In 2024, two Nigerian founders set out to solve one of the most persistent problems facing African freelancers: getting paid and getting hired fairly. Many African talents have struggled with payment delays for gigs, getting shortchanged for work, and even losing several jobs once employers discover their location.
And while many of these talents strive to compete in the global economy, this sad reality discourages their drive. Because of this, Obinna Umeh, who was once a top-rated professional on UpWork and Emmanuel Ajayi, a software engineer, teamed up to facilitate the process of payments for gig workers and freelancers in Africa through Growwr, an AI-powered freelance and talent platform for Africans.
The road to Growwr
Umeh, a law graduate from Nottingham University, UK, and Emmanuel, a computer science graduate from Covenant University, built Growrr to help African freelancers access fairer opportunities while enabling global businesses to hire verified talent efficiently.
Before launching Growwr, Umeh had spent four years working in growth and strategy roles across Africa and the United States as a freelancer. While Umeh studied in the United Kingdom, Ajayi bagged his degree back home University, Nigeria and together both founders brought their knowledge, experience and expertise to build for African professionals.
For Umeh, this dream started post-COVID when he began losing several projects despite being qualified for them, simply because he was a Nigerian. At one instance, he lost a $50,000 contract in Washington, D.C., because the payment platform used only supported U.S. residents with a Social Security Number.
That was his breaking point.
“It’s a reality for millions of freelancers in Africa and other emerging markets who are systematically shut out of global opportunities due to where they’re from or how they get paid,” Umeh says.
In late 2023, Umeh and Ajayi began researching on the scope of this problem by surveying freelancers, founders, and hiring managers. During this survey, they discovered that over 70% of African freelancers don’t get paid on time, often waiting up to three months, while 16% go completely unpaid.
The problem wasn’t one-sided either. They also found that African businesses spent an average of three months hiring for tech or creative roles, and 60% of those hires underperformed or failed to complete contracts.
Growwr officially launched in May 2024 and has since expanded to 13 countries across the world, including Ghana, which had its first customer, Nigeria, South Africa, Egypt, Uganda. Its top user are from the United States, Germany, Nigeria, and South Africa.
The platform has since paid out over $1.5 million to African talents, and has helped 3,000 businesses hire talents.
How Growwr works
At its core, Growwr combines AI verification, behavioural analysis, and job matching to create a more transparent freelance ecosystem. The company uses three proprietary AI systems, which are its AI crawler, AI behavioural interview, and AI matching algorithm.
Its AI Crawler verifies freelancers through their public information, such as LinkedIn profiles, GitHub, work histories, and their portfolio links. It also checks educational credentials through its connected APIs from African and global universities and flags inconsistencies or unverifiable claims.
The AI Behavioural Interview then proceeds to assess work ethics, communication style, and productivity. It predicts whether a freelancer would thrive in either collaborative or independent environments, as this is important to ensure the best fit for each job.
“The AI asks personalised questions pertaining to their work history. It will analyse how they answer questions, their choices of words, and how they speak about these environments. That way, we’re able to predict works that would align more with the talent,” Umeh says.
Then, its AI Matching Algorithm automatically connects jobs to the most qualified from its verified talent list, irrespective of nationality or location.
Once matched, clients and freelancers can communicate directly on the platform using built-in project management tools and file sharing. Growwr uses a milestone tracking feature which helps check how far a job has gone and ensures that each assigned pay level is duly followed.
Inside the business model
The platform generates revenue in two ways: either from commissions or from enterprise contracts. For each project, Growwr takes a 20% commission, which includes a 15% commission from the freelancers’ pay and a 5% commission from the clientele.
Its second pricing model is for B2B engagements. For companies looking to hire multiple talents, especially for mid-sized or large companies, Growwr offers custom contract packages. The prices are based on the number of talents and annual salaries.
When a project begins, clients deposit funds with Growwr, which are released to freelancers only after the pay level milestones are completed and approved.
If disputes arise, payments are handled based on completed milestones, and the platform can assign another freelancer to complete the project. For clients, it means accountability for each work given. For freelancers, it means guaranteed pay for work done.
Growwr supports payments in over 180 countries and integrates with local and international payment providers.
As of August 2025, the company has recorded over $300,000 in annual recurring revenue and has paid out $1.5 million to talents.
Competitive advantage
According to the founders, one of Growwr’s biggest differentiators is its unbiased model. Unlike platforms such as Upwork where freelancers pay to bid for jobs or buy “connects,” users on Growrr simply get matched to projects they qualify for with no bias.
Businesses also benefit from the speed and cost savings, as many businesses pay more, up to 10% of commission for hires on other competitors. There’s also no additional payments or premium plans.
According to Growwr’s data, African businesses can hire project-based freelancers 90% faster within six hours for short-term contracts and within five days for full-time roles.
Growwr’s internal metrics show a 96% satisfaction rate among clients and a 70% retention rate, meaning most customers/clients return to hire again. The founders also share that while over 19,000 candidates have applied to Growwr, it has screened those number to 1,100 vetted candidates who have been onboarded.
“We’re deliberate about quality. We only onboard talents based on verified demand. If there’s a spike in demand for no-code developers or UI designers, we vet and onboard in that category,”
The Growwr future
With Africa’s freelance and remote workforce estimated to be over 200 million people, the company believes that fairer access to global work is also of economic importance.
The startup plans to expand further in 2026, with a new product, an AI-powered system for company talent assessment and work-ethics evaluation. This time, it is moving beyond focusing on individual freelancers; the company is including the work market.
Currently operating remotely with a team of eight, Growwr is based in Lagos, Nigeria. For now, over 70% of its freelancers are Nigerian, but the platform’s reach spans across Africa and beyond, with active clients in the United States, Germany, South Africa, and Ghana.
