Eyo Bassey |
Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, PayPorte
Technologies Limited, Eyo Bassey, is a man of many parts—techie, entrepreneur
and venture capitalist.
He is one of the most successful e-commerce
entrepreneurs. Whether it was his
strong work ethic, never-give-up attitude or advice to just believe in him,
Bassey is proud to say that the first support to start his business came from
his mother.His mother, a civil servant, saved money to get him a computer,
which he dismantled and coupled.
Without her encouragement and belief in him, Bassey said he
would not have been able to live his dream. Bassey started his first business
venture at 21. Raised in the Federal Capital Territory, he was conferred with
the best student award in the West African Secondary School Certificate
Examination (WASCE).
Bassey gained admission to the University of Ilorin where he
studied Civil Engineering and bagged a
Masters in Applied Physics from Ladoke Akintola University of Technology
(LAUTECH).
After establishing himself as a developer, he was given the
contract by a state government to develop a
software for revenue collection. He introduced the e-receipt system to
the government. But to execute the contract,
he needed money.
To raise funds from the bank for the job, his mother allowed
him to use their house. He has since proven himself as a risk taker, founding
various companies and established online retail shopping platform – PayPorte.
Launched in 2014, Payporte was the first to launch a 1k
Store in the industry to support its customers through the economic downturn.
He started the
business with about $100,000. He founded
PayPorte at the peak of the first dot-com boom. Few entrepreneurs dared to
expand into several markets, while they were in their early stages. But he
took that plunge headlong. It is
now a highly-valued business. The launch of
payPorte can, in some ways, be
explained as the distillation of many
experiences. Bassey is a successful tech entrepreneur and
has built an enviable portfolio. He
has been ahead of others in encouraging firms to pivot—refine or change
their business models.His investments include online marketplace , logistics
provision and ordering app, among
others. At Payporte, he has built an
e-commerce firm that is capital-efficient than most other Nigerian e-commerce brands.
Despite the success of PayPorte, Bassey maintained
that it is still morning for e-commerce in the country. He should know;
he launched the company in Abuja
before relocating to Lagos. He
has seen it all—the dot-com boom and the challenge of foreign- funded ecommerce
firms coming into the market. But he persevered. He is not afraid to change
gears and has an uncanny ability to see beyond the short-term, and though
pressure is high at the moment, his clarity of vision allows him to consider
the more significant lasting effect of decisions.
Bassey is hands-on as well,
as it involves software
development and consulting for other
organisations. He has spent the last
four years as the founder/CEO Rom-Flex Technologies, increasing and expanding
the business in Nigeria, Africa and beyond.
Most notable is the ‘Roll-Out Immigration e-Passport,
setting up the largest e-library and e-learning hub in East Africa (MUBS
Uganda)
According to him, Nigeria is a large consumer market and its
openness is very exciting—it allows players to come to in and push the
boundaries of innovation.
He believes that e-commerce is the future of retail and it
will play a big role in Nigeria.
According to him, the toughest thing about being an
entrepreneur is to contend with the choices of what to sacrifice: “You surely
can’t have your cake and eat it when you are bootstrapping a business, so
making choices and being comfortable in your own skin about the decisions you
make are essential.”
Startup Grind Lagos’ Chapter Director, Uwem Uwemakpan, said
the forum was held to highlight and proffer solutions to challenges the Lagos
entrepreneur faces.
Regional Programme Manager, Techpreneur Africa,Teleola
Adegoke, urged young entrepreneurs to seek capacity building opportunities to
enable them grow their businesses in the face of challenges.
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