Hi, My name is Kosisochukwu Nathan Agama, I am the Co-founder and Product Manager at Brydge. We built Brydge to solve a problem Henry and I had encountered first-hand. During the course of 14 months, We’ve gone on to invest over ₦200 million in four (4) Africa countries. From Export, import and supply. Ranging from rice padding, Gum Arabic, Sisal Fibre and Cowhides. But, it came with a price.

The aim of this article is to

Share why we started Brydge.
Shed Light on issues facing Merchants, Funders and Institutions in global trade.
And, get you on the winning team (if you are done reading and you don’t find a reason to join us, I will refund your internet data).
Backstory
In 2021, my plan was to travel around the world and experience all of its differences. I had just finalized my plans to leave Nigeria (After End SARS) and start my Master’s in Business Development on a full-ride scholarship. Hence i saw it as an opportunity to explore Europe.

My friend, Henry, was already in the export/import business. He was bringing Sisal from Kenya into Nigeria. We always spoke about different things pertaining to businesses. And I think at the time, I was looking to launch Green Mustard, but that never saw the light of day. (But I digress, stay with me).

One faithful evening, I went to his house, and this was what our conversation was like. And I’d like to think that if you are from Nigeria or you’ve ever done business with Nigerians you will be able to relate to this conversation.

After alot of “You dey shine oo”, “Na my Oga, you be”, “God, I dey see wetin you dey for others oo’…. “Mmadu ka ibu”… Praises and wash.

Henry: My guy, I bring in Sisal fibre (Sponges) from Tanzania and Kenya, it is used for facades and ceiling decor, (Nigerians call it POP).

Me: Oh wow, how is it?

Henry: Very Lucrative, you will make a 50% return.

Me: Ehh?? 50%? (Now sitting up from my slouched position to hear the figures).

Henry: Yes…. It takes 2 to 3 months to get into Nigeria, and I sell out in 2 days.

Me: Omo… I need to join you too. I’m leaving Nigeria in a few days, and I have some funds that I won’t be using for another few months.

Henry: Oh! Good. Let’s put one container in.

And that was it. Right there, I wired my first payment and sent the rest in 3 days. No official Paperwork, No checking his financials, Nothing. I would later find out that the 2–3 months would take 7 months (No fault of his) and that it wasn’t 50% ROI. *ojukokoro*- It means long throat, loosley translated.

The business was legit and fantastic, but Henry is a middle-aged guy with lots of moving parts, so he didn’t also account for all the moving parts — no account for logistics delay, supplier delay, change in Fx rate (at one point we exchanged at #890 to a $$$, time to clear from the port, other contingencies, plus no documentation process — of the business when he pitched them to me. It was frustrating cos, everything was happening all at once.

We got to sell the goods and alot of math wasn’t ‘mathing’. And since we did lots of transactions out of pocket, bookkeeping or accounting came to mind last minute. We were already neck deep in invoices, receipts, and reconciling FX and funds transferred. It took some level of trust and restraint to get us through those periods.

Our mutual friends saw that the business was viable and even offered to pay for containers so we could help them manage it, but we refused. Considering how everything was happening, we needed a system that allowed us do most of these things or plugged the moving parts so it made sense.

First Move

We had also accepted a deal flows like rice padding supply and exporting gum arabic to dubai and had funded those as well. Because of the randomness to the way we sent money we needed a central wallet and the best we could come up was registering a company. We syndicated deals and it made sense that our company would help us do that, boy, where we wrong.. We registered a syndicate-powered firm for Trade called Compound Capital, this would allow us to invest in various deals as a company. But it didn’t help. Because, as much as we were now a registered entity with a central wallet, the needed framework and infastructure was lacking. We needed a platform that would help us manage our multiple investors and consolidate their funds, we also wanted to streamline our operations from bookkeeping, accounting, contracts and documentation. Finally, we needed a wallet/payment that was truly bordeless and understood our needs as mid-market merchants and traders. We found none.
Hence Brydge
In November 2022, I decided to build a tool for people like us, having understood what we lacked.

Hence, we reimagined Brydge. Our first approach to Brydge was to help Africans create syndicates, register SPVs (Special Purpose Vehicles) or standard contracts, and carry out deal flows. Our use case resolved around commodity trading, supply contracts and non-oil exports. However, we soon found that to be flawed.



TO Read More Go to the Article below

https://medium.com/@insidebrydge/why-we-started-building-brydge-for-merchants-and-funders-in-global-trade-9eeafe97c596