Mark Anthony Essien(Listen)ⓘ (born 18 December 1980 in Ikot Ekpene, Akwa Ibom State) is a Nigerian entrepreneur, software developer and startup investor. He is the founder and CEO of Hotels.ng, one of the first online hotel booking websites in Nigeria.[1][2][3] Before he founded Hotels.ng in 2013,Essien had previously built a file sharing software called Gnumm (acquired by Snoopstar.com), followed by a language learning startup called Ingolingo.[4]
Career
Hotels.ng
In 2013, Essien founded Hotels.ng. Spark.ng made an initial investment of $75,000 and another investment of $150,000.[5]
In 2015, the company secured additional investment funding of $1.2 million from international investors EchoVC Pan-Africa Fund,[6] a seed-stage technology fund, and Omidyar Network, the investment vehicle of eBay founder Pierre Omidyar.[7][8][9][10]
Essien stepped down as the CEO of HNG Internships, a programme he founded to solve the Nigerian software engineering talent problem. He handed over to Seyi Onifade[11]
Awards and recognition
In 2015, Essien made the Forbes list of the 30 youngest entrepreneurs in Africa. He has also been nominated for the Nigeria Future awards amongst others.[12]
Family
On 8 April 2018 Essien married Jenni Naiaretti, who is also a developer.[13]
Investments
In 2016, Hotels.ng co-invested with Jason Njoku and Spark in OgaVenue,[14] an events booking platform. Essien serves as a director on the board of OgaVenue.
Public talks
Essien is a frequent TEDx speaker. He has delivered talks on leveraging networks to build a business and how Africa can lead in the global technology space, speaking at TEDxEuston and TEDxGbagada respectively.[15][16][17]