursday announced that it has raised a seed funding of $100,000.

The media, research and data company received funding from Media Development Investment Fund (MDIF), a not-for-profit investment fund for independent media in countries where access to free and independent media is under threat.

MDIF supports media groups through affordable debt and equity financing, supported by tailored technical assistance and advisory services. Dataphyte is among the new set of successful investment portfolios of MDIF in West Africa.

Dataphyte said the funding would be applied towards expanding its business in data journalism and creating digital products.

Launched in 2020, Dataphyte has led with data innovation, telling relatable stories and providing analysis from data.

The company in November announced a partnership with Statista, a leading global data company.

Dataphyte said it has built three thriving products while also supporting the media ecosystem with open data and capacity development.

Aside from building the first data journalism niche platform, the company recently launched DATAPLEX, its enterprise data merchandise platforms and its training academy platform.

Also, the company said it supported the Ekiti State government to develop an open data portal as its statement on partnership with governments to make socioeconomic and public finance data accessible.

“We are delighted to have made our first investments in Dataphyte and Zitamar News, two highly impressive media companies that provide important services to the people of Nigeria and Mozambique,” said Bilal Randeree, MDIF’s programme director for Africa & MENA.

“The purpose for us is to apply data to respond to three existential challenges in Nigeria and Africa as a whole. One, lead a successful business model mix for data journalism; two, offer data analytics and information services to the corporate and development sectors and lastly to support the government in its adoption of data and technology for public policy and good governance,” the founder of Dataphyte, Joshua Olufemi, said.

The managing editor of Dataphyte, Adenike Aloba, said the company looks towards to using Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning to power its journalism.