Ikot Ekpene, Akwa Ibom state born, Mark Essien is an engineer at heart and a passionate entrepreneur. He built Hotels.ng to help solve the problem of hotel bookings in Nigeria and has since been interviewed by countless media outfits.
In this interview at #Startupsouth, Mark reveals figures and behind the scene details of his company’s success story like he probably may never do again to anyone.
Background
Turned down by several investors (including Rocket Internet), Mark bootstrapped until Spark Fund injected some money a few months down the road. By early 2014, Hotels.ng was already profitable (making more money than they were spending). In May 2015, they announced a $1.2Million investment from EchoVC Pan-Africa Fund and Omidyar Network at a valuation of over $5Million.
Among many other lists, Mark is listed in Forbes 30 Most Promising Young Entrepreneurs In Africa 2015.
About #StartupSouth
#StartupSouth SmallBiz Investment Conference is designed as a 1 Day experiential learning and networking conference for Small Business owners, tech startup founders, investors and their clients – based in the South-South and South-East Geopolitical zone of Nigeria.
It is born out of the need to begin to project and explore the promise of the region (with emphasis on Port Harcourt) as the next major economic hub of the nation outside Lagos.
