Jason Njoku
Jason Njoku | |
|---|---|
 Njoku in 2020 | |
| Born | Jason Chukwuma Njoku 11 December 1980 London, England |
| Occupation | Entrepreneur |
| Known for | Founder of iROKOtv |
| Spouse | |
| Website | jason |
Jason Chukwuma Njoku (born 11 December 1980) is a British businessman. He is the co-founder and CEO of iROKOtv, a video-on-demand service for Nigerian movies.[1][2]
A self-proclaimed serial entrepreneur, iROKOtv was Njoku's 11th attempt at starting a business. He came up with the idea of launching a new distribution platform for Nollywood whilst living at home with his mum, aged 30, after a number of failed enterprises.[3]
Early life and education
[edit]Jason was born and raised in Deptford, Southeast London, his mother raised him and his three sisters and brother by herself, whilst working a full-time job in the National Health Service. He attended school in London, then moved to a village in Nigeria from the age of 12 to 15. After he returned to the United Kingdom, he attended college to complete his A-Levels, before securing a place at The University of Manchester where he read Chemistry. He graduated in 2005 with a 2:1 and launched Brash Magazine, a student publication which ran for three years before it closed in 2008.[4][5][6]
Career
[edit]iROKO
[edit]After a number of failed enterprises between 2005 and 2010, which included a blog network, a T-shirt business and a web design company,[7] Njoku moved back home into his mother's house in Deptford. It was there that he came up with the idea of starting a Nollywood online distribution business, "The West had Hulu and Netflix – Africa had nothing", notes Njoku.[8] Having studied the industry from afar, he flew to Lagos, thanks to the financial help of his best friend Bastian Gotter, a fellow University of Manchester graduate, and started purchasing the online licenses of Nollywood movies.[9] He worked from a two-bedroom apartment in Festac Town, Lagos,[10] and struck a deal with YouTube in Germany to be the official channel partner for Nollywood company.[11][failed verification]
In 2010, Njoku and his former partner Bastian Gotter[12] launched NollywoodLove, a YouTube channel, which was profitable within two months of launch.[13] That same year, thanks to an article by Sarah Lacy who worked at the time for Tech Crunch, NollywoodLove caught the attention of US-based venture capital fund Tiger Global who were interested in expanding their reach in emerging markets.[14]
Series A investment of $3 million was secured from Tiger Global in 2010 and the company launched a stand-alone video-on-demand movie platform, iROKOtv, on 1 December 2011. The site drew in viewers from 178 countries around the world.[15] Njoku and Gotter have since gone on to raise an additional $22 million from international VCs, with inclusion from Investment AB Kinnevik and RISE Capital[16] and have used the investment to build an extensive film catalog of 5,000 movies,[17] launch offices in Lagos, New York, and London and invest in improving the company's technology resource. Iroko has gone to make other funding investment totaling $40 million [18]
In 2015, Njoku decided to focus the company's attention on an Android mobile app,[19][20] rather than a streaming platform to combat broadband infrastructure problems that Africa poses.
In July 2012, he was cited by Forbes Africa as one of the 'Ten Young African Millionaires to Watch'.[21] On 29 August 2013, Njoku was named as the CNBC All Africa Business Awards Young Leader of the Year for West Africa.[22][23] He has also been named as one of Fast Company's Top 1000 Most Creative People in Business.[24]
Spark
[edit]In August 2013, alongside his business partners Bastian Gotter and Mary Remmy Njoku, Njoku launched a $2 million investment vehicle for Lagos-based Internet start-ups called Spark.[25] The company initially invested in 11 companies, including a drinks distribution company called Drinks.ng, a real-estate and property online letting agency called ToLet.com.ng, and a hotel room booking site, called Hotels.ng, which has gone on to raise $1.2 million in VC investment from EchoVC Pan-Africa Fund and Omidyar Network.[26] In 2015, Jason Njoku in a blog post officially announced they're letting go of four startups considered failed businesses:[27] Bus.com.ng (an online bus ticketing service ), Insured.ng (an insurance comparison platform), Giddimint.com.ng (an online fashion store) and Christians.ng, an online dating platform for Christians.
Personal life
[edit]Njoku married Nollywood film star and producer Mary Remmy Njoku in Festac Town, Lagos, on 18 August 2012.[28][29] They welcomed their first son, Jason Obinna Njoku, on 30 July 2013,[30] a second child, Nwakaego Annabel Njoku, was born on 24 August 2015[31] and a third child, Nnenna Amber Njoku born on 4 August 2017.[32]
References
[edit]- ^ Okwumbu-Imafidon, Ruth (30 April 2022). "After failing many times, Jason Njoku finally built a multimillion-dollar company". Nairametrics. Retrieved 4 October 2024.
- ^ "Jason Njoku: The Iroko Man Grows Blackbet – THISDAYLIVE". www.thisdaylive.com. Retrieved 4 October 2024.
- ^ BBC African Dream – Jason Njoku
- ^ BBC – Making a fortune by distributing Nigerian films online
- ^ "Nigeria's film industry: a potential gold mine?". Africa Renewal. 11 April 2013. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
- ^ "JASON NJOKU, A SUCCESS STORY". Techgist Africa | Africa Leading Tech News, Reviews and Tips. 17 July 2017. Archived from the original on 30 September 2021. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
- ^ Tech Loy – "Moving Back In With My Mum Was Kind Of Humiliating" – Jason Njoku
- ^ Akilah Net – iROKOtv’s Millionaire Founder on Starting a Company, Staying the Course, and Sailing Past Failure
- ^ "Iroko's Jason Njoku Is Creating The Next Netflix in Nigeria". Fast Company. 18 March 2013. Retrieved 19 July 2017.
- ^ "Has Nollywood streaming lost its appeal? – Ventures Africa". VenturesAfrica.com. 10 May 2015. Retrieved 19 July 2017.
- ^ Forbes Africa – Jason Njoku: South London’s Mr Nollywood Archived 1 December 2017 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "IrokoTv Co-Founder Bastian Gotter Leaves Company To Pursue Startup Investments". Forbes. 30 January 2017.
- ^ "Iroko Partners: Demand proves insatiable for Nollywood on the net". Financial Times. Retrieved 19 July 2017.
- ^ Lacy, Sarah (14 May 2011). "You Think Hollywood Is Rough? Welcome to the Chaos, Excitement and Danger of Nollywood – TechCrunch". TechCrunch.com. Retrieved 19 July 2017.
- ^ Reuters – Nigerian films get boost from UK-based online startup iROKOtv
- ^ Dow Jones Venture Wire – Africa's Answer to Netflix, iROKO Raises $8M to Scale
- ^ IT Web Africa – Interview: iROKO CEO Jason Njoku Archived 24 February 2020 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Oluwafemi, Babakole (25 January 2016). "iROKOtv Just Raised $19 Million, Total Funding Now At $40 Million". TechCabal.com.
- ^ Jason.com.ng – .Com. Goodbye Archived 21 August 2015 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "App-Only iROKOtv is live – TechCabal". TechCabal.com. 2 July 2015. Retrieved 19 July 2017.
- ^ Nsehe, Mfonobong (11 July 2012). "Ten Young African Millionaires To Watch". Forbes. Retrieved 19 July 2017.
- ^ Human IPO – iROKOtv CEO wins CNBC award
- ^ Okwumbu-Imafidon, Ruth (30 April 2022). "After failing many times, Jason Njoku finally built a multimillion-dollar company". Nairametrics. Retrieved 31 August 2023.
- ^ "Most Creative People in Business 1000: The Complete List". Fast Company. 29 January 2014. Retrieved 19 July 2017.
- ^ Pando Daily – Pando Daily – Nigerian movie mogul raises $2 million more for local angel investing Archived 28 June 2015 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Shu, Catherine (26 May 2015). "Nigeria's Hotels.ng Grabs $1.2M To Expand Listings Across Africa – TechCrunch". TechCrunch.com. Retrieved 19 July 2017.
- ^ "Jason Njoku pulls the plug on 4 more SPARK-invested startups". Techpoint.ng. 18 June 2015. Retrieved 22 March 2017.
- ^ "8 things you didn't know about Jason Njoku, founder of iROKOtv". TechPoint.ng. 3 March 2017. Retrieved 19 July 2017.
- ^ "Wedding Photos: Mr and Mrs Jason Njoku". LindaIkeji.Blogspot.co.uk. August 2012. Retrieved 19 July 2017.
- ^ Bella Naija – It’s a Boy for Tech Media Mogul Jason Njoku & Nollywood Actress Mary Remmy | Meet Baby Jason Obinna
- ^ "Jason Njoku of IrokoTV & Wife Mary Remmy Welcome Baby No. 2!". BellaNaija.com. 25 August 2015. Retrieved 19 July 2017.
- ^ "COVID-19 isn't spiritual – Nollywood actress Maryremmy Njoku". P.M. News. 19 January 2021. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
External links
[edit]
Media related to Jason Njoku at Wikimedia Commons