My Fluttwerwave Takeaway: It’s Not Just The Money, Its The Hope renewed
“Hey Guy, omo Flutterwave just collect $170 million, dem worth $1 billion now”, was the first message in a series of messages I sent to friends immediately I heard the Flutterwave story. I was so filled with excitement over the news because of what it meant to our ecosystem. My friend is an employee of one of the biggest bookstores in the country, though he loves writing he isn’t someone who keeps abreast of tech news or the Nigerian ecosystem, heck he didn’t even know a company like Flutterwave existed until I told him. Over the years I have managed to fill his head with all my ramblings about tech and tech founders both local and foreign. we would sit down into the night and think up ideas on how to modernize the archaic system in which bookstores still operated in his industry and turn it all around with a tech-focused company.
My message to him was like a validation that his dreams were still valid and a way to diminish doubts if any still existed. For those who haven’t heard yet. Flutterwave just raised an impressive $170 million in its series c valuing the company at $1 billion. what is even more impressive is that it has managed to do this in under 6 years of operation and its the very first startup made up of Nigerian founders that have achieved that unicorn status.
Part of the reason this story holds significance for me is that it was because of stories like this I was able to get my first job in the tech sector with a degree in microbiology. I would give a little story to explain what I mean. My journey in tech started from the first day I saw a book about C, the programming language. I took the book with me to the university and never really read more than the first 20 pages( the “cout” keywords discouraged me). The books served as a constant reminder that after the university I would transition into tech. After school, the pressure became intense from family and mentors, they wanted me to study medicine and surgery or at the very least do a masters degree programme, The idea of a doctor or at the very least “adjacent doctor” appealed to them. This was the path I was very sure I didn’t take. But in between joblessness and constant pressure I knew, if I didn’t get a win in tech soonest, i would cave in.
The path that laid before me were three, Go through an expensive Bootcamp and get a job soonest, Self-study and hope you get a job in a year time or cave in and go for further studies. As luck would have it I gained admission into a Bootcamp, the problem? it was very expensive. I had to figure out a way to convince my mentors of the importance of what I was trying to achieve. Keep in mind it was the same mentors that advised me to go for further education. I met my mentors armed with an excel presentation on how this career move was the best for me and how passionate I was about working in tech. To my greatest surprise, he was happy for me and encouraged me both emotionally and financially. It was a shock to me, the emotional part I understood but the financial part? His words to me where “Samuel I know you can do it ?, Nigerian tech companies are making wave and tech is the future so if I can do a little to make sure you are part of that future, why not?”. I was shocked.
This was someone who hardly knew online banks or read tech news, how the hell did he get to know the Nigerian tech system. Apparently, he had found out about the money being raised and figured out maybe after all this boy’s chosen profession isn’t a bad thing.
Many graduates leave Nysc yearly faced with little or no jobs, for many of those graduates, the tech community paves the way for a better life. Whether as a marketing associate, a UI designer, a product manager or a programmer, Stories like this are what serves as beacons of hope that no matter how bleak the future might seem, hope remains. For each raise, each press release announcing an increase in user year on year, each launch of a startup, people see hope, if this can be accomplished by these individuals we can also. People get to hear about these companies and use their products. Convincing my non-tech friends to adopt fintech products gets easier. 😂
I would love to attach Iyin’s tweet because it perfectly explains what i feel. The feeling that yes we can. That no matter the adversity we face, the problems the nation throws at us, we will succeed.
