Nigerian startup GoWagr has launched a platform designed to revolutionise the way people make wagers, eliminating common problems like fraud, especially when dealing with strangers online, or issues where people refuse to pay up after a wager has been won.
GoWagr users can easily make wagers with their friends, colleagues, community, or even strangers online with complete security and peace of mind. Funds are held in an escrow contract until parties decide to settle their wager based on the terms originally set.
The founding team started working on the GoWagr product in stealth in early-2022, and after months of careful development launched an MVP in February of this year using just Google Forms and Sheets for operations.
“Our goal was to test the concept and experience of what we had been building in stealth, and we capitalised on the Nigerian general and gubernatorial elections to execute,” said co-founder Daniel Oladepo.
“Social wagering has been a popular activity for as long as people can remember. It happens in every societal setting and has become more popular in today’s digital age. We’re bridging the gap of security, flexibility, commitment, and transparency.”
The self-funded startup’s platform is available in most regions, but its initial starting market is Nigeria.
“We have plans of expanding to other regions outside of Africa in the coming months,” said Oladepo.
“We intend to charge a five per cent platform fee on all active wagers. During the Nigerian general elections and gubernatorial elections, we did approximately US$25,000 in gross transaction volume and approximately US$2,000 in revenue, with over 60 Nigerians trusting us with their funds.”
