in60 | Technology and Startups

Spotlighting ambitious founders, operators and ecosystem builders shaping African tech | by @semudaraabayomi |

[in60 | Technology and Startups @startupIn60]

The pivot is beginning to pay off.

FirstRep now has more than 20 paying gyms, almost 6,000 app users and customers across several Nigerian states and Ghana.

The company is bootstrapping rather than rushing to raise external funding, with its focus on improving the product and growing its customer base.

Read the full story: https://t.co/G4Kwbx00a3

[in60 | Technology and Startups @startupIn60]

FirstRep started as a fitness app to help people stay consistent with their workouts. But after attracting 200 users and struggling to get them to pay, founder Koya realised the bigger opportunity wasn’t with gym members. It was with the gyms themselves.

Read more: https://t.co/G4KwbwZskv

[in60 | Technology and Startups @startupIn60]

FirstRep now offers gym-management software, branded mobile apps for individual gyms and Jamila, an AI chatbot designed to re-engage members who have stopped attending.

The team also redesigned its onboarding process after discovering that asking gyms to upload their entire member database was slowing adoption.

Sometimes, making a product easier to adopt matters more than adding another feature.

[in60 | Technology and Startups @startupIn60]

@SemudaraAbayomi @bizzleosikoya The conversation with him was a good one. One of the brains in the music industry. Shared his insights on how AI should come in and be used.

AI can’t take away originality, according to him. It can only enhance it.

[Bayomi @SemudaraAbayomi]

Can prediction markets help project the outcome of next year’s elections?

[Manny @ma_nuel007_]

If you have ever wanted to know the nitty gritty of what @wysemarket is and what the team is building then this article is for you.

[in60 | Technology and Startups @startupIn60]

@only1salimo 🔥🔥🔥

[in60 | Technology and Startups @startupIn60]

@Ah_medicine 👀👀

[in60 | Technology and Startups @startupIn60]

Through The Plug, Bizzle and Asa Asika have expanded beyond artist management into publishing, events, brand services and more.

As AI reshapes music, Bizzle believes the industry must prioritise creator protection, education and fair compensation.

Read the full story: https://t.co/yUBFQfxb76

[in60 | Technology and Startups @startupIn60]

Bizzle Osikoya has helped shape the careers of artists like Davido, Tems, Oxlade and Ckay through his work in Nigeria’s music industry.

Now, the Plug co-founder is turning his attention to AI and what it means for the future of human creativity.

Read more: https://t.co/yUBFQfxb76

[in60 | Technology and Startups @startupIn60]

Even as music discovery becomes more data-driven, Bizzle believes human judgement still matters.

Through A&R, he has spent years identifying talent, developing artists and helping them build lasting careers beyond viral hits and trending songs.

[Bayomi @SemudaraAbayomi]

Frame 1: announcing the TwentyThree series.

Frame 2: the first production from the series.

A bit of context: Nathan lost his company’s fund to a crypto startup @truzact, lost two containers, his partner in died amongst other things.. he has since rebuilt his life and is making sure African trade is as easy as can be..

What the full episode here: https://t.co/cjcguU4q44

[in60 | Technology and Startups @startupIn60]

But Laniyan’s ambition goes beyond trading.

He wants Wysemarket to become a source of market intelligence that journalists, businesses and financial institutions can use to understand public expectations around elections, the economy and other events.

The bigger question is whether it can earn the trust needed to make that happen.

Read the full story: https://t.co/jPSTbLNj3T

[in60 | Technology and Startups @startupIn60]

Nigerians argue about everything, from elections and the naira to football and entertainment. But what if people could put money behind what they believe will happen?

That’s the idea behind Wysemarket, a Nigerian prediction market co-founded by Femi Laniyan.

Read more: https://t.co/jPSTbLNj3T

[in60 | Technology and Startups @startupIn60]

Making prediction markets accessible to everyday Nigerians is central to Wysemarket’s approach.

The team is prioritising simple language and an easy-to-understand interface, so users don’t need financial market knowledge to participate.

Since launching seven months ago, the platform has attracted thousands of Nigerian users, according to Laniyan.

[in60 | Technology and Startups @startupIn60]

Raenest bought a UK fintech with just £253 in the bank. What was it really paying for?

Imagine buying a company that had just £253 in cash. Not £253 million. Not £253,000. Just £253.

That is the curious part of Raenest’s latest acquisition. The Nigerian fintech has bought Remitise, a UK payments company whose cash balance had dwindled to £253 by May 2025. But Raenest wasn’t necessarily interested in how much money Remitise had in the bank. It wanted something more valuable: access to Britain’s regulated payments market.

Remitise is registered with the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) as a small payment institution. That registration allows it to provide certain payment services, including money transfers, within regulatory limits.

For Raenest, this could be a shortcut into building a more direct route for money moving from Britain to Nigeria. The company already holds a Central Bank of Nigeria licence for international money transfers.

The plan is not as simple as buying a company and suddenly controlling every pound that moves. Remitise still needs banking and settlement partners, and its registration limits how much it can process.

Still, the acquisition reveals something about Raenest’s ambitions: it wants to own more of the infrastructure behind international payments, not just the app customers use.