BitBuka, an online food delivery, grocery shopping, and logistics service provider is positioned to be on the lips and speed dial of people in Ibadan. Logisitics for food and food items has been a major challenge as vendors and consumers are at the mercy of delivery personnel. In this interview, BitBuka’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Olawale Shogunle, shares how his startup plans to improve the situation.
Tell us about Bitbuka?
Bitbuka is a a new brand that deals with delivery services, basically food and groceries. We have its app available on Apple Store and Play Store, which makes it easy for our customers to place order from any of their favourite vendor and Bitbuka coordinates the deliveries with the help of the active GPS that enables riders locate the delivery destination.
What was the motivation for launching Bitbuka?
There was this particular day my friends and I were hungry and lazy to walk into the kitchen and prepare food. We actually had something to prepare but no one felt like doing it, so I just thought about ‘what if there’s an app that can allow us to order food right now or website, sheybi e for better?’
I told a friend and another person, and they confirmed they haven’t seen any active app with such feature in Ibadan. We fell in love with this innovation and just want to make it happen as soon as we could, so we reached out to certain people who have business mindsets and wanted to be investors. That was the motivation.
Why did you decide to set up in Ibadan?
Ibadan people should be the first out of the whole 36 states to enjoy this services because this is where I grew up. It’s lovely here.
What would Bitbuka be doing differently from other food delivery platforms?
For now, we have pick-up and delivery services, logistics. Some other services will coming up afterwards.
What quality of service can people expect from Bitbuka?
Bitbuka wallet allows you to top up your account and send money to another Bitbuka user just with their ID, and pay with debit card. We look forward to enabling paypal option. We also hope to allow BTC payment gateway but this depends on Nigerian government’s decision.
Tell us about your background and how it triggered your capacity to pull a project of the magnitude
I had my primary and secondary schools in Ibadan, learnt some skills and I’ve been trying to keep up with life positively and make things happen for people the little way I could. I never thought I could make this happen this fast but when you are with the right people, things would definitely fall in place. With the help of my Chairman, Mr Adebowale Osungbesan, and support of the operational officer, Mr Seriki David, we are progressing. We’re propelled to render our services to the people of Ibadan with smooth experience on our website (www.bitbuka.com) and mobile apps (Play Store, Apple Store).
What should Ibadan residents expect to experience from Bitbuka service?
They should expect fast approach and delivery service at a cheap rate, fast response with online customer care and safety measures with their food and goods.
Why did you decide to go with the tagline “as e dey hot”
The tagline is based on the unique value proposition of speed. We as a brand promise the quickest food delivery, such that you get your delivery almost instantly while you can still observe the steamy hotness – as e dey hot!