Can anything good come out of Nigeria you ask? Yes! Tech startups are springing up all over the country. It is a testament to our brains.
Nigeria ranks 17th in the number of countries with the highest startups. That’s an impressive position for the Giant of Africa, and the only way forward is up.
Startups are companies in the initial phases of business. In this phase, they are working on ideation, branding, launching and growth; all key areas to ensure a stable establishment.
With the technological advancement in the world today, it has been a long time coming to see the impact of technology across every facet of businesses. Hence, Tech Startups. Nigerians understand the use of technology in problem-solving and have ensured to suck out every necessary benefits it has to offer.
An area like agriculture is now “Agri-tech or Agro-tech”, Finance is now “Fintech”, and Education is “Edu-tech” (you get it now, just add “tech” as a suffix and you’re good to go). There are a number of standout startups in Nigeria recognized on a global level paving way for younger ones.
While some younger creative solutions might just be half-thought by-products of existing startups and are jamming up certain tech aspects, some solutions are however well-thought and genuine and have the sky as their starting point.
Top 5 Nigerian tech startups
Among the various Nigerian tech startups, we’ve picked five that outworked their self-doubt and grown well enough to be considered concrete Nigerian tech startups.
Flutterwave
Flutterwave is one of the top tech startups in Nigeria and rose in popularity during the Big brother Naija show. They help solve payment problems pertaining to local-international transfers and vice-versa and help ease the payment process between merchants across continents.
Flutterwave was founded by Olugbenga Agboola, Adeleke Adekoya and Iyinoluwa Aboyeji. They have their headquarters in San Francisco and hold operations in Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, South Africa, and seven other countries. The rise of Flutterwave to the multi-million dollar company it is today wasn’t easy.
They have processed over 2 billion dollars in payments and 50 million transactions. They have also become an employer of labor, obvious by the number of developers building on their platform. As the saying goes, ideas don’t breed success; success breeds success.
Moove
I have a pretty lovely crush who used to work at Moove (I hope she doesn’t read this). They are among the leading startups in Nigeria, operating with a very distinct and democratic business model (I’ll explain). They help to solve user needs by providing mobile entrepreneurs with the most essential need.
Automobiles.
Ladi Delano and Jide Odunsi, British-born Nigerian entrepreneurs founded Moove. They strive to provide users with the best experience and this has helped them sustain their growth. Tekton Ventures, Clocktower Technology Ventures, and Left lane Capital are examples of the many investors backing them.
The inception of several transportation startups like Uber, Bolt, and in-drive has made Moove a strong force in the automobile business. They also have the characteristic similarity of employing labor, making them one of the top tech startups in Nigeria.
Read: Best Websites for Freelance Writer Jobs
ThriveAgric
I have a special love for this startup because it is customer oriented in all senses of the word. They help to connect farmers around Nigeria and Africa. Their unselfish services also include providing farmers with essential tools to boost farm produce, including fertilizers (unfortunately, they do not provide monetary assistance).
They also cut across a number of SDG goals, which help foster peace and unity now and for posterity. Using technology, they control the day-to-day activities of farmers’ onboarding, farm mapping, input distribution and so much more.
Simply put, ThriveAgric allows agriculture to thrive. In a world where agriculture as a natural resource is neglected, ThriveAgric reminds us of its limitless potential to sustain life. Uka Eje is the brilliant mind behind this.
READ: List of Best General Hospitals in Nigeria
TeamApt/Moniepoint
Yes, you are right. They are no longer known as TeamApt, they are now called Moniepoint. You must have seen their brands at Point-of-sale terminals (POS? haha, now you know it). Moniepoint differentiates itself by gradually saturating the POS aspect of fintech.
With other endless Fintech solutions in the matrix, Moniepoint is making waves and is hoping to see merrier days. It is one of the fastest-growing and most reliable money platforms in Nigeria and provides all-in-one payments, banking, and operations platform for businesses.
Reliance Health
You know how tech affects sectors like finance and agriculture? Well, technology also affects the health sector. Reliance Health is a health insurance company that uses technology to make health insurance affordable, easy, and delightful.
Health insurance requires a lot of waiting and paperwork. One has to undergo terrible customer service also, as well as that secretary woman who sits behind her desk busy playing Solitaire and tells you to wait for five minutes but it’s been five hours.
Technology exists to better our lives. Reliance Health has found a way to solve these issues by easing the process and also providing you with an empathic and compassionate health insurer. This makes it one of the top tech startups in Nigeria.
See: Substance Addiction and How to Deal With It
Bonus addition: Fudi
You probably get an idea of what this company stands for from the name. Fudi rhymes with foodie. Fudi is a Nigerian tech startup that saw a vacuum unfilled during the infamous coronavirus. It aims to satisfy customer wants by sourcing fresh foods directly to their doorsteps.
This, in turn, increases market vendor reach among communities. It is a startup in ideation but has a lot of potentials (a little bird told me). Akomolafe Moyosore Yassir is the CEO of Fudi.
Read: Best Tattoo Shops in Port Harcourt
Growth of tech startups in Nigeria
The real question is, how far are we willing to brew original and genuine ideas that would solve user needs? Startups shouldn’t be birthed to satisfy personal needs primarily. The need to help humanity with technology will go a long way in fostering the growth of any country.
The disadvantage of Nigerian tech startups is the bombarding of a sector immediately it is flowing with milk and honey. People tend to forget the whole other sectors and end up pursuing selfish reasons in the long run.
The brilliance exuding Nigeria presently ranks us at 17th presently, let’s push to 1st.
