iROKOtv Founders Jason Njoku & Bastian Gotter Launch SPARK A Company To Help Young Nigerian Entrepreneurs
iROKOtv founders Jason Njoku and Bastian Gotter have announced the launch of SPARK, a US$1mn-backed company designed to support and develop Nigerian entrepreneurs in the technology and Internet industries
Based in Lagos, Nigeria the new company will facilitate the transformation of ideas into profitable and sustainable African Internet businesses, SPARK claimed.
Njoku said, “In Africa, we’re witnessing an exciting metamorphosis, from a tech ‘scene’ to a tech ‘revolution’, where Lagos is very much the gateway for the entire continent.
“The creativity, talent, the spirit of entrepreneurship is here but Nigeria’s business eco-system isn’t set up to adequately support start-ups in their earliest days. Our intention with SPARK is to act as the catalyst to a period of aggressive and exciting growth in Africa’s Internet sector,” he added.
SPARK, is a one million dollar project created to support and develop aspiring Nigerian tech and internet entrepreneurs. The Lagos-based company calls itself a company that builds companies and it currently exists in the country's angel investment (US$30-75k funding level) ecosystem.
"Many entrepreneurs struggle to make the transition from idea to business, due to prohibitive start-up costs, a lack of on-the-ground angel investment opportunities, a lack of access to trusted mentorship and business bureaucracy. The SPARK mission is to facilitate the transformation of good ideas into awesome, profitable and sustainable African internet businesses," says SPARK.
The companies funded by SPARK will be managed by Jason Njoku, Bastian Gotter and Mary Remmy-Njoku. The trio state that SPARK will concentrate on well-defined and scalable revenue models. These companies include a hotel room booking site, a Christian dating site and a property-letting site. Companies in the SPARK network currently employ 80 people and by the close of 2013, SPARK expects to have created or funded 20 companies in total.
The company also argues that Nigeria's incubation model isn't what it should mostly due to lack of infrastructure and that's what it hopes to fix.
"We fund our companies, provide them with the back room assistance they need to get started and advise them on all aspects of their business. SPARK is the financial, intellectual and pragmatic engine that will propel Nigeria's Internet entrepreneurs from start-ups to dynamic businesses that generate jobs and income for the region," says Gotter
Currently SPARK has seed-funded 13 companies in Lagos including: Hotels.com.ng, Christians.com.ng, Bus.com.ng, Giddimint.com.ng, Borro.com.ng, Insured.com.ng, ToLet.com.ng and Foto.com.ng.
For more information please email Jessica Hope at jess@spark.ng | Call +44 (0) 203 176 2808 www.spark.ng
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