Is Wifi going .ng “Comcast for Africa”
Is this a Unicorn to come or a Camel to the desert? Big competitors from day one. Turned turn down $1m funding to $1m revenue.
Graduating from Y Combinator in November 2017 with the grand vision to provide affordable internet to over 132 million internet users in Nigeria, Tizeti began with initial a rollout in Lagos. At that time, Lagos had over 12.82% of the total internet users in Nigeria.
Stats of Internet users in Nigeria as of 2017.
After Lagos follows Bayelsa, Yobe, and Ebonyi leading the ranking from the behind with 0.74%, 0.78%, and 0.82% respectively. Terrorism plagued Borno still captured 1.47% of users. The Federal Capital Territory comes 5th with 4.65% after Ogun (6.01%), Oyo (5.28%), and Kano (4.75%) states.
Since then, the number of internet users in Nigeria has grown sharply.
In 2018, Nigeria had 92.3 million internet users. This figure is projected to grow to 187.8 million internet users in 2023. The internet penetration amounted to 47.1 percent of the population in 2018 and is set to reach 84.5 percent in 2023.
Tizeti now has 1.1 million users with an estimated annual revenue $15m. With focus on quickening access to low-cost broadband connectivity in Nigeria and Ghana as GhanaWifi.com, they’ll leverage MainOne’s fibre connectivity and bandwidth to reach the underserved populations.
Tizeti operates widely as a “Comcast for Africa” by investing heavily in building out its own solar-panelled network of towers and in partnership with MainOne and Facebook, provide homes, companies, and events with high-speed broadband internet access. Reportedly, current internet access spans more than 90% of Lagos as well as a network of over 17,000 public hotspots all over the city.
Tizeti launched its 4G LTE network in Nigeria, on November 11, 2019, also extending to major cities in Nigeria and West Africa. Following the building of brand-new, solar-powered, 4G-capable towers in Port Harcourt, Rivers State and followed by new towers in Ogun and Edo. The main goal of this launch was to improve 4G connectivity to empower more Nigerians in the South-South and South-West states, stimulate economic activities, and provide unlimited access to affordable and reliable broadband services.
Amazing offer.
Tizeti smart use of solar-powered solution directly reduced operating cost. This allowed them to pass the savings onto their customers which made them a competitive choice for internet. A subscription plan with unlimited use in Nigeria currently costs [NGN 9, 500].
Tizeti’s wide reach gave them a solid competitive edge in the ISP space, putting them as one of the leaders in sector. On October 2017, the company reported reaching $1 million in revenue without raising investment.
The wifi come.ng model
Let's bring you Internet.
Tizeti has built out a network of over 50 owned and operated towers. They built on the rapid decreasing cost of solar panels globally and provide unlimited, low price internet with a basic speed of 10mbps. They also own a delivery network that facilitates internet connectivity from submarine cables directly to their customers through its solar-powered Wifi towers.
Tizeti Money
Tizeti was launched in 2012 with a focus to deliver internet to Estates but reemerged as Wifi.com.ng in 2014 to the with grand goal of providing a sustainable internet connection in Nigerian and Africans.
From 2012 to 1st quarter of 2017 Tizeti was bootstrapped by families, friends, and the founder.
June 27, 2017 (Tizeti)
The Company reported seed funding of $2.1 million from foreign investors, Western Technology Investment, Social Capital, Vy Capital, Picus Capital, Ace & Company, Lynett Capital Partners, Zeno Ventures and some angel investors including Y Combinator’s Michael Seibel and Gabriel Hammond.
The CEO comments on this round.
Kendall Ananyi says, “Today’s seed announcement allows us to grow aggressively in the Nigerian market, and we will continue to invest in building out our own solar powered infrastructure, as well as refine and expand our consumer focused product that delivers reliable, cost-effective Wifi to potentially millions of Nigerians. We aim to ‘win Lagos’, with a view to expanding across the West African region over the next 18-24 months”.
Tizeti Co-Founder Kendall Ananyi adds, “Since graduating from Y Combinator, we’ve licensed Spectrum from the Nigerian Government and signed an IRU contract with a Submarine Cable provider to extend the coverage of our Unlimited Internet Service, which will put Tizeti in a stronger position to roll out additional services to more people such as our new Wifi Hotspot Service”.
Jun 30, 2017
Announced a non equity assistance from Venture platform.
Sep 4, 2018
The Company closed a Series A round of USD 3 Mn, led by 4DX Ventures with participation from existing investors Y Combinator Continuity, Lynett Capital, Social Capital, Western Technology Investment, Friále, and Golden Palm Investments.
The round came with a Plan.
Tizeti will use this round of investment to expand operations outside of Nigeria and launched a new consumer-facing brand Wifi.Africa later that year as reported by the company.
The CEO comments on this round.
“Tizeti was built to tackle poor internet connectivity not only in Nigeria but on the continent as a whole, by developing a cost-effective solution from inception to delivery, for reliable and uncapped internet access for potentially millions of Africans. We have grown rapidly in the Nigerian market in the last 12 months and expect to continue on this trajectory, as millions more Africans come online. This Series A investment allows us to continue providing a peerless service in Nigeria, building out our customer base there, as well as scale across Africa, starting with Ghana”.
As part of the round, Walter Baddoo Co-founder & Managing Partner of 4DX Ventures was announced to be on Tizeti’s Board of Directors.
His comments on the round:
“Reducing the cost of data in Africa is a crucial step in accelerating the pace of internet adoption across the continent. Tizeti, driven by a stellar company culture, has built a world-class network that delivers data to users at a fraction of the current cost. Tizeti makes it easier and cheaper to connect Africa to the global digital economy, and we are excited to partner with Kendall and his team on this mission.”
The job is far from done.
Tizeti announced a partnership to expand Express Wi-Fi by Facebook in Nigeria, with roll out of hundreds of hotspots. Announced at AfricaCom 2017, the partnership supports Facebook’s and Tizeti’s shared goal of connecting more people to the internet in a cost-efficient way.
Commenting on the announcement.
Kendall Ananyi, CEO of Tizeti, said: “We look forward to launching this partnership with Express Wi-Fi which allows us to continue our mission to bring affordable and reliable internet to more Nigerians.”
“Express Wi-Fi aims to reduce barriers to connectivity such as limited infrastructure and high data costs, giving more people, such as small business entrepreneurs and developers, the opportunity to connect and build community,” said Uche Ofodile, Regional Head of Africa at Express Wi-Fi by Facebook. “We’re excited to partner with Tizeti to expand access in Nigeria and roll out hotspots in the coming months.”
How much of Survival is Tizeti
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Spectranet $60M
The Ecosystem reacts!!!
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