Nigerian-based tech startup, Sleengshort, has in less than three years processed bulk SMS of about N1.2 billion by 2023.
After this achievement, the firm has revealed plans to become a major player in that space in Nigeria through a major expansion. Sleengshort said it is ready to become the Twilio of Africa communication and customer data space.
Twilio is a US-based company with a valuation of $7.23 billion that provides customer engagement functionality used by developers worldwide to build unique communication features and capabilities like voice, text, chat, video, and email into their applications.
While the market might differ, Sleengshort founded by Agbeyeke Ndubuisi and Oyelere Oluwabiyi also has the same ambitions.
According to the founders, the firm started in February 2022 as a vendor offering bulk SMS to individual customers and small businesses that want to push their products to clients’ mobile devices. In July 2022, the company approached an investor, who listened to their pitch to secure an aggregator license, enabling them to transact directly with telecoms operators like MTN, Airtel, Globacom, and 9mobile.
The founders said apart from the license, they also needed to purchase a significant amount of SMS to qualify for the big market. They secured both the license and an investment of N250 million in bulk SMS.
“By the end of 2022, we had done about N50 million in bulk SMS sales,” Ndubuisi, who added that in 2023, their client list grew to include major fintechs operators, some financial institutions and closed the year with N1.2 billion in bulk SMS sales.
Ndubuisi said the bulk SMS market in Nigeria is an important component of not only the telecoms industry but also sectors like financial services that depend on the market to run smoothly.
Companies across the sectors depend on bulk SMS companies for different types of OTPs, alerts, and sending different types of information to customers. In terms of size, it is estimated that between five to 15 billion bulk SMS are sent every month in Nigeria. The average price of an SMS sold directly by the telcos is N2. Hence, about N30 billion value of SMS are transacted by these companies every month.
On his part, Oluwabiyi, the CTO said what has kept the company attractive to corporate entities is the ability to manage its cost.
“The technology that powers the platform Sleengshort rides on, was built and is maintained locally. The larger practice by other players is to lease platforms from providers outside the country leaving them with a foreign exchange burden to acquire and maintain the platform in dollars,” he stated.
