The last 5 years has seen several business-to-business companies spring up in Nigeria and other African countries. FinTech companies and service-based platforms have gained a lot of attention recently but two guys have decided to do something unique this time around. They have built a platform called PENG.
PENG is a platform that allows people to book and pay for personalized shout out videos from their favorite African talents. Through the website, users can search from a list of talents across different categories and request for personalized video messages for themselves, family or friend. Fees for the celebrities can be as low as N5,000 (yep, that cheap). PENG takes a commission from that while the celebrity keeps the rest. Out of the commission taken by PENG, the startup donates a percentage of that to charity on a monthly basis.
The concept feels right with multiple advantages, which might be why users and celebrities are easily attracted to it. Having superstars who you usually watch on TV speak to you directly and personally through a recorded video for a relatively cheap price is definitely new. It is also funny to know that these videos are not expected to be created formally, celebrities can be in their car, on a couch or even at the gym while they record your video. Pretty amazing.
The startup primarily focuses on celebrity partnerships and organic growth. As compared to other social platforms locally or internationally, PENG has developed a business model that enables it to scale easily without having to invest a lot of money into digital marketing.
One of the co-founders explained that their plan is to leverage on referrals made by celebrities which will enable them earn extra cash if they onboard other famous talents to the platform. Considering the growth plan particularly for the celebrities, users can also request for specific celebrities to join the platform. This will serve as a lead to the next celebrity to be signed up onto the platform, he explained.
Strategically, at its early stages, PENG is tapping into the strength of its B and C level talents looking to making extra income and connect with fans globally. Although A-listers are welcome on the platform, PENG is looking to portray the brand as highly lucrative to those in lesser tiers. Recent additions to PENG include wedding photographer, Jide Odukoya, popular musician, Orezi, Nollywood actor, Yemi Solade and Speed Darlington.
He also mentioned that the startup is looking at other categories that have people doing amazingly well in their space such as Instagram influencers, Vloggers, Clergymen, YouTube celebrities and other internet talents with a good number of followership.
We gathered that the idea came up from one of the founders while he was planning his wedding and decided to bring it to life with his longtime friend. The team consists of solid talents with experience both in Nigeria and the United Kingdom from companies like Jumia, KPMG and British American Tobacco. One of the co-founders is also attributed to previous success for being part of the founding team of Formplus and Prepclass.
The tech ecosystem is constantly evolving and innovative ways of using technology to solve basic and complex problems spring up every now and then. PENG is unique and has brought a different twist to celebrity – fan engagement. Does PENG have the ability to scale within the Nigerian and other African countries? Only time will tell.
You can stay in touch with all things PENG via this link: www.sendpeng.com and also by following their social media pages with the handles below:
Twitter: sendpeng_
Instagram: sendpeng_
Facebook: sendpeng
