ENTREPRENEUR OF THE WEEK – JASON NJOKU

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Jason Njoku is the co-founder of IrokoTV, a mobile entertainment and internet TV platform that’s particularly popular for its impressive catalogue of African ‘Nollywood’ movies.

However, the road to the success of his business was not easy.

After numerous failed attempts at previous businesses in the UK, Jason returned to Nigeria in 2010 to build relationships with local movie producers and purchase content rights for his new startup, IrokoTV.

Starting his business would not have been possible without the £90,000 contribution of Jason’s friend and business partner, Sebastian.

Since then, the growth of IrokoTV has been tremendous. Since then, the business has attracted up to $40 million in investment funding from foreign investors, mostly venture capital investors.

Its investors include Tiger Global, a New York-based private equity firm, and Investment AB Kinnevik, a Swedish venture capital investor.

Venture capital firms invest more than $140 billion every year in startups and growth businesses across the world. But in Africa, venture capital is only just starting to pick up and they’re very interested in funding highly-scalable businesses that have significant profit potential.

In January 2016, IrokoTV raised $19 million in additional funding to expand its business into Francophone countries in Africa.

In summary, by using a combination of business partnerships and venture capital, Jason has been able to successfully raise significant amounts of capital to grow a company that was described by Forbes Magazine as “the Netflix of Africa.”

 

One thing to learn from Mr. Jason Njoku is “Persistence.” He did not give up and he had a supportive partner by his side.

 

 

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