Meet our 4 Years

Who can believe we are turning four years old on the 19th of August? You might not have been with us from the beginning, but there’s a lot to share about our journey.

AppNomu, like many businesses, started small. It began in a WhatsApp group coordinated by my friend Lydia Avian and launched as an online lending platform in 2021. We offered services such as microloans, mobile wallet recharges with airtime, data, electricity bill payments, and bulk messaging.

Despite the high demand and limited resources, our team remained dedicated to delivering services to our clients. On August 20th, 2021, just our second day of operations and the launch of our web application, we registered our first ten clients from Uganda. These were some of the most significant days for our company, as it was incredible to interact with our first online clients.

Later that year, we formed a team of four people who provided customer services remotely. None of them had a laptop; they all worked through mobile phones, with only the Founder having a laptop and monitor for overall management.

Our goal was to provide services that meet our customers’ needs and expectations. By December of that same year, we had registered our 250th customer in our database.

The year ended on a positive note, and in 2022, with the same team and resources but new methods, we advanced our services and improved customer experience. We started accepting loan repayments in installments, which boosted our sales and revenue collection.

In our first year, AppNomu sold airtime worth UGX 50,000,000 through Reloadly, a tool that helped us integrate airtime into the global market. This enabled us to offer services like gift cards, airtime to all countries, and utility services in the African market. We decided to become a true African company by shifting to Africa’s Talking, which provided us with similar services and products as Reloadly. Integrating Africa’s Talking into our services allowed us to introduce bulk messaging into our web application.

Through Africa’s Talking, we have sold airtime worth UGX 80,000,000 to African markets via MTN, Airtel, and mobile data services. Additionally, we have sent over 5 million messages across Africa using Africa’s Talking.

Our Marketing History

One of the most challenging aspects of any business is marketing, and this was our biggest hurdle in the early years. We were unsure of what to do and how to do it.

As a startup providing financial support as a service, we registered more clients through a referral program where one client would bring another, leading to significant growth.

Unlike other businesses, AppNomu began marketing its products and services through reviews. We got listed on Capterra, GetApp, Software Advice, G2.com, PeerSpot, Trustpilot, Software Suggest, and more review sites.

Our main goal was to let our clients help us build a product they would love by allowing them to express their opinions. Through our review partners, we have collected more than 350 reviews across several sites. Based on their feedback, we created a product that meets customers’ interests and expectations.

On October 10th, 2022, we received our first review published on Capterra. Collecting these reviews through review sites helped shape the direction of our company.

Each review was incentivized with a $25 gift card as a thank-you token for the reviewers’ time, not to recruit reviews, as reviews are independent of review partners’ terms and conditions.

To date, AppNomu has spent more than $40,000 on review collection. This type of marketing boosted our online presence and traffic, as more visitors came from the review sites to our website. This increased our number of clients to 10,000 by December 2022. These outreaches helped us identify what customers wanted more from us, and we focused on those areas.

Transition of Services

Despite the challenges, we saw an opportunity to transition our services due to a poor collection record, where over 45% of funds lent to clients were not repaid. This reduced our ROI, and the demand for loans became too much for the company to handle. Consequently, in 2023, we ceased offering loans to clients and acquired Soft Hosting’s Limited, along with its clientele base, bringing our total to 20,000 clients.

In 2023, AppNomu transitioned into website hosting, website design, SEO services, domain registration, and software development by acquiring Soft Hosting. This transition led to a 20% slowdown in growth.

That same year, we invested over $20,000 in marketing through Google Ads, in addition to leveraging reviews. This significantly boosted our declining sales and allowed us to expand our team into four countries, acquiring more than 25 developers, 12 support operators, and marketers from India. This growth would not have been possible without our clients, and we are proud to count our 25,000th client in our database to date.

Initiative of AppNomu

AppNomu is committed to serving a wide range of people, which is why we introduced the MeYouWeCan initiative. Through this program, we donate 30% of every sale to vulnerable individuals in communities. Since 2023, we have donated $12,000 in cash, computer tools, and provided free coding training to vulnerable young mothers in the Eastern regions of Uganda. We also sponsor the AppNomu Eid Cup, played in 12 villages each year, to promote togetherness and celebrate community impact.

In collaboration with NGO partners, we donate sanitary pads, plant trees to combat climate change, and offer scholarships to talented young African children as part of our commitment to celebrating life at AppNomu.

In 2023, we officially launched our headquarters in Bugiri Municipality and have since grown a team of 50 employees working both onsite and remotely from more than five countries. We have also successfully launched our startup program, providing free resources and website design for one year to startups. This initiative aims to help smaller businesses reach their clients effectively without incurring high hosting costs. To date, over 150 startups across Africa have been enrolled in this program.

As we celebrate our four-year anniversary, we are proud to announce that we have grown to 25,000 clients from more than 12 countries, achieving sales of $100,000. This success would not have been possible without our customers, partners, and the dedicated team at AppNomu. To show our appreciation, we are offering a 45% discount on any annual hosting subscription using the code 45OFF.

Our Partners in our four year Journey

Every journey requires partners, friends, and a dedicated team. We would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to the following partners who have been with us throughout our journey and have helped us achieve our success today.

1. Zendesk Support – Provided us with six months of free access to Zendesk services and products for up to 50 agents, saving us over $50,000 in support tool costs.
2. Jivo Chat – After the six-months Zendesk offer, Jivo Chat stepped in and provided us with a free year of their license as our support tool, which we continue to use. We appreciate the team for empowering our business with such a valuable tool.
3. Info-Tech Research Group – Offered us $2,500 to collect incentivized reviews from our clients, who received gift cards as a thank-you token. Collaborating with Info-Tech has significantly shaped our brand in the right direction.
4. Flutterwave – Continues to provide us with a reliable payment processor, enabling us to process payments from clients seamlessly. We are pleased to handle payments daily without any issues.
5. Customer.io – Granted us a free year of their tools, helping us understand customer interactions with our website and enabling our marketing team to comprehend the customer journey and build strong relationships with our clients.
6. Africa’s Talking – Has facilitated the sale of over 5 million messages to our clients, as well as airtime and data without delays. They have also provided robust security for our clients’ accounts with OTP verification.

And many more partners not mentioned.

Team and Leadership

Throughout our four-year journey, we deeply appreciate our team for their unwavering dedication to serving our clients. We especially commend the team from 2021 to 2022 for their consistency and determination, despite the global disruptions caused by the pandemic. Their resilience and commitment to our shared goals have been invaluable.

We are grateful for the leadership of Bahati Asher Faith, whose guidance, mentorship, and strategic insights have equipped AppNomu with the talent, knowledge, and strategies needed to gain a strong foothold in the website technology market in Africa and beyond.

Lastly, we extend our heartfelt thanks to our clients for their honest feedback and reviews. Your voices have been instrumental in shaping the robust tool we have today.

As we look forward to the next eight years, we aim to continue this journey and celebrate our 60,000th client in another four years. To be part of this story, use the code 45OFF at checkout to unlock a 45% discount on any annual hosting subscription.