The Kenyan government has granted KSH300 million to local content startups. Lovebase.com, a top Nigerian dating site, has become profitable with over 60,000 members. It changed its name from Alarena.com to appeal to a wider demographic and offer both serious and casual relationships. Exxset.com is a new site that allows professionals to provide reviews and insights on products and services in West Africa. It aims to address the lack of credible information available. Membership is by invitation only to ensure trustworthiness.

21. News Round
KENYA
KENYA GOVERNMENT GRANT KSH300M TO LOCAL CONTENT STARTUPS

22. KENYA

24. Lovebase.com a top Nigerian Dating site becomes profitable
Lovebase.com is formally alarena.com a top Nigerian dating site with over 60,000 members and growing, turned
positive. We got this tip-off from the founder Simdul Shagaya in our recent interview we conducted with him.
How it works
You sign up on the site with the basic information you wish to be recognized on the site, and activate via your email.
To get people of interest, you can use its search function which allows you to specify whether you need male or
female and the age grade, location and users with picture.
A New Deal?
Yea! We asked the founder of the reason for the change of name and he said; “The name change happened for
several reasons. One was to have the brand appeal to a greater population of Nigerians in terms of ethnicity and
age. As you know, Alarena means matchmaker in Yoruba. The brand now addresses an ethnically wider and
younger crowd that may be looking for casual relationships in addition to those seeking marriage”.
The design is sleek and aesthetic, a world-class and web 2.0 compatible website. It's really one of the top Nigerian
sites with powerful user-experience.
The site also has a dedicated line 080-66-33-22-99 for customer support.
The Real Deal
The site has two options; premium and free membership. With premium membership, user get message from serious
people and reduces spam. You can actually upload your picture to increase relevance. On the other hand, the free
membership allows people to use the site for free!
Business Model
The site has seen considerable number of people making payment for the premium service. With this, the site has
been able to sustain itself, innovate and reach broader audience. The model adopted by this site is Subscription
model under Web Business Model structure.

25. Downside
The site can leverage the power of social media to reach far more audience as we now have more than 1.6 million
Nigerians on Facebook. Integration with Facebook will do the site good and help users find match faster and better.
Also understanding that mobile has more penetration than computer, a mobile site and SMS alert will help users get
result faster and make them stick to the site, eventually increasing word-of-mouth.
Exxset.com; a Trusted Business Information Resource with focus on Nigeria
Ever thought of a site where you can get an informed review of products and services that resonates with Nigeria?
Exxset.com could be the right one for you. The site hopes to solve the lack of information about products and
services in Nigeria and other west African countries. In their press release (made available to us); ExxSet a recently
launched an antidote to the region's dearth of information with a site where professionals can finally source and
provide information on the quality of products and services. It is invitation-only to ensure a platform of trust and
credibility. It is a series of regional sites across Africa with the initial focus on West Africa. The key point for me is its
mission “mission of facilitating the flow of credible hyper-local information between professionals in the West African
region by providing a resource where they can connect on common issues and find proven solutions, with its word-
of-mouth platform.“
Owned by ExxSet Ltd, a UK based company with branches in Nigeria and South Africa.
How it works
The way it works is simple; solve a common (frustrating problem), find a proven solution and discuss your business
industry.
Frustrating problems is represented by; FRUSTRATING while solution represent the Fantastic (FANTASTIC) side of a
product or service.
New Deal?
The concept is new and fresh! With the service you can get review/comment of a product or service your company
may be planning to spend millions on.
“ExxSet is already receiving fantastic product and service insights from professionals and is acting as a resource that
filters the proliferation of new and unknown products and services in West Africa.” - Shana Joris, Marketing Manager
Real Deal
The real deal is that, you get professional review, comment of a product or service offered by any of the companies
listed. Remember, the site is targeted at bluechip firms, hence the requirement for the membership application.
Many companies and products are already reviewed!
Informed products and services review
Networking platform for professionals
It reduces risk and increases opportunity based on information shared on the platform.
Business Model
The site is newly launched and for now, we can't find a price for any services offered on the site. Am pretty sure the
company is working that out. It will be a perfect advertising platform for the upwardly mobile professionals who
needs top class services.
Downside
The only downside for me is the application for membership; it will reduce the churn of interested people who could
be of great help to the platform. If the membership is approved by qualification or company they work, am sorry it
might not help get a real-life experience of the service under review. A better option would have been to let users
gain point as they answer questions and comments made on topics under discussion. With this, it can be a thumb up,
thumb down approach with a scoring system that gives weight to voting made by members who have a higher
ranking score (Some calls it Karma system).
Log on to Exxset.com now to check it out!

27. Site Worth (Naira) Rank
Nairaland.com 126,281,970 1
punchng.com 64,137,435 2
vanguardngr.com 49,710,810 3
thisdayonline.com 43,909,500 4
sunnewsonline.com 42,481,620 5
234next.com 41,866,230 6
ngrguardiannews.com 32,329,875 7
nigerianbestforum.com 29,779,620 8
gtbank.com 29,718,300 9
nigeriagalleria.com 28,701,045 10
saharareporters.com 28,303,560 11
tribune.com.ng 27,079,350 12
naijahotjobs.com 25,223,325 13
thenationonlineng.net 14,679,570 14
mtnonline.com 14,209,815 15
naijapals.com 13,842,990 16
unilag.edu.ng 13,822,185 17
jobberman.com 12,928,665 18
nigeriamasterweb.com 12,887,055 19
L
atestnigerianjobs.com 12,467,670 20
Total: 664,360,590
The calculations were enhanced by (Websiteoutlook.com) and our internal historical data of Nigerian websites. The worth may not be perfect but it
gives us good sense of what they are like. The sites may be worth more than that using another metric or to the company in question.
We will include more sites to at least 60 sites in our full report. Expect it soon!
What does this mean?
It means that the Nigerian internet market is on the rise, we are still waiting for your own start-up. We expect to see more sites before the end of the
year. These are just 20 sites and are worth more than 600 million Naira, wow!