Nigerian startup Selar is an innovative e-commerce store builder designed to empower creators to showcase and sell their digital products, including a vibrant affiliate network and its newest product, Showlove, where creators can directly receive tips from their fans.
Selar was founded in 2016 by Douglas Kendyson while he was working at Paystack. Initially, it started as a simple MVP designed to allow anyone to sell small digital products like e-books, music, and courses.
But over the years, it has evolved significantly.
“We spotted a gap in the market for an easy-to-use platform that enables anyone to sell digital products online quickly and efficiently. With Selar, anyone can set up their digital storefront and start selling in less than five minutes,” Kendyson told Disrupt Africa.
“Our platform hosts the products, facilitates cross-border payments, and allows customers to access these products effortlessly, all without requiring any technical knowledge or the need to build a website.”
With a user-friendly interface and comprehensive features, Selar has become a leading platform for monetising knowledge and skills in the digital space.
“In terms of competition, we stand out by focusing on simplicity and accessibility, ensuring that even those without technical expertise can successfully sell their digital products online. This differentiates us from other platforms that may require more complex setups or technical skills,” said Kendyson.
Selar is a bootstrapped company, which aside from a US$5,000 grant from the Tony Elumelu Foundation in 2018 and a US$50,000 grant from the Job Tech Alliance Accelerator Programme this year has fully funded itself.
“This approach has allowed us to maintain control over our growth and operations, supporting a team of 23 dedicated individuals,” said Kendyson.
And uptake has been pretty impressive.
“At the beginning, our growth was slow as we focused on refining our platform and understanding the needs of our users. However, in 2020, we experienced a significant surge in uptake. The combination of our user-friendly interface and seamless cross-border payments, leading to our exponential growth. Today, we continue to build on this momentum, constantly improving our platform to meet the evolving needs of our customers,” Kendyson said.
“We’re in about 15 African countries today – Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, Uganda, Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Tanzania, Rwanda, and Senegal, with more African countries coming soon. We also support creators in Europe and the US. Recently, we expanded into Kenya, which is one of our largest markets in East Africa.”
Selar makes money via transaction fees for every sale made, as well as subscription charges.
