Beem’s founder, Taha, started his entrepreneurial journey as a teenager spending countless hours at his parent computer shop in Tanzania. As he completed university in the US in 2008, the shop was struggling to attract its target customers, students. SMEs in Tanzania, like elsewhere in Africa at the time, had limited options to communicate or advertise to their customers, let alone use technology tools to grow their business. On his frequent visits back home, Taha saw these growth constraints repeatedly and quickly realized that an SMS messaging concept he piloted at his university could be the perfect tool to aid SME’s like his parents. The adoption of mobile phones was just taking off across Africa at the time, it seemed the pieces were all in place, in favor of his concept.
Beem was born! Bongo Live (as originally known) began as an SMS advertising platform that connected individuals and students to offers from businesses. Despite facing a difficult, nascent market, and without raising external funding, Beem pushed forward and found a competitive niche, capitalizing on the power of communication and mobile in Africa.
A decade later, Beem is a leading mobile services technology platform helping enterprises drive growth and commerce in Africa into the coming decades. From humble roots, Beem has grown to become an omnichannel solution with a wide Pan-African and growing global Influence, delivering a unified, seamless experience.
