Jobberman

Jobberman.com is an employment website in Nigeria that started on 16 August 2009 at the Obafemi Awolowo University,Ile-Ife, Osun State, Nigeria. It is based in Lagos. Jobberman.com has been described by Forbes as "West Africa’s most popular job search engine and aggregator"^[1]

Financially backed by a world leader in private equity in internet space,^[2] , Jobberman.com was set up to bridge the gap between opportunity and talent, creating a marketplace where job seekers and employers in Nigeria can find one another quickly, easily, and cost-effectively.

Primarily, Jobberman.com sources jobs directly from companies and recruiting agencies and broadcasts them via the website, blog, email, partner websites and social networks. Job seekers search and apply for jobs by either visiting the website directly or through partner portals.

Jobberman.com has offices in Lagos, Abuja and Ghana. As of January 22, 2015 Jobberman is accessible on mobile phones in Ghana, via the Internet.org Android app.^[3]

History

Jobberman.com was co-founded by Opeyemi Awoyemi, Ayodeji Adewunmi and Olalekan Olude; all university students at the time the company was founded.

They shared the same interest in the Internet space and started Jobberman from the Obafemi Awolowo University campus during the Industrial Strike Action by Nigerian Academic Staff Union (ASUU) of August 2009.

The trio agreed to work on the Jobs space for a number of reasons including: a low capital requirement (considering that they were students at the time), huge market opportunity (labor force of over 45m people) and superior product differentiation. Jobberman at inception was financed from a pool of funds created from their stipends.

In January 2010, the team entered into a strategic equity partnership with a Nigerian-based startup incubator and venture capitalist. The team thereafter moved to Lagos in April 2010 and started operating from #27 Kakawa Street within the Central Business District of Lagos Island.

In August 2010, after about a year of starting the company, Tiger Global Management approached the team and agreed to lead the 'Series A' financing and investment in the business.

In September 2011, Jobberman.com launched the mobile version of its website ^[4] mobile.jobberman.com.

In February 2012, Jobberman got named as #8 in Forbes Magazine Top 20 Tech Startups in Africa and got featured in the recently released McKinsey Internet Report on Aspiring Countries as one of the Innovative Companies in Nigeria.

In April 2015, One Media Africa acquired 100% stakes in Jobberman whilst its founders become minority shareholders in One Media Africa.

SEEK – the world’s largest online employment marketplace by market capitalization – recently provided $10m in additional funding for an additional 6 per cent equity ownership in One Africa Media and a second representative on the OAM Board. SEEK now owns 30 per cent of OAM which is valued at $167m. Companies in the OAM group include Jobberman, Cheki, Private Property, and Brighter Monday. Others are Buyrentkenya, SafariNow and StayNow.

Following this development, Co-founders Ayodeji Adewunmi, Opeyemi Awoyemi and Olalekan Olude have become Shareholders and Directors in the group. While the trio still act in their current roles as CEO and Senior Vice Presidents respectively, they will now operate at the group level bringing their experience and expertise to bear in other OAM-owned businesses through a shares roll-up deal.

Awards & recognition

• Jobberman.com team was nominated as ‘Team of the Year’ by job seekers and recruiters in the 2010 ‘Future Awards’.^[5]
• Jobberman.com was placed as the 8th top tech start-up in Africa in the February 2012 edition of Forbes magazine.^[6]
• Jobberman also won The Future Awards Prize for Enterprise Support in 2013.
• Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook praised the three Jobberman co-founders for their efforts in the technology and employment sectors in Nigeria.^[7]

Jobberman.com has also been in the media limelight:

• Forbes: Jobberman.com is the most popular jobs search website in Nigeria.
• The Next Web: The Nigerian internet eco system is filled with scores of recruitment boards... Nigeria’s Jobberman.com redefines online recruiting in Nigeria.
• Nigerian Tribune: ‘West Africa’s most popular job search engine and aggregator’. ‘Nigeria’s No. 1 Jobs website’, ‘the fastest growing online job portal – Jobberman’ ^[8]

References