kokomaster3d:


Hmmm your explaination doesn't make sense to me. Any company/startup with more than 90% of its operation on the internet can be considered a technology company. Internet/website is a technology. How can you say Facebook is not tech company. Do you think facebook, google, etc will survive without internet/website? The greatest technology in our time is Internet. So any startup that leverage internet for most of its operation is a tech company. E.g. Banks cannot be a tech company because even without an internet, it will still function. Internet/website is used by banks, governments, organisations to enhance their operations but does not solely depent on internet technology.

HottestFire:


Haba @Cacawa2, I didn't expect this from you. Many backend operations are on going that goes beyond just a website. Tech companies relies so much on web inter connectivity.

I once did research on setting up something similar to Paga, this will set you back close to $200,000.
Apart from being PCI-DSS compliant, re-certification is still there.

Leopantro:


although it may seem as a tribalistic comment, you are actually right. they ARE dominating the online businesses.
don't understand what you mean my High Physical Energy but i get your point.

webincomeplus:

Even 50 is an understatement. Hundreds!

kokomaster3d:


Hmmm your explaination doesn't make sense to me. Any company/startup with more than 90% of its operation on the internet can be considered a technology company. Internet/website is a technology. How can you say Facebook is not tech company. Do you think facebook, google, etc will survive without internet/website? The greatest technology in our time is Internet. So any startup that leverage internet for most of its operation is a tech company. E.g. Banks cannot be a tech company because even without an internet, it will still function. Internet/website is used by banks, governments, organisations to enhance their operations but does not solely depent on internet technology.

bjhaid:
Jumia > Konga

harmbhrosz:
oga just because a firm solely operate on internet doesn't make it a tech company, we are literate enough to understand this na, internet is part of a technology that stands as a platform for easy connectivity.

Facebook is a social media company which it main aim is connecting people on the internet,

jumia and konga are market place just like a shopping mall but instead of it being physical like every other mall, it's presence is felt on the internet and so are the rest

Microsoft, Google, Nokia, Apple, Toyota are companies that should be regarded as Tech companies pls

Cacawa2:


I understand that the back-end is very complex, especially in managing very heavy data for website-based companies.

The sort of servers google uses is enough to drive anyone crazy. It is so bad that they have to store them underwater just to prevent them from exploding. But this is still technology consumption and not production.

As for me, i will call these companies Web-based companies. But please that doesn't mean people cannot refer to them as tech-based companies though.

So, TECH-Based....correct

Web Based....correct


TECH companies .... hmmmmmm not correct

Ok, I think relativity is the main issue, Konga for instance equally have their dedicated servers, I went for NIBSS competition in Lagos around 2015 and the COO of Konga gave a breakdown of their operations. Something similar to Amazon but on a 5% rating from my view based on their reach then but now you know they've grown bigger.
Jobberman too started as a web-based but now it has moved beyond the average of that term.

Well I can't say much on the others but remove Paga from the list of web-based and we have a convergent..

Cacawa2:


A tech company is not a company that USES technology.

But a company that MANUFACTURES technology.

Otherwise, you would call CIA or DoD a Tech company because they solely depend on Technology to work.

BiafranBushBoy:
I discovered something recently!!

Yorubas are mostly good in Online Business. Check out the number of online Businesses owned by Nigerians, 95% are owned by Yorubas!!

Impressive I must say.

What they lack in High Physical Energy, they cover up mentally.

Cacawa2:
Listen, these are not tech startups.

These are websites. Just websites.

For example, Microsoft is a tech company, Facebook is not a tech company.

When we talk about ICT, Info, Comm and Tech, some companies are simply Info...e.g Facebook. Some are strictly Comm...e.g MTN, While some combine all, e.g Microsoft which runs Hotmail, Skype,Windows, Xbox, PC, Laptops, etc.

Google has began to migrate from being just an Info company (www.google.com, google maps, translator, gmail, etc) to becoming a communications company (hangout, google talk, etc) and also now a Tech company (Google specs, Nexus Phone, etc)

Nigerians would even call Nairaland a TECH company....Illiteracy at it's peak.

kokomaster4d:


Oga no be quarrel. Lesson learnt. We are here to learn

BiafranBushBoy:


Keep shut and think deep!!!

What is Tribalistic about my post...

I think there should be a capthcha task before people submit comments!!

A simple analysis is now tribalistic.

kokomaster3d:


Hmmm your explaination doesn't make sense to me. Any company/startup with more than 90% of its operation on the internet can be considered a technology company. Internet/website is a technology. How can you say Facebook is not tech company. Do you think facebook, google, etc will survive without internet/website? The greatest technology in our time is Internet. So if any startup that leverage internet for most of its operation is a tech company. E.g. Banks cannot be a tech company because even without an internet, it will still function. Internet/website is used by banks, governments, organisations to enhance their operations but does not solely depent on internet technology.

Raxxye:


If that your comment is not tribalistic, then I wonder what it is.
Why don't you comment or make your contributions without making reference to a tribe?

BiafranBushBoy:
I discovered something recently!!

Yorubas are mostly good in Online Business. Check out the number of online Businesses owned by Nigerians, 95% are owned by Yorubas!!

Impressive I must say.

What they lack in High Physical Energy, they cover up mentally.

Cacawa2:
Listen, these are not tech startups.

These are websites. Just websites.

For example, Microsoft is a tech company, Facebook is not a tech company.

When we talk about ICT, Info, Comm and Tech, some companies are simply Info...e.g Facebook. Some are strictly Comm...e.g MTN, While some combine all, e.g Microsoft which runs Hotmail, Skype,Windows, Xbox, PC, Laptops, etc.

Google has began to migrate from being just an Info company (www.google.com, google maps, translator, gmail, etc) to becoming a communications company (hangout, google talk, etc) and also now a Tech company (Google specs, Nexus Phone, etc)

Nigerians would even call Nairaland a TECH company....Illiteracy at it's peak.

harmbhrosz:
oga just because a firm solely operate on internet doesn't make it a tech company, we are literate enough to understand this na, internet is part of a technology that stands as a platform for easy connectivity.

Facebook is a social media company with the aim of connecting people on the internet,

jumia and konga are both market place just like a shopping mall but instead of it being physical like every other mall, it's presence is felt on the internet and so are the rest

Microsoft, Google, Nokia, Apple, Canon, even Amazon (which now produce tech appliances) are companies that should be regarded as Tech companies pls

just because Julius Berger uses technology machines to construct doesn't make them a tech company, just because Channels TV uses cameras internet and other tech in running their company doesn't make them a tech company.

daraghdave:
This one you are mentioning payment processors... are you a banker?

simiolu1:


I'm actually a developer. But to be frank, a lot of startups in Nigeria are loosing money. But I am quite sure Flutterwave, Paystack and Hotels.ng are making profits. While it would be very easy to scale the first two to render services to the whole continent; Hotels.ng and ToLet would have the hardest time expanding beyond the shores of Nigeria.

So I viewed the companies from the POV of an investor and ranked them accordingly

Cacawa2:
Listen, these are not tech startups.

These are websites. Just websites.

For example, Microsoft is a tech company, Facebook is not a tech company.

When we talk about ICT, Info, Comm and Tech, some companies are simply Info...e.g Facebook. Some are strictly Comm...e.g MTN, While some combine all, e.g Microsoft which runs Hotmail, Skype,Windows, Xbox, PC, Laptops, etc.

Google has began to migrate from being just an Info company (www.google.com, google maps, translator, gmail, etc) to becoming a communications company (hangout, google talk, etc) and also now a Tech company (Google specs, Nexus Phone, etc)

Nigerians would even call Nairaland a TECH company....Illiteracy at it's peak.

Interesting15:
You bring tribalism to the business section?

Ferdinandu:
Do you
think there is anywhere in the world starting a business is as easy as to boil beans.

majekdom2:
tolet and hotels.ng are actually other people's idea, so it will be hard to scale outside Nigeria. Hotels.ng is an idea of likes of airbnb, trip advisor and many others. Put simply, online merchandise in Nigeria is not exclusively innovative. I understand cacawa's point tho, Tech companies in Nigeria are realy not solving critical problems or being innovative as one would expect. [s]Startups are loosing money because many of them are copying.[/s] Whilst it is not bad to copy, it is best to copy in an innovative way. Google copied yahoo in an innovative way, they were not even out to make money, they wanted to just build something for fun. Facebook copied likes of hi5, my space but wanted to do something exclusively for college students i.e like an online alumni network. Our startups need to copy innovatively whilst understanding the market

simiolu1:


I'll address the bolded.

Every idea is a copy or metamorphosis of another idea. Mention any idea from the top of your head (whether you thought about it) or its already in existence; I'll pick it apart and show you that the above statement is true. It is simply the law of nature and it is true in Science, Technology, Business, Psychology and so on. So, marketplaces are not new; they are very old--eBay, Craigslist etc.

While I understand your point, innovation is not some rocket science we think it to be. Because at the end of the day; your service, product or solution should solve your user's/customer's problem/challenge in the simplest way possible. Customers don't care about the technology; the question is what can it do for them? If it does that thing successfully and delights them in the process; it is innovative.

How do you think people in Nigeria felt when they could buy Nokia 3310, purchase that "thing" called sim card, put it in their phones and call anywhere in the world? Europe and America had been using telephone lines for a very looooooong time. But to the Nigerian; the GSM was innovative. How do you also think it felt when people were now charged per second instead of the per minute billing that MTN and Econet had been known for?

My point: innovation is in the complex engineering problems and it is also in the simple things. It can be as complex as a self-driving car, and it can also be as simple as pricing or mode of payment. That is why Nigeria is the only country in the world that Uber accepts cash. That is also why Nigeria is one of the few countries in the world that e-commerce stores do pay-on-delivery. That my bro is also innovation.

So the question I would ask you is this: would you start a self-driving car company in Nigeria? Would you start something like SpaceX in Africa? The point is simple: people look first and foremost to their immediate environment for problems and challenges to solve. When that solution becomes successful, they then look to expand it.

That is why Nigeria critically needs companies like LifeBank to handle the logistics of moving blood from where it is to where it is needed so that patients would not die. That is also why Nigerians need something like Kudi.ai that allows them to make financial transactions from Facebook messenger. That is also why Nigerians still need something like Hotels.ng to allow them book for hotels from the comfort of their phones. Because in advanced countries, these problems have been solved ten times over.

Startups loose money for a lot of reasons; pegging it at "copying" is at best simplistic.

designVATExcel:
Don't forget the guy that founded "buypower.ng".
That guy is awesome, he identified a general problem and solved it with the use of technology.

I'm really impressed with Nigeria's tech environment. Within a very short period, we've witnessed massive growth in the sector.
2 years ago nobody, or rather, very few people used online payments. Today about 80% of account holders in Nigeria either buy airtime, pay bills, subscribe or generally transact online.

Welldone Nigeria

simiolu1:


While I agree with majority of the companies you have there, please remove Jobberman from the list; it simply does not belong there.

Rather than include Jobberman, I would include Flutterwave--founded by Iyinoluwa Aboyeji and co, flutterwave is Africa's Stripe. Apart from having payment solutions built in house like Barter, flutterwave also powers other payment solutions like Kudi.ai and many more. In fact, their API is so extensible, a lot of people in the payments solution business would prefer to build on it rather than building from scratch. Iyin used to be a co-founder at Andela before he left to start Flutterwave. In the less than 2 years of its existence, Flutterwave has processed over $1B in transactions.

https://techpoint.ng/2017/08/01/flutterwave-raises-10-million-dollars/

While I agree that ToLet.com.ng is growing, I would rather put Paystack up there than ToLet. Paystack was founded by Shola and was the first African company to be funded by Y Combinator. If you don't know YC, please use Google. Some months ago, they crossed processing over N1B monthly. Paystack has also integrated its solution with Shopify and its growing popularity amongst Nigerian merchants is due to its ease of use and very low transaction cost. Paystack charges 1.5% for each transaction it processes and N100 for every payment above N1,500 or N2,500 (I am not sure which one). If you don't think this is a big deal, compare it to the 30% Google and Apple charge to use their payment infrastructure. Did I also mention that their API is sweet to use?

https://blog.paystack.com/the-road-to-1-billion-in-monthly-transaction-volume-at-paystack-2f0ca4b6edbb

Well, this is just my opinion and you can agree or disagree with it.

Bahddo:
Microsoft and Facebook aren't tech companies? Lol.

I don't think you even understand what technology means, much less ICT.