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Call for Capital: A Fintech Startup with High growth potential is calling for seed funding & support

By
Kayode Abass
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0

A Fintech startup registered in Delaware and Lagos, Nigeria is looking for investment in StackFX.

StackFX.io is a P2P FX transaction and remittance product that will facilitate the free flow of funds across the globe and is designed to serve all customer segments. It is owned and managed by Datastarck Inc and other accredited banking stakeholders in countries across the different continents of the world.

Datastarck Inc, registered in Delaware and Lagos, will use the capital to hire a business development team, acquire technologies & build a top-class team to quickly scale into the African and global markets. The company would also reserve a part of the fund for FX liquidity with its acquirer bank in Europe and the US. The deal is expected to close on February 12 2020.

The idea for StackFx came from the two Founders’ time at Procter & Gamble Nigeria, where the firm regularly ships in a high level of raw materials needed for the production line or plant at intervals.

“Most of the time, we are faced with the heavy task of sourcing for USD to be able to do this exercise, basically to pay foreign suppliers. Although there is year on year plans for same and this is tailored along the Central Bank of Nigeria’s USD buying window that is majorly executed through the commercial banks, most times, there’s always a shortage of exotic currencies to pay foreign suppliers of raw materials, which results in a halt in production &  minimum stock level. The firm then struggles or starts sourcing for exotic currencies from the black or grey market.

Sourcing from this black/grey market channels, which is the most unreliable with less liquidity, always comes with double fee/charges, because the firm buys at a rate with a commission from the black market fx traders then take this funds to the bank as a deposit before trading or paying from the corporate domiciliary account. At this end, the bank also charges its own fee at the end before processing the requirements and paying the suppliers abroad.”

In June 2017, the Datastarck team carried out a survey with a research team of 50 persons across the various BDCs, FX black/grey markets and banks FX trade desk, to ask the following: 

  1. What is the average daily retail FX in the grey markets?
  2. What is the volume or value done over banking FX desk?
  3. What is the actual FX value/volume in Africa as a whole?
  4. What is the daily retail FX in Nairobi, Joburg & Lagos by ranking or leading in Africa market? 
  5. What are the problems associated with retail FX sourcing in Africa and Asia?

The results of the survey revealed that there is a high level of inconsistency, lack of liquidity, unfavourable rates, multi-layer charges, inability to do instant FX between different countries of the world with ease, difficulty and delayed access FX service and all sorts of proprietary regulatory details and add-on cost.

StackFX was born to address these challenges as well as the existing foreign exchange and payments challenges faced by individuals & businesses. We will provide businesses and individuals with an online platform to exchange currencies with other individuals & businesses and make international payments to their business partners & suppliers abroad.

StackFX will allow customers initiate payments in the local currency of the initiating jurisdiction or US Dollars while the beneficiary receives a direct credit to his account or cash in the local currency or US Dollars (provided send currency is USD, GBP, Euro, SA Rand, Canadian Dollars, New Zealand Dollars, Australian Dollars and beneficiary has a USD account) in line with local procedures.

StackFx compared to incumbents 

Africa’s Forex within the small and medium businesses alone is estimated at $400billion in transactional volume. StackFX targets 75% and 25% of the Africa market share and globally traded volume respectively, which according to the Bank for International Settlements triennial report of 2016, the foreign exchange market cap averaged $5.1 trillion per day, for 2019 global daily fx volume was 6.6 trillion. 

We see a future for Africa that truly fulfils the continents immense potential, but we believe that this can only be done with hard work, passion & dedication, and the road must begin somewhere. We intend to be one of the biggest facilitators of business and trade within Africa and with the rest of the world. We hope to build a strong and long-lasting community based on trust and mutual well-being.

StackFX as a digital FX platform will serve both local and diaspora’s personal, trade advisory and business financial transfer needs, this is made possible through a unified FX platform that is both secure and accessible regardless of region. 

We aim to bring positive disruption to the redundant, restrictive and outdated bank’s FX transaction model by using technology to allow real-market participants to dictate their terms and pricing.

Datastarck Inc is calling for seed capital investment for StackFX from Angel Investors and VCs only who meet the following stringent criteria:

  • Must be willing to invest for the long term
  • Must be willing to allow the company to operate as-is, no change to company culture.
  • Won’t try to lock the founders into golden handcuffs or push complex deal terms, renegotiate and grind on terms
  • Won’t try to flip the business in 3-5 years

If StackFX sounds like a perfect fit and addition to your investment portfolio, please send your questions and inquiries in an email to investments@datastarck.com. 

Upon receiving your email requests, we’ll send you our pitch, demo video and financial model. 

Layer3 Is Set to Raise the Bar On Service Delivery in 2020

By
Guest Author
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0

The year 2020 holds a lot of promise for IT services provision. It’s the start of a new decade, one in which innovative technologies will drive growth at all levels. 

For 14 years, Layer3 has helped Nigeria’s businesses and public sector agencies in this direction. Through services like managed security, cloud storage and connectivity, it has offered the country’s biggest organizations the platform to benefit from contemporary technology. 

This journey with its customers will continue in the coming months, as Layer3 strives to improve on its service delivery. In the New Year, it will have an impressive record to surpass- a 2019 marked by multiple awards, client successes, and ground-breaking partnerships.

Work on this front is already underway. Last year, the company strengthened its staff by on-boarding new expertise. A notable addition to the team was Shatse Kakwagh, who has joined the organization as its Executive Director. Mr. Kakwagh brings with him a wealth of experience from his previous roles at leading technology firms on the African continent.    

There’s also been progress made with cloud and virtual services. In July, Layer3 announced that it had entered the VMware Cloud Provider Program, with the launch of the Layer3Cloud, which runs on VMware cloud provider platform. This partnership allows Layer3 to deliver cloud computing services that meet global standards, at lower costs and with great efficiency.                    

In this same timeframe, the company was recognized by the London Stock Exchange Group as one of the Companies to Inspire Africa. The group’s report lists Layer3 among a number of dynamic growth businesses carving a path forward for industry on the African continent. 

Also in 2019, the company was named the Best Cloud Solutions Provider for the second year in a row at the Beacon of ICT Distinguished Lecture and Award Series. The lecture organizers said Layer3 had been presented with the award for consistently introducing innovative products to the Nigerian IT services market.

These recognitions serve as a guarantee to the company’s customers that it is working to meet their service delivery expectations. 

With the increasing demand from Nigerian organizations for various enterprise technologies, there’s a growing call for more IT companies in the country to fill the local content gap that exists in the sector, specifically with data hosting. Layer3 will be scaling up its operations to meet the ever expanding needs in these areas. 

As a customer-centric technology firm, we are firmly set on delivering on the promises we make to our clients in 2020, on all points at which we connect with them. They can rest assured that the company’s services will remain a solid foundation on which to build the organizations of contemporary times, and of the future. 

Source: Layer3.Cloud – Layer3Cloud helps organizations leverage cloud technology to maximize compute, network, and storage resources. We work with our customers to build secure, fast, and scalable solutions to deliver the integrated cloud experience they have been seeking.

Soulmate Going Digital To Serve Beauty To Its Customers

By
Ndubuisi Ekekwe
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0

Soulmate Industries Ltd, Africa’s leading indigenous hair-care and body-care manufacturer, is going digital. Since a FUTO graduate formulated the HCP Conditioner (turning a class project into a multi-billion naira conglomerate), a generation of Nigerians and Africans has found a mate, in beauty care! Other products have followed over the years, making the brand a respected player in the industry. The new Olive Oil Mayonnaise is supreme; I paid excess luggage as my wife packed everything Soulmate as we made it back after Christmas.

To the Soulmate fans, something good is coming. Yes, it is huge and amazing. That soulmate will be easier to reach and relate with, at a deeper level, via digital technology. Yes, going digital to serve beauty to customers. When you find your soulmate, it is happiness galore. 

Meanwhile, interested in becoming a global or local distributor anywhere in the world, please click to explore more (PDF).

Nigeria’s Soulmate Industries Begins Quest for Global Expansion, Seeks Global Partners on JV, Distributorship, etc

 

Wragby Nigeria Wins Microsoft Partner of the Year, Unveils wBizManager for SMEs

By
Ndubuisi Ekekwe
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0

I have spent a lot of time working with this amazing technology company. Run by industry leading experts on cloud and enterprise solutions, it continues to innovate, helping large corporations, SMEs and startups find new markets. In their design center in Lagos, you will find young people doing amazing things on tech. They are taking it further with something amazing.

Wragby, winner of many global technology awards, has  developed an ERP solution for Small businesses called wBizManager (Wragby Business Manager), to bridge this gap in the SME market space. wBizManager is an integrated suite of application that manages business processes such as sales, purchasing, accounting, human resources, customer support, CRM and inventory developed for SME. 

This is truly SME-ready at less than $3 monthly subscription with 24/7 customer support.

I also want to congratulate Wragby Team for winning 2019 Microsoft Partner of the Year. Please keep my zobo, nkwobi and not-amala!

About wBizManager

The impact of technology on enterprises, large or small, is inescapable. Research shows that adopting critical technologies is one of the foremost factors propelling businesses forward, especially when easily available at a cost effective price.

However, when it comes to SMEs (small and medium scale enterprises), the story is starkly different, especially in our region, as just a few use digital technologies for business growth. 

Looking at the key business goals of any SME which include improving revenue growth, increasing employee productivity, and acquiring more customers, all of which can be successfully addressed by technology; but often, the scale of investment for such solutions seems overwhelming, especially since top technology trends are developed for larger enterprises.

Wragby Business Solutions and technologies Limited, a relentless team of acclaimed world professionals, developed an ERP solution for Small businesses called wBizManager, to bridge this gap in the SME market space. wBizManager Solution is an integrated suite of application that manages business processes such as sales, purchasing, accounting, human resources, customer support, CRM and inventory developed for SME. 

Some of the key benefits of this solution include the fact that it is cloud Based, cost-effective (subscription is low as NGN 1,000 subscription monthly) and availability of 24/7 In-Country Expert Support. 

For more information, kindly visit our website at https://wbizmanager.smeproductivity.com/

Wragby Business Solutions and Technologies limited with its pedigree of firsts, remains at the forefront of technological innovations through the consistent delivery of trail-blazing solutions that guarantee their customers optimum productivity.

In PDF – WBIZMAN v5.1

Digital Marketing: How to Woo Buyers and Investors in Nigerian Real Estate Sector

By
Mutiu Iyanda
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0
Zenvus Boundary real estate

Several reports indicate that the Nigerian real estate sector grew and also declined in some quarters between 2016 and 2019. In 2016, the sector was one of the sectors that experienced the high impact of recession, which cumulated into worst growth. Through policies and initiatives of the Federal Government, the sector exited recession in Q1 2019 after contracting for 12 consecutive quarters. Unfortunately, it entered stunted growth in Q2 2019 with a 3.84% contraction, outperformed 19 sectors to post worst growth during the quarter.

Beyond the statistics, our conversation with the experts and professionals in the sector has established that communicating products and services using the right approaches, people and materials could enhance the fortune of the sector. They were of the view that players need to key into changing demographics and psychographics of potential organisational and individual buyers. One clear strategy proposed by the experts and professionals is the strategic use of digital platforms. According to them, the world of buying homes and other real estate products including services has been disrupted by the emerging communication technologies. The world is now digitalised and buyers want to experience the digital process towards sustainable value derivation.

Like other markets, Nigerian players are also employing digital platforms for their products and services marketing. Despite this, there are challenges and issues in the approaches being used to communicate value to the prospective buyers, our analysis reveals. We understood this through the mapping and analysis of 11 companies’ messages on LinkedIn and Facebook in 6 months out of 33 companies initially select. The companies presented in Exhibit 1 are those with the needed content for our analysis during the period.  With this, our analyst argues that it would be difficult for the companies without messages to make significant contributions to the understanding and the growth of the sector. The results establish several implications and the need to revisit processes being used for content development and people producing the content.

Exhibit 1: Select Companies and their Characteristics

Source: Companies’ Websites, 2020; Infoprations Analysis, 2020

From the analysis, it emerges that Alpha Mead Development Company and Sujimoto mostly marketed future city/estate during the period. Alpha Mead promoted its Green Park and Lekki Pearl Estates extensively, while Sujimoto deployed its marketing resources towards public and prospective homeowners understanding of LucreziaBySujimoto, a project named after Lucrezia De Medici, the “daughter of the richest man in the world” and one of the most prestigious queens of the 15th century Florence.

Examining the most marketed products, we discovered that owning a house or invest in real estate in terms of buying houses for commercial purposes, having commercial property and a place in future cities or estates in Lagos State were mostly promoted by the players at the expense of purchasing land, built houses and offices [see Exhibit 2]. We also found that abilities and capabilities of building houses and other building structure categories were not properly communicated.

Exhibit 2: Dominant Products promoted by the Companies

Source: Companies’ Posts, 2019-2020; Infoprations Analysis, 2020

The Place of Emotions in Wooing Buyers and Investors

Our team was more interested in understanding digital marketing practices through social and professional media when the data signified that digital marketing personnel of the select players deployed varied emotions in the messages that promoted the products presented in Exhibit 2. It is an established rule that wooing prospective home buyers and investors require proper understanding of their emotions and capitalise on them (emotions) while developing contents because buying real estate products it is highly emotional.

For instance, buyers who are interested in healthy and safe environment will quickly respond to messages that include nostalgia, commitment, humour and happiness.  In Exhibit 3, it is clear that the players prioritised happiness in marketing of land, specialised knowledge, skills, expertise and professionalism in developing houses and constructed offices. Surprisingly, they failed to emphasis happiness in the messages that promoted owning a house or invest in real estate products and future cities or estates in spite of having significant messages on them [see Exhibit 3].

Exhibit 3: Emotions in the Messages that promoted Real Estate Products

Source: Companies’ Posts, 2019-2020; Infoprations Analysis, 2020

The Language and Psychology of Marketing

Since emotions play a significant factor in buyer impulse, our expectation was that we would find appropriate language usage, especially appealing to the psychographics of the prospective home buyers. This is premised on the fact that ‘most housing market models are based upon rational choice and optimizing behaviour.’  In this regard, we categorised players language use into three -rational, certainty and inhibition. By rational, we discovered that there are signs that buyers would be perceived as analytical based on the use of words, images among other illustrations that accompanied the analysed messages. The certainty represents the extent to which the players through the marketing personnel were sure of what they marketed, while inhibition signifies the possibility of perceiving the select players as questionable, doubtful, limited, or debatable.

Sieving through the data, we discovered that the marketers were more rational in promoting built houses, offices, commercial property and owning a house or invest in real estate products. Despite being more rational while promoting owning a house or invest in real estate products, our analysis reveals that the level of certainty was better than what was found for future cities or estate promotion (21%). One of the surprising results is the low level of certainty discovered for the promotion of abilities and capabilities of constructing houses, and high level of inhibition found for commercial property marketing [see Exhibit 4].

Exhibit 4: Underlying Language Tones in the Messages

Source: Companies’ Posts, 2019-2020; Infoprations Analysis, 2020

What are the implications of these results on prospective buyers and investors? We explored this further using real time data [see Exhibit 5] along with the 112 messages of the select companies within the period of analysis. We used real time data of the buyers and investors, mined from October 28, 2019 to January 25, 2020 (a 90 day period) to understand the degree to which the dominant emotions (joy and sadness) in the messages facilitated the interest of the buyers and investors in land and house purchase, renting offices and investing in real estate products.

In October, 2019, analysis shows that the reflection of happiness in the messages connected with the buyers and investors’ interest in lands, houses, renting offices and investing in real estate products by 41.8%, while it only facilitated their interest in the products by 17.5%. In November, 2019, the linkage and facilitation reduced to 39.4% and 15.5% respectively. A surge in the connection and causation was found in December, 2019. During the month, the dominant emotions ensured 40.2% linkage with the interest in the products and 16.1% facilitation in them.  From January 1 to January 25, 2020, the dominant emotions ensured 45.8% connection and 21% facilitation.

Exhibit 5: Cumulative Public and Buyers Interest in Select Products

Source: Google Trends, 2020; Infoprations Analysis, 2020

Clearly, the results are positive in three months out of the four months, but when we examined the interest using disaggregated approach (employing daily interest in land, house, office and investment) [see Exhibit 6], we discovered that the construction of the messages with the emphasis on the consequences of not purchasing land, house and renting office with adequate values increased interest in the products considerably than the adoption of happiness-centric approach. Analysis further reveals that the happiness and sadness were not enough to increase buyers and investors interest in real estate investments every day of the period of the analysis.

Exhibit 6: Emotions and Disaggregated Public and Buyers’ Interest

Source: Google Trends, 2020; Companies’ Messages, 2020; Infoprations Analysis, 2020

Strategic Options

As stated earlier, the results have several implications. It is obvious that marketing personnel, most importantly those managing digital platforms need to improve on the frequency of communicating products and the use of emotions and language. The results have also established the place of having what our team describes as POLE, which entails a proper understanding of existing and prospective buyers and investors before constructing messages and institutionalisation of tailored emotions in the right products or services.

 

 

 

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