Mark Essien

Mark Anthony Essien
Born December 18, 1980
Ikot Ekpene, Akwa Ibom State
Nationality Nigerian
Occupation Entrepreneur, Software Developer
Known for Founding Hotels.ng
Title CEO of Hotels.ng
Website www.markessien.com

Mark Essien (born December 18, 1980 in Ikot Ekpene, Akwa Ibom State) is a Nigerian entrepreneur, software developer and startup investor. He is the founder and CEO of Hotels.ng, one of the first and most successful online hotel booking websites in Nigeria.[1][2][3] Before founding Hotels.ng, Mark Essien had previously built a file sharing software called Gnumm (acquired by Snoopstar.com), followed by a language learning startup called Ingolingo.[4]

Career

Hotels.ng

In 2013, he founded Hotels.ng. Spark.ng made an initial investment of $75,000 and another investment of $150,000.[5]

In 2015, the company secured additional investment funding of $1.2m from international investors EchoVC Pan-Africa Fund,[6] a seed-stage technology fund, and Omidyar Network, the investment vehicle of eBay founder Pierre Omidyar.[7][8][9][10]

Awards and recognition

In 2015 Mark made the Forbes list of 30 youngest entrepreneurs in Africa. He has also been nominated for the Nigeria Future awards amongst others.[11]

Investments

In 2016, Hotels.ng co-invested with Jason Njoku and Spark in OgaVenue,[12] an events booking platform. Mark Essien serves as a director on the board of OgaVenue.

Public Talks

Mark is a frequent TedX speaker. He has delivered talks on Leveraging networks to build a business, and how Africa can lead in the global technology space at TedXEuston and TedXGbagada respectively.[13][14][15]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Writer, Staff. "Facebook CPO confirms Nigeria's strategic importance - ITWeb Africa". www.itwebafrica.com. Retrieved 2017-03-03.
  2. ↑ "INTERVIEW: How Nigerian firm I started with $300 grew to sell hotel rooms worth billions of naira – Founder - Premium Times Nigeria". Premium Times Nigeria. 2016-05-31. Retrieved 2017-03-03.
  3. ↑ CNN, Lauren Said-Moorhouse, for. "Is this the weirdest job interview ever?". CNN. Retrieved 2017-03-03.
  4. ↑ "Hotels.ng: solving the small problems before building Robocop – Ventureburn". Ventureburn. 2014-01-31. Retrieved 2017-03-03.
  5. ↑ Okunola, Folarin. "Mobile West Africa 2016: Event kicks off today with Mark Essien, Ebi Atawodi, Simon Ononobi, others". Retrieved 2017-03-03.
  6. ↑ "Hotels.ng Raises $1.2 Million in Funding". techpoint.ng. Retrieved 2017-03-13.
  7. ↑ "Exclusive: Hotels.ng Raises $1.2 Million Series A From Omidyar, EchoVC | TechCabal". Retrieved 2017-03-03.
  8. ↑ Shu, Catherine. "Nigeria's Hotels.ng Grabs $1.2M To Expand Listings Across Africa". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2017-03-03.
  9. ↑ Mohammed, Omar. "Nigeria's tourism opportunity can be unlocked by local online booking platforms". Quartz. Retrieved 2017-03-03.
  10. ↑ "Hotels.ng raises $1.2m from Omidyar Network, EchoVC". Disrupt Africa. 2015-05-26. Retrieved 2017-03-03.
  11. ↑ "Davido, Yaya Toure, Mark Essien are The Future Africa Awards 2014 Nominees | See Full List". BellaNaija. Retrieved 2017-03-03.
  12. ↑ "SPARK and Hotels.ng invest $45,000 in ogaVenue". techpoint.ng. Retrieved 2017-03-13.
  13. ↑ "This is How Mark Essien Thinks Africa Can Lead the World's Tech Space | TechCabal". Retrieved 2017-03-03.
  14. ↑ CNN, Katie Pisa, for. "Is now the time to invest in Nigeria?". CNN. Retrieved 2017-03-03.
  15. ↑ "Mark Essien : Solving Problems Creatively - The Guardian Life Magazine". The Guardian Life Magazine. 2016-08-07. Retrieved 2017-03-03.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.