Speaking to HumanIPO, the company’s Africa leader in strategic growth markets Lydia Byarugaba said the company embarked on an expansion strategy that started with Kenya following its success in its native South Africa.
The company creates, manages and sends smart email campaigns for its clients.
“We have been very successful in South Africa, we have a good presence and we are all mavericks at what we do so we thought why not do it somewhere else. Let’s invest in emerging markets,” Byarugaba said of their reasons behind expanding.
The company has already started making its presence felt in the landlocked country by offering sponsorships to key organisations that will benefit from the email and SMS marketing software product and also serve as a marketing platform.
Schools and non-governmental organisations have also been allowed to use the Everlytic software for free, which is geared towards creating an organic buzz to precede the official launch.
Direct calling, affiliating with tech hubs and meetings with the industry’s stakeholders will also be used to ensure that the company nets at least two or three clients by the time of official launch.
The opening in Rwanda will soon be followed by Ghana at the end of the year, which will operate as the hub of West Africa and cater to countries including Nigeria.
The decision to choose Rwanda and Ghana was informed by factors such as the population of internet users, cultural nuances and socio-economic factors that include political environment as well as ease of doing business.
While Everlytic’s focus is mainly on Africa, the company has also identified Brazil and Argentina as future business grounds. The opening in Brazil will happen concurrently with that of Rwanda.
“I believe we are the best. While we can learn a lot from the west, I believe Africans can make software not only for Africa but the for the world as well,” said Byarugaba.
Everlytic has also been working with entities such as Tech4Africa and are currently in talks with DEMOAfrica to push forward its agenda and also help upcoming startups in the region.
According to Byarugaba, who has also been spearheading Everlytic’s business in Kenya for the last, the startup scene in Kenya is quite vibrant, but more should be done to incubate the talent.
“There is a lot of talent, but I feel more should be done to incubate the talent so that they can be able to identify other factors such as need for the software, its brand position and its marketing position.”