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Of Startups, Press, South, East & West

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One of the cardinal success factors in Entrepreneurship is promotion. Promotion for a new startup (pre-money) can mean free press mention. A lot of us fail at Pitching the Press partly because we don’t understand Journalists.

Most times a new startup doesn’t necessarily need an all-out publicity on the onset. At other times strategic press exposure can mean the difference between success and failure.

For Startups operating outside Lagos, this can even get harder. To get positive free press coverage requires connection to journalists with editorial influence in established media platforms. A lot of Startups founders lack the skills to market their stories to journalists.

To succeed, Startup founders will need to acquire press pitching skills. The most successful founders are those that have mastered the art of Four dimensional Relationship — Press, Clients, Staff and Investors — in no particular order.

In a recent interview with the vanguard, I talked about Investors largely underestimating other tech clusters in Nigeria. It’s not different with media coverage and with the media largely concentrated in Lagos, it’s not difficult to see why.

Living in Lagos doesn’t also automatically confer on an entrepreneur the networking ability required to woo journalists and get favourable/free press coverage. If this is true for Entrepreneurs in Lagos, those outside Lagos would have to do even more work.

There needs to be more effort to cover Startups in other places but the founders have a responsibility to step up, pitch the press and tell their stories.

I have chosen to tell the stories of some of the Startups in the South-south and South-East as my contribution to the emerging eco-system — to the best of my ability and as my time permits. Hopefully my friend Daser David of nHub Jos can talk about the North.

South West is already adequately covered. I hope these founders take a cue and tell their stories themselves eventually.

While some of the Startups down South-South (in Port Harcourt precisely) are actually already profitable, others have validated concepts ready to scale.

One of the startups I believe is ready for prime time is PamDrive — an Uber-like cab service which launched barely four months ago with only four cabs. The service currently boast of over fifty cabs covering mainly Port Harcourt and adjoining cities. In context, Uber is presently available only in Lagos and Abuja — two of Nigeria’s major cities but Kano and Port Harcourt are the country’s other major Economic hubs.

PamDrive allows you to hail a cab from your mobile phone using their app (available both on Play and App Stores) or voice call. If done through the app, you can see the cab as it arrives your position within 10–15mins displaying vehicle number and driver’s name. They are currently working to reduce wait time to just 5 minutes.

While there had been similar startups in the past, PamDrive so far has demonstrated a good knowledge of the business terrain and hunger for success — judging by their rapid fleet growth and patronage. They don’t want their figures published, but I can tell they are on course to make a big splash in this space.

There’s also Cinefores who has quietly and systematically dominated the edutech space — providing registration and student management solution to most of the tertiary institutions in the South-South and parts of South-East. They also have some consumer products — brainfield.

One of the components of this year’s #StartupSouth is a discussion on managing Press for Startups. Register at 2.startupsouth.org/register See you at #StartupSouth2.

 


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Nigeria CommunicationsWeek believes that technology makes life more exciting and helps improve the lives of people around Nigeria and indeed the world. So since 2007, we have devoted our energy to independent reportage of technology and how they affect lives.

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E-Business

Kaduna, Google Launch First AI Training in Hausa Language

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Kaduna State Government, in partnership with Google and Data Science Nigeria (DSN), introduced the inaugural “AI for Beginners in Hausa,” marking the first instance of artificial intelligence (AI) training in a local language.

In Northern Nigeria, various challenges can impact access to tech education and career opportunities. These include diverse socio-cultural dynamics, infrastructural limitations, and language barriers. Photo: @Gov Uba Sani X handle

Sen. Uba Sani, Kaduna State governor, expressed profound gratitude to the partners for building support for women to use technology in harnessing the socio- economic development of the state and the country as a whole.

Represented by Dr Hadiza Balarabe, deputy governor, at the launch of Arewa Ladies for Tech and the mural unveiling of the AI for Beginners Learning Video series, Sani, said AI is not just the future; it’s the present.

According to him, Google pledged a $1.5 million grant to empower 20,000 Nigerian women and youths from underserved communities with essential 21st-century skills. This includes a plan to train 5,000 women and girls in areas such as data science and artificial intelligence through the Arewa Tech4Ladies initiative.

Mr. Olumide Balogun, director of Google in West Africa, said in his welcome address that Google’s mission was to organise the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.

Balogun said that this initiative was a commitment to enhance the representation and inclusion of women in the tech sector.

Dr Bayo Adekanmbi, chief executive officer of DNS, explained that by making AI education accessible in Hausa, the partnership was creating opportunities for innovation, entrepreneurship, and social impact.

Presenting a paper tagged, “AI in Education”, Dr Kashifu Inuwa, director-general of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), said a lot had been missed because AI was not being taught in the local language.

The DG was represented by Dr. Ahmed Tambuwal, head of the Digital Literacy and Capacity Building Department of NITDA.

 

 

 


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Chowdeck Secures $2.5M Seed Funding to Optimize On-demand Food Delivery in Nigeria

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Chowdeck, Nigeria’s on-demand delivery service, has secured $2.5 million in seed funding to optimize its operations and support expansion into more cities across the country.

The seed funding round included investment from YCombinator, Goodwater Capital, FounderX Ventures, Hoaq Fund, Levare Ventures, True Culture Funds and Haleakala Ventures. Simon Borrero and Juan Pablo Ortega (co-founders of Rappi – Latin America’s largest online delivery platform), Shola Akinlade and Ezra Olubi (co-founders of Paystack – one of Africa’s leading fintech companies. Acquired by Stripe for $200m), Sudeep Ramani (Sportybet), Ayo Arikawe (Thrive Agric) and Karthik Ramakrishnan (Amazon) also participated as angels.

Since launching in October 2021 after the COVID-19 lockdown in Lagos, Chowdeck has acquired more than 500,000 users and more than 3,000 riders (typically earning the same as senior civil servants in Nigeria) that serve 8 Nigerian cities (Lagos, Abuja, Ibadan, Port-Harcourt, Ilorin, Benin City, Abeokuta and Asaba).

This new funding will enable Chowdeck to double down on its market leadership in these cities and lay the groundwork for further expansion into other Nigerian cities.

Driven by a combination of increased smartphone and internet penetration, improved payment systems, evolving consumer preferences and a range of other factors, there has been a significant growth in on-demand delivery services in Nigeria in recent years.

For example, heavy traffic in major cities makes it challenging for people to shop for groceries, meals, or other goods, increasing the attractiveness of delivery services that can save time.

This growth trajectory is poised to continue as many of the challenges that hampered previous attempts at providing on-demand delivery services are fixed.

Chowdeck is the fastest delivery service operating out of Africa today, allowing consumers to buy food and have it delivered to their doorstep in 30 minutes, on average.

The startup has built an effective logistics operation that food vendors can leverage to seamlessly deliver meals to customers while also providing consumers with an easy platform to order meals from their favourite restaurants in their city.

The startup has also partnered with a wide range of leading quick-service restaurants such as Chicken Republic, Burger King, Bukka Hut and more to drive sales, provide logistics infrastructure and other services to enable enhanced customer experiences.

Femi Aluko, CEO and co-founder of Chowdeck, said, “We know that Nigerians love good food, and we just want to make it as easy as possible for them to access the food they desire.

Chowdeck was birthed to fulfil this purpose and we are committed to delivering truly excellent experiences for our customers, vendors and riders. We are pleased with the success we have achieved to date and excited to have raised these funds that will enable us to replicate that success in more parts of Nigeria, and add value to our customers, vendors, and riders in as many ways as we can.”

Shola Akinlade, CEO and co-founder of Paystack said, “Chowdeck is not only addressing the crucial need for an efficient and reliable on-demand delivery service in Nigeria, the team embodies innovation and a commitment to excellence.

It is a privilege to be part of their journey and I look forward to celebrating more success with them in months and years to come.

Apart from investing financially into the company, our experience with building Paystack puts us in a great position to provide a lot of practical support and I am excited to see what it is to come from the Chowdeck team.”

June Angelides, Partner at Levare Ventures, said “Chowdeck has quickly become a household name across Nigeria, priding itself on very high standards of execution. They are addressing a large and complicated problem, especially in Africa, delivering goods at record speed.

I am excited that they have proven that the opportunity is there beyond restaurants and supermarkets. The team have secured landmark partnerships with Shoprite, Chicken Republic and KFC, a sign of their grit. Their customers love them, their riders love them. There’s so much more to come and I’m excited to be with them on the journey”.


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Konga Launches Tech Month with Incredible Discounts

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Konga, Leading e-commerce giant has announced its highly anticipated Konga Tech Month starting from Wednesday, May 1, until Friday, May 31, 2024. This good news is not only for tech enthusiasts and bargain hunters but also for home appliance lovers, as this year’s edition goes beyond gadgets to feature home, office and lifestyle essentials.

Konga Tech Month has become a major event in the Nigerian shopping calendar. This annual sales extravaganza is widely regarded as one of the biggest gadget sales in the country. It offers a treasure trove of tech devices at unbeatable prices, attracting a massive audience eager to snag incredible deals on a wide range of products.

This year’s Konga Tech Month boasts an impressive selection of devices across various categories. Whether you need a reliable laptop, phone or a professional upgrade to your office and household with authentic appliances, Konga Tech Month has something to suit every need.

Throughout May, Konga’s customers will stand the chance to take advantage of special discounts on original printers, dependable power solutions and generators from companies like iTEC and iPower Inverters, mobile phones, refrigerators, inverters, and much more at up to half the price. Many freebies and deals will also be on offer for the fastest fingers in the Konga Flash Sale.

“Konga Tech Month is a testament to our commitment to providing Nigerians with access to high-quality yet affordable tech products,” said Mr Nnamdi Ekeh, CEO of Konga. “This year’s event promises to be even bigger and better than last year, so we are thrilled to get started. Thanks to Konga Tech Month, we can accomplish our mission of making cutting-edge technology available to everyone no matter their budget.”

The competitive pricing and special deals offered during Konga Tech Month are available for students, institutions, and organizations. Whether it’s outfitting a computer lab, updating office technology, or providing students with affordable laptops, Konga Tech Month offers a cost-effective solution.

A satisfied shopper from the last edition shared her excitement saying, “The Konga Tech event last year was incredible! I was able to get the high-performance laptop I’d been eyeing for months and at a price I couldn’t believe. The discounts were amazing, and the selection was huge. Plus, being able to choose between online shopping or visiting a Konga store was convenient and made shopping easier. I’m looking forward to Tech Week this year. I’ve been eyeing a new microwave and phone, and I know Konga will have the finest deals in town.”

Konga Tech Month offers a smooth shopping experience for everyone. Customers can browse the extensive selection of discounted tech products online at the Konga website (https://www.konga.com/) or visit any Konga retail outlets nationwide to experience the deals firsthand.

 


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