Kemi Bolatito: Top 5 Black Women Businesses - Finalists
Question 1 - Does the Founder team / Ownership identify predominantly as Black (50+%) and majority Woman-led?
Please tell us a bit more about this, your why, and your story.
The Scooly founder team, led by Kemi Bolatito-Bello, is predominantly Black and majority woman-led. Kemi is an experienced serial entrepreneur with a proven track record of success in Alberta and has recently pivoted into tech. Through Scooly, she is tackling the challenges that international students and immigrants face by providing access to transparent immigration services via licensed experts. Kemi's leadership and achievements have been recognized with numerous awards, reflecting her tenacity and business acumen. She was names Canada's Top 100 Women to watch in 2023 and Rosalind Smith Black Entrepreneur awards amongst others. Our management team is currently 100% black C-suite executives.
Question 2 - When was the business registered or incorporated? Please provide the month & year as well as which structure. Please also advise as to the process you used (organization, lawyer, or what steps you took). Is it headquartered in Canada with primary operations in Canadian markets?
Please explain and elaborate.
Scooly Education Technology was registered as an Alberta corporation in October 2023, it was an online self registration process by the founder. As soon we validated Scooly idea through market research, we proceeded to register the company as an Alberta Corporation and register its website domain scooly.ca. We are currently headquartered in Edmonton Alberta with a physical office location. Our primary markets are immigrants and international students choosing Canada as their destination country. Before founding Scooly, Kemi founded a sister company called Kaybee Immigration Consulting in 2022 that later gave the opportunity to pivot into the tech space
Question 3 - Please provide us your sales figures (Total Revenue) and your (Total Profit) for the past operating years (minimum 3 years). Also tell us which revenue stream accounts for the most sales activity and provide any other strategy, milestone, or noteworthy achievements for your Annual Recurring Revenue/Profitability.
i.e., 2020 – 150K Revenue 30K Profit, 2021 – 180K Revenue 60K Profit, 2022 – 215K Revenue 75K Profit – and so forth. Then provide us some explanation and narrative regarding the financial performance of the business.
Total Revenue for Kaybee Immigration and Scooly in 2022 $120,000, 2023 - 180,000 and estimated in 2024 is $250,000. Our gross profit at 20% to 35% and growing in 2025. Scooly is estimated to generate $500,000 in 2025 and as we scale as a marketplace with multi-business model for Admission, Visa Marketplace and Multi-currency wallet we are estimating $2 million ARR by 2026. Scooly platform is global platform that will not only process applications from Canada but US, UK, Australia and other parts of Europe.
As a marketplace we targeting to have 2000 immigration experts and consultants on our platform by end of 2025.
Our MVP marketplace www.myscooly.com is ready and launching in Q4 of 2024
Question 4 - Tell us about your team composition. Our eligibility requires that you have at least 1 additional employee besides the founder(s) on payroll. Please explain and tell us more about your organizational chart and employment structures.
Please explain and elaborate.
Scooly was founded by 2 black founders in 2023 and in less than 6 months grew to a team of 12 team members, we currently have 5 team member in Africa and 7 team member here in Alberta.
Our team is made up of 2 co-founders -
Kemi Bolatito - COO (Full time)
Idowu Bolatito - CEO (Fulltime)
Ayo Adesokan - CTO (Fractional)
Odunayo Ademola - VP (Part time)
Yohana - Administrative Specialist (Full time)
Yeseme - Admission Specialist (full time)
Zandre - Project Manager/Scrum Master (Part time)
Ifeoluwa - Business Analyst (full time)
Esther - Back end developer (Full time)
Mutnah - UI/UX
Lucky - Back end developer (full time)
Pelumi Front end developer (Full time)
Question 5 - Prove to us that you have attained Product/Market fit and validated the business model since you started operating the organization.
Please explain and elaborate.
Revenue Growth: Scooly has generated over $40,000 in revenue even before completing the full platform build, which signifies strong demand for our services.
4x Growth: We have experienced 4x growth in the past year, a clear indicator of market demand and traction
High Return on Marketing Investment: Scooly has demonstrated that for every $1 spent on marketing, we generate $1,200 in revenue, showing that our acquisition channels are highly efficient and scalable.
Market Leadership: In Nigeria, where we are focusing, the market has spent over $90 billion on education abroad and immigration in the last decade. Scooly has already positioned itself as the leader in this high-potential market.
Early Adoption: We've had significant user sign-ups and active engagement from both students and immigration consultants, which shows that there is a need for a seamless platform that connects these groups.
Positive Customer Feedback: We have received consistent positive feedback from users, indicating satisfaction with the user experience, which proves our solution is resonating with our target market.
Question 6 - How is your business leadership and quality standards driving the business forward? What are your plans to Scale and Grow the business? How has your growth helped to accomplish the business and strategic goals while furthering brand presence and brand value?
Please explain and elaborate.
Scooly's leadership, led by Kemi Bolatito-Bello, embodies a dynamic and resilient approach to business development, innovation, and strategic execution. Our leadership prioritizes transparency, inclusivity, and efficiency values reflected in our platform and service delivery. This focus on quality has allowed Scooly to build trust and loyalty among users, which is critical in the immigration and education sectors.
Plans to Scale & Grow the Business:
Geographic Expansion: Scooly plans to expand into additional emerging markets, such as India and other African countries, where demand for international education and visa services is high.
Platform Evolution: We plan to enhance our platform by integrating more AI-driven features, such as predictive analytics and automated document processing, to make visa and admission applications even faster and more accurate.
Strategic Partnerships: Scooly is forming partnerships with global immigration consultants, educational institutions, and financial service providers (e.g., student loan platforms) to broaden our service offerings and increase market penetration.
Fundraising & Investment: We are currently raising $1 million to support our expansion, improve our technological infrastructure, and fuel growth in emerging markets.
Question 7 - Tell us how your organization is overcoming barriers for Black Women in business and how being a Black Woman Founder has brought about a unique journey to impact for your community and to the economy through business activities, opportunities, and impacts.
Please upload a video file shot in a vertical cellphone format of you responding to these questions. Videos should be no longer than 30 seconds (if they are longer than 30 seconds you'll be disqualified).
