The world is indeed going digital. With the introduction of the internet and computers, many companies are pushing to take their businesses online. This prompts the need of websites and desktop/mobile app developers.
While the Nigerian developer scene is definitely a bright and promising one, finding suitable developer(s) for your project can be strenuous. Which is why Nigerian startup, Natterbase is helping to connect companies globally with software developers to help them with their projects.
Founded in 2017 by Prince Isaac, Natterbase was formed in response to what Isaac discovered to be a large gap between talented developers and prospective clients.
The startup helps to bring digital work from global clients to developers across Nigeria. But unlike its closest competition Andela, Natterbase does not train developers to outsource them. It only provides a platform where Nigerian developers enlist themselves for hire and global clients can select their choice.
Natterbase uses a proprietary product management tool which integrates into a software developer’s working environments and tracks the speed, accuracy, working hours and work rate of the software developer.
This helps the company have full visibility into the developer’s activities in order to provide detailed analysis to the clients managing the developers.
Companies can also chose to outsource their project to a team of developers on the platform. And Natterbase using its software, breaks down these projects into bits, assigning them to multiple developers to work on at the same time with no clash.
But Natterbase faces the challenge of human resources as regards world-class software developers for jobs with with top tech companies. To solve that problem, the startup has included a specialised peer-to-peer training by senior developers on the platform.
It also works with online training platforms such as Treehouse and Udacity to aid the training of its developers.
Since inception, Natterbase has reportedly secured considerable funding. It has also generated a revenue of more than $130,000 from commissions. The startup is currently working with more than 50 companies in the African tech ecosystem and a handful from London and Berlin.
Natterbase participated in the Startup World cup Nigeria Regionals 2019 and the Techpoint Build 2019.
Over the next few years, the company plans to increasing its current developer base of 500 to over 10,000 software developers. It also aims at having tech companies in eight different countries; including the United Kingdom, Netherlands, France, Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, the United States, and Canada, as clients.
Should this happen, Natterbase will go up against international big players like Fiverr, Upwork, and even its local competition, Andela amongst others.