China17 Jun 2019 20:35
IrokoTV, dubbed ‘Netflix of Africa’ and has closed several funding rounds in excess of US$30m, started in 2010. Thanks to a Series A VC investment of $3M from US-based hedge fund Tiger Global, it is now the world’s largest online platform for African entertainment, one of the most recognised and well-respected African technology brands, “one of Nigeria’s most well-funded companies” and is at the heart of Africa’s exciting tech space.
Jobberman started in a Nigerian University dorm in 2009 and has grown into one of Sub-Saharan Africa’s most popular job search engines with more than 1.5million visitors monthly andone of the companies in Nigeria’s tech space enjoying VC backing. It was 100% acquired last month by the $167million-valued One Africa Media, a portfolio of online marketplaces that is 30%-owned by SEEK – the world’s largest online employment marketplace by market capitalization.
Supermart was started last year to allow help customers shop online for groceries from leading brick-and-mortar supermarkets as well as the local market, thereby avoiding the notorious Lagos traffic. It has now become Nigeria’s largest online supermarket and grocery delivery service as a result of its convenient service offerings and the investment from iYa Ventures, a North-America based venture capital firm that invests in technology companies in Africa.
Andela was also founded last year andhas obtained $3million so far in seed funding. It is backed by investors including Steve Case, Omidyar Network, Founder Collective, Rothenberg Ventures, Learn Capital, Melo7 Tech Partners, and Chris Hughes. Using its Lagos-based ‘campus’ and New-York office, Andela’s mission is to “find the brightest young people in Africa and give them the rigorous training and mentorship needed to thrive as full-time, remote developers for companies around the world”.
Hotels.ng started in Q4-2012 as“a small scrappy startup tech firm” and, with blood, sweat and tears, has now been transformed into the biggest online hotel booking agency in Nigeria (with an estimated 170million population), using seed investment of $225k fromSPARK in 2013. A few days ago, it became another beacon of success in Lagos tech space with theannouncement of its Series A round of $1.2m funding from EchoVC Pan-Africa Fund, a seed-stage technology fund, and Omidyar Network.
These are just a few leading examples of the multitude of growingly successful tech startups in Lagos, the economic capital of Nigeria, the country with the largest economy and population in Africa, from which increasing number of tech VCs is deriving deepening value, robust ROI and strong social impact; thus corroborating all the global newsfeed about Africa Rising as not just a PR stunt!