Let me begin by saying that Africa is not lagging in technological advancements as it is been projected. However, I believe soon, Africa will shock the world owing to the unprecedented yet undeniable penetration and engagement technology is having on the continent – Startups springing up from all corners and existing companies fortifying their stands in the vast tech space. Having said that, let’s begin.
Writesea is a tech firm based in New York that specialises in white-label services for recruitment marketplaces. One may wonder why is Writesa in the news. Well, the company recently acquired a Nigerian startup CoverAI, founded just three months ago by Chris Adolphus.
According to Adolphus, I have received multiple bids for my startup CoverAI on the Acquire.com startup marketplace, but I opted for Writesea in the Acquisition deal. Although the exact transaction value for CoverAI sales hasn’t been disclosed, it’s known to be a five-figure cash deal, estimated to be less than $50,000.
CoverAI’s unique technology is built on OpenAI’s expansive language model, and can swiftly create or enhance CVs. Their freemium model allows customers to optimize their CVs and get a cover letter for free. However, with additional features such as interview preparation and job application tracking, customers can choose from three subscription tiers: a $5 basic plan, a $7 premium plan, and a $15 lifetime plan.
Adolphus shared that the application gained an impressive 13,000 organic customers during the 3 months of its launch. He added that had planned to sell the startup from its inception, and while the deal was a substantial five-figure sum, he said he believed it could have potentially been a six-figure one given the technology they had developed. He also expressed confidence that Writesea possesses the competence and experience needed to elevate CoverAI to greater heights.
CoverAI remained a bootstrapped company during its three-month existence, with the founder initially investing $386 to get it off the ground. In comparison, other AI-powered ventures, like Bible Buddy, spend significantly more on OpenAI credits. Operating apps on GPT-4 can become costly depending on the volume of words and responses processed. The cost per token is approximately $0.003, translating to around 75 cents per word.
To manage costs, CoverAI implemented an intermediary layer to summarize user prompts. However, with the introduction of a feature allowing users to chat with an AI bot, the cost of tokens increased due to longer conversations requiring more words and tokens.
Adolphus, who is concurrently managing other projects including a crypto venture and a subscription-based design studio, stated his plans for another AI product with higher capital investment than CoverAI. He aims to employ paid marketing, third-party apps, and OpenAI imaging for this venture, with an ambitious exit plan of $200,000 within the next six months. The journey continues for Adolphus, as he aims to make a significant impact in the AI landscape with his innovative ventures.