"Simplepay
Nigeria’s version of Paypal, Simplepay hopes to make online payment secure and convenient for Nigerians. Founded by Simeon Ononubi in 2013 after his frustration with the huge cost charged from debit cards for online payments. Simplepay has gone from a mere startup to a company on the verge of raising $10 million in Series A funding. Already it has 10,000 registered monthly users and 30,000 unregistered users. It hopes to reach one million subscribers in 2015 by partnering with banking giant, Zenith. Simplepay forays in the difficult Nigerian online payment sector, but if it eventually cracks it, it will be on its way to becoming a billion dollar company in few years.
Wakanow
In 2013, Wakanow bought oya.com.ng a promising bus ticketing company for a few million Naira. Wakanow is expanding aggressively not only in Nigeria but Africa as a whole. Founded in 2008 by Obinna Ekezie, wakanow has grown from a relatively unproven concept to becoming Africa largest online flight and hotel booking company. It has over 45,000 hotels partners around the world. Nigeria is the fastest growing air travel market in Africa according to industry expert recording 1.5 million visitors in 2013, it also the biggest destination in West Africa boasting of several hotels as well as construction of newer ones to accommodate the enormous demand. The market it serves is large and if it keeps its ambition clear, it could enter the billion dollar club soon.
Pagatech
Nigeria’s first and leading mobile money provider. Paga, its main product has grown overnight from zero to 6,500 agents spread across 32 states In Nigeria. Its goal is to have 30,000 mobile money agents in the country thereby providing financial service to over 40 million Nigerians. Founded by Tayo Aviosu; a Stanford graduate in 2009 after receiving substantial capital from veteran Silicon Valley investor, Tim Draper. Paga makes money by charging a small fee for money transfer. Pagatech hopes to solve a very difficult problem where tradition banks have failed. 80% of Nigerians do not have access to financial service thereby completely eroding more than $50 billion of capital from financial houses. This huge gap is Pagatech goldmine and it hopes to cut a huge slice from it. It strategy is quite simple, go where traditional banks don’t go, provide financial services to them and make billion while doing so.
Konga
Currently valued at $200 million, Konga is Nigeria’s leading online retailer and marketplace. It started in 2012 by serial entrepreneur Sim Shagaya. konga is leading in gross merchandise value in 2015. Konga recently raised $40 million from Naspers and Kinnevik in December 2014. Konga has over 10,000 merchants in its online marketplace growing revenue by 450% in 2014. Nigeria’s e-commerce industry is poised to become a $10 billion sector in few years and if mobile and internet penetration continues as witnessed, konga might become Nigeria’s first billion dollar startup.
Irokotv
No other Nigeria tech startup is as confident of its enormous potential as Irokotv. Undoubtedly one of the finest tech company to come out of Nigeria. Jason Njoku, Irokotv founder has been able to blend Nollyhood; Nigeria’s and Africa biggest film industry with technology. Nollyhood, the third biggest film producer in the world has been seen as a huge potential for years but Irokotv hopes to further position it to global audience and acceptance. Irokotv has grown from a popular youtube channel with billion views to a global portal boasting of over 20,000 Nigerian films. It switched it revenue model from ad based model to subscription model in 2014 charging $5 per month and hopes to grow revenue by 50% in 2015. It biggest users are in Uk, US and Canada while Africa its main market accounts for only 20% of its user base. If Irokotv most grow it revenue considerably it must win over Nigeria and Africa. According to Jason, the goal is simple, “target one million subscribers by 2020 and we will be a billion dollar company”."
By Seyi King
