LIVELUVO links local businesses with opportunities, says CEO
LIVELUVO, a Kenyan app-based marketplace for users to trade services, product and skills, is tapping the growing number of online users by linking local entrepreneurs with opportunities.
Since its inception in November 2015 by Satkirit Ltd, the Android-powered app has recorded over 20,000 downloads and now has over 3,000 weekly active users.
Statistics indicate that the vast majority of trade in Africa takes place offline, LIVELUVO is hoping to benefit from the ever growing online market. About 80% of Africans work within the informal economy and represent over 55% of the continent’s GDP. According to the Communications Authority of Kenya (CAK) 2015 Report, mobile data subscribers in Kenya stand at 23.8 million and increasing each quarter.
“LIVELUVO platform provides a unique opportunity for members to showcase and market their products, services and skills to their local community,” says Satkirit CEO Jas Minhas.
He said LIVELUVO, which has been built for the Kenyan market, provides numerous benefits to local entrepreneurs who would not only want to trade but also exchange knowledge, skills and ideas with other like-minded members. “LIVELUVO provides opportunities in real time within a secure environment which empowers our community members to stay one step ahead,” added Mr Minhas.
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The app provides real time communication through group or private chats and show how far another member is from you (LIVELUVO App does not disclose the actual location) to make your commerce truly Hyper-local. In addition there is a mechanism to rate members on quality, reliability and price once a deal is closed on the platform.
The app is easy to use. For example, Joy is a talented entrepreneur on LIVELUVO who teaches stay-at-home ladies how to knit clothes for children and then sells them on their behalf on the platform. She simply downloaded the App, signed up, then posted an offer describing what she does, with a few images, she started receiving orders for the clothes and more members who wanted to be taught!
The app also filters information using various parameters that include categories, distance, most active offers and recently posted offers, thus making it comprehensive, convenient and reliable local community network.
Learning is one of LIVELUVO’s core principles and so it is running the first in a series of FULL University Scholarship Hunts that will see young Kenyans through a university course. Through this investment in education, LIVELUVO hopes to help create a brighter future for the successful members of their community by removing the financial barrier. The company plans to extend its online footprint to Uganda by the end of 2016, Tanzania, Rwanda in early 2017.
