Stears, a media, analytics, and insights company based in Nigeria, has raised $3.3 million in startup money to broaden its reach by creating a presence in East and Southern Africa.
Two years ago, Stears raised $650,000 in pre-seed fundraising. Additionally, it was recently selected as one of more than 60 startups for the Google for Startups Black Founders Fund 2022 class.
A portion of the cash will be used by Stears to broaden the scope of its product offerings beyond insights to data, strengthen data relationships, and gather its own exclusive data, which it will then license to consumers.
MaC Enterprise Capital was the driving force behind the funding, which also included popular tennis player Serena Williams’ Serena Ventures. Others included Cascador, Melo 7 Tech Companions, and the Luminate Fund of the Omidyar Group.
In 2017, Stears launched as a media outlet in Nigeria that provided news and analysis on the economy. It was founded by four individuals who became friends while attending Loyola Jesuit College in Abuja, Nigeria, the London School of Economics, and Imperial College in the UK for their secondary education.
They are business lawyer Preston Ideh, economist Michael Famoroti, software engineer Bode Ogunlana, data scientist Abdul Abdulrahim, and engineer Bode Ogunlana.
Stears Premium, its flagship subscription insights offering, includes content ranging from news and opinion pieces to investigative pieces and deep dives, educating the majority of people on topics related to business and finance, the economy, government, and policy in Nigeria.
Stears intends to use the data it receives to enhance its reporting insights. Data collection, comprehensive data analysis, and presentation of the results in a variety of formats to corporate customers are all goals of the company.
Speaking on the deal, Ideh told tech reporting platform, TechCrunch, that, “We have a strong understanding of the kind of information people need. So our focus is on standardising information dissemination and building with the customer in mind.
“An essential part of our business model is pushing out high-value subscription data products, for instance, proprietary forecast models. Conversely, the low-value end will be news, so customers’ willingness to spend changes as they go along the spectrum.”
On her part, Ms Williams, according to Bloomberg, said, “One of the main reasons I invested in Stears is not because of my love and appreciation for Africa, but because Stears has strategically thought of how to increase the investment community on the continent.
“They’re aware of the complexities and have leverage with data and technology, and I truly respect what they’re doing.”
The company says its userbase has grown mainly organically at around 6.5 per cent month-on-month, doubling its total number of users over the last year.