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Q&A: Entrepenuer Works To Create Africa’s Largest Business Search Engine

Q&A: Entrepenuer Works To Create Africa’s Largest Business Search Engine

VConnect is Nigeria’s and Africa’s largest local search engine that currently has more than 950,0000 registered businesses and millions of monthly users. With just three years in operation, the company now has massive data and wealth of information on SMEs in Nigeria. For the general manager, Deepankar Rustagi — an entrepreneur of Indian descent who calls himself a true Nigerian guy — VConnect is an eye-opener to the potential that SMEs in Nigeria have. He spoke to AFKInsider on the genesis and exodus of VConnect, and how it has grown to become, according to Forbes, one of Africa’s hottest start-ups.

AFKInsider: What inspired the establishment of VConnect?

Deepankar Rustagi: I have lived most of my life in Nigeria, grew up and schooled here; so I know lots of restaurants, hotels, salons, malls and other exciting places in the nation. However, each time I found myself within vicinities I wasn’t familiar with, locating these places was difficult. On several occasions when I had discussions with friends, we wondered why there was no local content on the internet for Nigeria, and thought up several means of bridging the gap.

Nonetheless, the turning point came about four years ago, when some friends who had intentions of visiting Nigeria, had to search for a hotel to lodge in. They had to call on me to help out in the search, after several attempts they had made on the internet yielded results for Lagos in Portugal, and not Lagos, Nigeria.

My friends and I converged again, and brainstormed on the lack of a fast, organised and reliable local source for information in Nigeria; hence the decision to establish VConnect. This is because VConnect’s intended goals would help bridge the information gap that has been left wide for several decades in Nigeria. Today, VConnect provides reliable, comprehensive and up-to-date information on products, services and businesses cited in Nigeria.

AFKInsider: What was VConnect’s vision at launch?

Deepankar Rustagi: Our vision at inauguration was to become the most reliable information provider in Nigeria; our primary goal being the dependable source for information on products, services and businesses online in Nigeria. Indeed, over the years of our establishment, we have been able to focus on this vision and have made extensive accomplishments on it.

AFKInsider: Why Nigeria and not elsewhere?

Deepankar Rustagi: I have great knowledge of Nigeria and take her as my home; hence the decision to establish VConnect, with the aim of solving the information sourcing problem of a country I cherish.

AFKInsider: What strategy has sustained VConnect over the years, as similar past projects failed in Nigeria?

Deepankar Rustagi: It’s my ideology that for one to be successful in whatever one does, one has to be patient, persistent and dedicated. These three attributes in sync with an effective and efficient team working around the clock are indispensable values that are invaluable to the growth of every business.

These and so much more are the strategies that VConnect has applied to ensure its constant growth and sustainability. With our eyes on details, we are very conscious to eliminate possibilities of loopholes and are quick to fix any that arise.

VConnect registers 3,000 businesses daily, thus increasing our relevance and reliability to users and business owners. In addition, we adapt the core essentials, needs and requirements of SMEs and focus all our products on satisfying their wants.

Lastly, being one of the major pioneers of information sourcing in Nigeria, our years of establishment, experience and the ‘pioneering company advantage,’ have always given us a great edge in the market place.