Twilio Startup Labs Founder Spotlight: Gbolade Emmanuel, Termii

Twilio Startup Labs Founder Spotlight: Gbolade Emmanuel, Termii

Company Name: Termii Inc
Founder Name(s): Gbolade Emmanuel
LinkedIn: Termii Company Page
Industry: CPaaS, Communications Platform as a Service 
Stage/Funding: Termii has raised $3.65m funding to fuel customer engagement innovation in Africa. 
Location: San Jose, Lagos & Abidjan

This is a post in a series of interviews with startup founders who have worked with Twilio Startup Labs, a program for developers at early-stage startups to learn how to build, prototype, and demo on Twilio. We had the pleasure of working with Gbolade Emmanuel on their startup, Termii. 

Describe your company (Startup) journey in 160 characters or less (the original length of a text message)

Termii: Nigerian startup founded in 2017, offers messaging and communication solutions for businesses in Africa.

Why did you start your company?

Termii was founded to address the need for effective communication solutions in Africa and facilitate business growth in the region.

How are you building on Twilio? E.g., how do you use email, SMS, WhatsApp, Verify, etc. to communicate with your customers?

Termii has leveraged Twilio's API to send SMS messages to customers in the US, whether for marketing campaigns, notifications, or tokens. This would enable businesses using Termii to reach customers via text messages.

What has the benefit or commercial impact been for your business since using Twilio?

By leveraging Twilio SMS services, Termii has recorded Improved Customer Engagement which has translated into increased sales and brand awareness. Another benefit has been the Global Reach that Twilio offers that has enabled businesses like Termii to expand their reach across the shores of Africa and serve a wider customer base

By building on Twilio, what has the impact been for your customers?

By building on Twilio, Termii has empowered our customers with reliable and scalable messaging solutions, enhancing their communication and customer engagement, ultimately driving business success.

Have you enjoyed Twilio Startup Labs? And if so, why?

Termii has enjoyed Twilio Startup Labs as it has given us access to Twilio's Communication Platform which is valuable for startups like ours looking to build messaging, voice, and video capabilities into our applications.

Do you have a recording of your DEMO and how you are using Twilio that you would like to share below?

What is the best piece of advice you would give to founders who are looking to build on Twilio?

Founders should focus on creating a clear and efficient messaging strategy using Twilio, tailor it to their target audience, and continually adapt to evolving customer preferences and technology trends for long-term success.

What excites you most about being a founder?

Being a founder at Termii is exciting because it provides the opportunity to create something significant, contribute to the betterment of society, and be a part of a dynamic and ever-evolving journey. It's a challenging and rewarding experience that I am passionate about.

Thank you for reading. If you would like to read more Twilio Startup Labs Founder Spotlight interviews and learn how others build, prototype, and demo on Twilio, please check out the series of articles here.

For questions about Twilio Startup Labs or to learn how to get involved, please contact Frank Y. Owusu at fyawowusu@twilio.com. 

To find out more about how Twilio supports Startups, check out Grow with Twilio.