| Name | Somtochukwu Ifezue |
| Known for | Co-founder and Lead Product Engineer at PiggyTech Global Limited (PiggyVest)Co-founder of PushCV |
| Alma mater | Covenant University, Nigeria |
| Occupation | Product Engineer, IT Expert, Solutions Developer and Entrepreneur |
Who is Somto Ifezue?
Somtochukwu Ifezue is the Lead Product Engineer and a co-founder of PiggyVest.
PiggyVest, formerly known as Piggy Bank, is an online platform that lets users save money and achieve their goals. It also lets people invest their money in various businesses and get up to 25% return on investments.
Somtochukwu Ifezue co-founded PiggyVest together with Joshua Chibueze and Odunayo Eweniyi. They are all graduates of Covenant University.
You Should Read – How to save or invest money with PiggyVest (Piggy Bank)
Somto Ifezue: Early life and education
There is not much information about Somto’s early life, but he was born and raised in Nigeria. In 2008, Somto Ifezue was given admission to study Mechanical Engineering at Covenant University.
He graduated in 2013 after he obtained his Bachelor of Science. Before his graduation, he met with Joshua Chibueze and Odunayo Eweniyi. These two individuals had a great impact on Somto’s career, as they founded over 8 businesses together.
Career and employment history
Dinocom Integrated Resources Limited
Could you believe that Somtochukwu has been working for companies right from his 200 level?
Between June 2010 to October 2014, Somto Ifezue served as the Head of Information Technology at Dinocom Integrated Resources.
Somtochukwu was in charge of installing and configuring the computer systems owned by the company. He also analyzed call logs, to detect trends and underlying issues. He also built and implemented solutions for clients on behalf of this company.
SAJ Parolz Entertainment Limited
While studying at Covenant University and working at Dinocom Integrated Resources, Somto was also an employee at Saj Parolz Entertainment Limited.
Between April 2012 to January 2015, Somto Ifezue was the Lead Developer for Saj Parolz Entertainment. He handled strategic planning and sales strategy development.
PushCV
In 2014, Somto Ifezue, Joshua Chibueze, and Odunayo Eweniyi co-founded PushCV in Lagos State.
PushCV is the largest pool of pre-screened candidates in Africa. It provides a platform where only the best talents are connected to top employers and recruiters.
PushCV provides only the best candidates for top employers and recruitment agencies. Some of PushCV’s big clients include Hotels.ng, Mansard, Union Bank, ARM Life, Stresert Recruitment Agency, and many more.
PiggyTech Global Limited
In January 2016, Somto Ifezue co-founded PiggyVest together with Joshua Chibueze and Odunayo Eweniyi. This was after PushCV became a success.
It was founded as Piggy Bank, a platform that helps individuals and businesses to manage their finances effectively. It also allows people to save and invest with ease. As Piggybank.ng, they were able to function by partnering with 2 Microfinance banks and using their licenses.
In 2018, Piggy Bank acquired Gold Microfinance bank and its license. It soon rebranded to PiggyVest.
Today, PiggyVest is duly registered as PiggyTech Global Limited – RC 1405222. It is also a registered cooperative with the name, Piggytech Cooperative Multipurpose Society Limited, with registration number 16555.
All the money saved on this platform is warehoused and managed by AIICO Capital, the leading asset management company in Nigeria, registered and licensed by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
PushCV Success Story
Before PushCV, Somto Ifezue, Joshua Chibueze, and Odunayo Eweniyi have been into a lot of businesses. They have founded over 8 startups, but each of them failed.
However, most of the failures did not happen because they were incompetent, or not creative enough. An example is 500Dishes, one of their startups that failed. Its failure was caused by some factors beyond their control. The founders were not able to stop offline transactions among the merchants and their customers.
In an interview with Digital Talks, Chibueze said:
“Before PiggyVest, we had a bunch of other things that we had actually failed at. We built about eight different products, but they all yielded nothing.”
He further said that: “Success is not overnight. Right from school, we started building things, and thankfully, we stuck together.”
Apart from 500Dishes, a few of their businesses that failed include 99Startups and FrontDESK. One of the lessons that these 3 Covenant University graduates learned was that entrepreneurs should not waste time and money on fixing failed businesses.
The trio put their ideas and resources into other startups like PushCV and Piggy Bank, which both turned out successful.
How PiggyVest was funded
PiggyVest raised over 1.1 Million USD, most of which was from Nigerians. Unlike most other similar startups that had to look abroad for investment, the founders of PiggyVest persuaded their fellow Nigerians to join their course.
Somto Ifezue is also active on many social media platforms. He is also on LinkedIn and Crunchbase.
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