Looking at the rapidly growing tech ecosystem in Nigeria, meetups are basically the trend right now, and we love it!

On Tuesday, the 2nd of November, 2021, my teammates: Ifiok, Kenneth, and Mfoniso, as well as myself, were opportune to take a tour of all the tech hubs in the Uyo Tech ecosystem to introduce our baby (Petro) to them, as well as to familiarize with the founders and members of the hubs.

Word on the street is that the tour process is more or less a rite of passage and is very crucial to a start-up’s journey to being endorsed and acclimated in the tech community.

Armed with this information, we were certainly ecstatic by the prospect of getting to meet people who are more versed in the industry than we are and have more experience than we do, and equally, learn a couple of things from them.

First of all, we visited Matriks Hub — a tech hub, co-working space, and soon-to-be incubator from which multiple startups like ours would potentially spring out. The hub is located along Osongama Estate road. Here we met the founder; Mr. Michael Umanah and his friend and colleague who introduced himself to us as Inimfon. We got to learn that the hub is relatively new to Uyo and we had a discussion heralded by Ifiok about the tech ecosystem in Uyo, our start-up’s place in the tech community, the plans we have for the future with regards to our innovation and the Hub’s goals. Ken equally took time to explain in detail the apps we have created, how they were engineered, and how they work. It was a really insightful, interesting, and informative discussion and we took pictures afterward.

Then we set out to “The Roothub”, which is located at the Akeez plaza, along IBB Avenue. Here we met with the founders, Mr. Tony and Mr. Francis Onuk (who are apparently twins, which is quite unique) and were opportune to see other young people working on projects of their own. We had a lengthy discussion with Mr. Francis about the reason for the conception of the hub, the kind of support they lend to creatives and techies, as well as their upcoming event “The StartConFest- Digitall What’s Next?” which is the 7th edition of it’s kind as it began in 2015, and all the perks it would offer creatives and innovative entrepreneurs alike.

When our discussions came to an abrupt end, we took some pictures together and had to leave for our final destination — “Eelspace” along Ikpa road.

Here, we got to learn that the hub is more of a marketplace that connects tech and creative freelancers with businesses and brands that need their services (which is really similar to our business model and I found that quite endearing) as well as co-working space for these creatives. We had a brief discussion with the manager of the space where we introduced the brand to him and vice versa. We also got to see a lot of these creatives in their habitat (work zones).

In conclusion, we really had a fun-filled, fulfilled day talking to these tech gurus and learning more about the ecosystem than we already know.

We also got to see first-hand what it’s like being a “Tech Bro” and got the opportunity to hear the pros and cons associated with the industry as well as steps we can take to stay ahead of the ever-evolving world thanks to technology and digitization.

The future of Tech in Uyo is definitely bright with hubs like Matriks, Roothub, and Eelspace challenging the status quo and going all out to help tech entrepreneurs and creatives accomplish their dreams.