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Wednesday 29 May 2013

SPARK launch gains global recognition

iROKOtv’s Jason Njoku, Bastian Gotter and Nollywood superstar Mary Remmy-Njoku have launched SPARK - a $1m-backed company to support and develop aspiring Nigerian tech and Internet entrepreneurs.  

Based in Lagos and launched just a few weeks ago, the new company has attracted attention from around the world, having featured in US-based black entertainment website BET as well as BBC World radio. It has been praised as a pioneer in revolutionizing the start-up ecosystem for young, talented Nigerians looking to make their mark in the country’s emerging tech sector. Continue...



Since its launch on 8 May, the company has received hundreds of emails from entrepreneurs looking to join the SPARK network, as well as interest from investors around the world looking to collaborate with the new company.

Jason Njoku says: “Myself, Bastian and Mary meet so many young, talented tech entrepreneurs who fall at the first hurdle because the culture for funding start-ups doesn’t exist in Nigeria at the moment. Lagos is the gateway to the tech scene in Africa. It is currently worth about $200million. In 3-5 years time, it will be $1billion. We, SPARK, plan to be behind Nigeria’s first wave of dotcom millionaires”.

Bastian Gotter says: “The reaction to SPARK has been fantastic and it proves that now is the time to be investing in the tech market. Following on from our success with iROKOtv, we feel that there is no-one in a better position than us to drive forward the tech start-up sector in Nigeria and this is why we’ve launched SPARK.”

So far, SPARK has funded 13 companies, all internet based, supplying services such as dating, property letting, hotel booking and other service that more and more Nigerians are going online for. The 13 companies include Hotels.ngChristians.ngBus.com.ngGiddimint.com.ng Borro.com.ngInsured.ng, ToLet.com.ngFoto.com.ng  blink.com.ngHealthy.com.ng and Drinks.ng

Mary Remmy-Njoku says: “Three years ago, no-one thought to come online to watch Nollywood movies and now, it is an every day occurrence for millions of people around the world and in Nigeria. People log in to www.irokotv.com and they have instant access to Mercy Johnson, Majid Michel, Mama G….. whoever is their favourite star. They have iROKOtv as their first port of call for their Nollywood movies.

“The same is going to happen for these SPARK companies; people who are interested in fashion will go online to Giddimint to buy a cool t-shirt, to Hotels.Ng to book a hotel room or to Drinks.ng to order good priced drinks for a wedding or big occasion. Our SPARK companies will become an everyday part of Nigerian lives in the next few years”.

64 comments:

Anonymous said...

nigeria is becoming an american dream type society...wow...Jason Njoku and his crew are doing sme good things, investment is what alot of techy ppl need... and Njoku and his crew are on their way to becoming billionaires...wow...

Dark Codr said...

Cool.

Anonymous said...

Very nice concept. ..more grease to ur elbow

Anonymous said...

Cool.. we can now have incubators in Nigeria too..

Unknown said...

Nice one

Anonymous said...

whoa brilliant idea

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Anonymous said...

Wow I love dis couple already, baba God abeg bless me wit som1 wit whom I can grow in all aspects(financial, spiritually, intellectually,emotionally etc) AMEN.

Anonymous said...

Wat a power couple..
Intelligent ppl..
Billie jean

jennietobbie said...

Now, that's different. Proud!

Anonymous said...

Awesome! God don bless this girl pls come bless me too o

Anonymous said...

Congratulations to them!!!.. nice

Empress said...

Wow this is gonna be good I can feel it already. Nigeria now going online seriously.

Anonymous said...

Nice. Good to see she's not a trophy wife.

Anonymous said...

Interesting. I have always said it, we have natural/human resources abound in Nigeria. Let them give us constant power for one year and see how Naija go blow in, business, entertainments, Agriculture, Health care, etc.

Anonymous said...

Wow.... great job guys

Anonymous said...

Linda, u dey craze o. Mary-Remmy na superstar? Mschewwww....

King wizzy said...

Very aspiring innovation.kudos 2 u guys n more grease 2 ya elbows

@Koonley said...

Wow! That's a nice innovation. More grease to their elbows and keep the flag off. The sky is your starting point

Anonymous said...

I thought I would see a link on how to sign up with SPARK. This post is incomplete.

Anonymous said...

sorry remmy i have been watching nigerian movies online since 2004. the only difference is that they were free and iroko on most part isnt.

Anonymous said...

I love Mary Remmy bt calling her a superstar? Linda nwannem fear God biko kwanu. Abeg no make me laugh

Anonymous said...

Great one guys. Tnx for believing in your Country and doing a positive thing

Anonymous said...

Please are they hiring? Direct me...

Anonymous said...

Gud entreprenural skill.

Anonymous said...

Thank guys n GOD bless.You guys ve shown the NIGERIA youth we can do positive things.

Bob's Em said...

wow how nyc dats wot ma blog is up to ....check it out at www.bolsey.blogspot.com

ForexPro said...

We already have dot.com millionaires. I am one. But congrats anyway on this noble venture. God bless ur hustle.

Anonymous said...

Great idea and concept for once ..... Well done




Applytojobs.blogspot.co.uk



Anonymous said...

The man is clueless in saying "3years ago no one thought to watch movies online" what happened to YouTube? And all those free websites. If he said "formal" place to watch online that will be different. Wording makes a diff in a sentence *sighs* good job though :)

Sorem said...

nice biz enterprise! Wsh u gr8 success. Minwyl mary luks lyk she has added weight

Anonymous said...

Wow!nice one mary!u guys deserve a big pat on ur back!all d best

Anonymous said...

nice one Njoku, keep it up.

Onyinye said...

This is very creative, I like. Will really boost ICT in Nigeria. It is really true that two heads are better than one (Mr&Mrs Njoku). BTW I'm the first to comment. Yay.

Anonymous said...

Yeeeey......Nigeria go better, cool innovation, although itz obvious una go chop our money still buh the good news is that Nigeria will improve Tech wise......thumbs up

Anonymous said...

Mmtchew....
So wat Sud I do about it?????

Anonymous said...

Dix is wonderful

otunba said...

Nollywood 'superstar' tho??!

Anonymous said...

This is a very creative idea I must confess. Thumbs up guys. Good work

itunes said...

This is a very creative idea I must confess. Thumbs up guys. Good work

Anonymous said...

Wowww dats a nice one. Thumbs up to u guys!

Dee said...

WHY DIDNT THEY PUT THE CHICK INFRONT, SEE AS DEM COVER HER FOR BACK.

Anonymous said...

Damn! where can I get one of them tee shirts Njoku is wearing??? THE GREMLIN HAS SPOKEN!

Unknown said...

This is good.Real economic empowerment.

Unknown said...

This is great. Real economic empowerment.

Unknown said...

This is good.Real economic empowerment.

Anonymous said...

Very impressive! So nice.. Kudos.

Anonymous said...

This is a good initiative. I just checkd d hotel.ng i was woooowed!All hotels in naija there. Nice one Jason

Anonymous said...

Cos the truth is she's just a shareholder and didn't bring any idea to the table or else she no go gree dey back #husbandinsurancethinz

Anonymous said...

IrokoTV crew ....... very good PR but the reality/inside is a big mess if only they knew.... I am waiting for the final battle when are these would blow up... hehehe

Unknown said...

hi Linda pls hw do i contact SPARK cos i got a biz plan i would luv to submit to dem, tnx.

Anonymous said...

Linda , i can tell you that this may end up not working in Nigeria. I am a geek in Abuja, my biggest challenge isn't funding but my environment. I do well in an extremely quiet space, any little noise always distracts me. I find it very difficult to go outside due to crowd and noise,i don't go out too often, because of this, people think i am sick or posses but it is just me, i am much happier being alone. So all i need is, please beg Nigerians to respect the environment and accept other people that are not like them. I will be grateful if the government can build a library for tech people and enforce environmental law to night noise. I tried to be productive at night but churches close by use loudspeaker, making it extremely hard to find any moment of quietness in my life. All you need for creativity to thrive is quiet environment

Chigo said...

This is cool. I love mary remy. This fat man wifed her already lol

Unknown said...

WOW, NICE CONCEPT, I THINK THEY SHOULD HAVE a naijatech.ng.com domain name for people like us that are into computer technology.

naija latest said...

bloggers and netpreneurs have you all positioned yourselves to benefit from this? good one

Sen said...

Great job Jason. I can't wait to join your team.-Stephen

Anonymous said...

@anonymous 'Gremlin' u can get the tees @ www.giddimint.com I jus checked them out. Cool stuffs and also for ladies too.

Anonymous said...

Cool t-shirts on giddimint.com !!!!!! Nice one guys!!!

Greg said...

You can get the t-shirt Jason is wearing from www.giddimint.com

Unknown said...

Re u better dan her??

Ubah Chetachukwu said...

good project

choco8hrt said...

Pls how do i get in contact to SPARK

Vernon said...

This is cool!

Nigeria bus operators said...

Most driver and passengers talk about this topic and i appreciate your sharing. I have got much clear idea

concerning from this piece of writing. List of Book Bus Tickets from lagos.. Really looking forward to read more. Awesome.

Unknown said...

www.exclusives.com.ng

Spark It Up!!!

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