Sleengshort Seeks Market Expansion in Nigeria

Nigerian-based tech startup, Sleengshort has risen to become among the top players in the bulk SMS space within a space of three years.

After hitting N1.2 billion in bulk SMS sales in 2023, the company is pushing to become the Twilio of Africa communication and customer data space. 

Twilio is a US-based company with a valuation of $7.23 billion that provides customer engagement functionality used by developers worldwide to build unique communication features and capabilities like voice, text, chat, video, and email into their applications. While the market might differ, Sleengshort founded by Agbeyeke Ndubuisi and Oyelere Oluwabiyi, also has the same ambition. 

Giving details of the business, CEO of Sleengshort, Agbeyeke Ndubuisi, said: “By the end of 2022, we had done about N50 million in bulk SMS sales. In 2023, our client list grew to include major Fintechs operators and some financial institutions and closed the year with N1.2 billion in bulk SMS sales. 

“The bulk SMS market in Nigeria is an important component of not only the telecom industry but also sectors like financial services that depend on the market to run smoothly. Companies across the sectors depend on bulk SMS companies for different types of One Time Password (OTPs), alerts, and sending different types of information to customers. In terms of size, it is estimated that between 5 to 15 billion bulk SMS are sent every month in Nigeria.”

The Chief Technology Officer of the company, Oyelere Oluwabiyi, said what has kept the company attractive to corporate entities is the ability to manage its cost. “The technology that powers the platform Sleengshort rides on, was built and is maintained locally. The larger practice by other players is to lease platforms from providers outside the country leaving them with a foreign exchange burden to acquire and maintain the platform in dollars.