WHAT are the gaps in communication technology that necessitated your business?
For one, the way people interact with businesses has changed. New trends are showing this to be true. Customers increasingly prefer to communicate on platforms they are comfortable with. A customer may choose to send a WhatsApp message or an Instagram DM, even an SMS over an email. This change in consumer behaviour presents a problem for businesses. How do they effectively manage interactions happening across different platforms? Simpu wants to help solve this by making it easier to bring all your conversation channels into one inbox so that your teams can focus on what matters most to the customer.
It must have been a proud moment launching Simpu. Without a doubt, lots of resources would have been expended. How has the journey been so far?
Yes, it has been an exciting journey so far. I am super proud of the team and the work done. Running a company is not a walk in the park. We started out bootstrapping for a while before taking it outside. Those were trying times for the founders and the team. I am happy with our progress so far. We are very committed to our mission of increasing the GDP of the country. We have high hopes for the future.
The idea that you birthed is perhaps novel in this side of the world and your selling point is unique. Does that make you a pioneer in this space?
We are one of the first companies in Africa working to help businesses streamline their customer interactions. Simpu is pioneering a new kind of social commerce and CRM tool. The closest comparison to Simpu is software behemoth Salesforce, which has been around for more than 20 years.
Many Fintechs have reported the pandemic scourge to be a blessing to their business. Would you say the pandemic was a blessing to the launch of your startup?
I believe the pandemic proved that you could run a business using technology remotely. We started our company at the start of the pandemic yet, we have grown in size and features. In fact, the pandemic has changed the way we work.
For a startup looking to harmonise social media communication, a lot of challenges and irregularities still remain in Nigeria’s ICT infrastructure. Are you not daunted in battling these challenges?
One of the things we put deeply into consideration was our infrastructural challenges. For example, we made our apps very bandwidth-friendly. Our apps do not require having sophisticated computers to work well. We leverage relationships to help solve sticky customer issues. These challenges very often present windows of opportunity.
Recent policies and regulations appear to be stringent towards Fintech startups and businesses in the country with many suffering significant losses over the past weeks and months. Are you prepared for such rude realities?
Government regulations are not a bad thing. The issue is simply the style of execution. I know for a fact that the United States is probably just as regulated. But taking the right approach to implementation is just as important. The government needs to give adequate time for businesses to prepare for regulatory changes. We try to be compliant at Simpu. Data privacy is a big deal to us.
Fintechs appear to have been getting more funds and support from international organisations. How would you describe local support (public and private) for growing businesses?
The public sector? I have no idea. There were a couple of initiatives announced a while back. I’m unsure if anyone personally benefited from them. The private sector is opening up. More tech companies are being raised by local investors these days. We raised our pre-seed capital from local angels. There are good private sector investors assisting techies with investment right now, which was not the case two years ago, and I believe this is something to be celebrated.
What are the biggest lessons you have learned since venturing into the Fintech business?
It is really about ethically creating value. Also, not everything can and should be solved using technology. Sometimes, you have to take a step back and evaluate. We are building for human beings, who are emotional and social. Finally, stay optimistic!
For your sector and business, what are the projections you have for the coming months and years?
In the coming weeks, Simpu will be launching a mobile application. This would help SMEs chat and receive payments from customers in a seamless way. We have a goal of reaching 50,000 SMEs.
Interestingly, you have a degree in English but you’re into programming and leading a tech startup. How were you able to cross over into ICT, and what attracted you?
Well, degrees don’t count as much in defining career choices these days. There are lots of people with liberal art education doing amazing things in the computer science field. Lots of breakthroughs in natural language processing (NLP) have been led by English majors. But truth be told, I got exposed to computers quite early as a kid. I was fascinated early on; we had a computer at home. I had friends who were super into computers. It is an almost natural path for me. The most fascinating thing about building a tech company is that; you can literally change the world. You can shape the world with your code.
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