This is a really amazing forum; Over the last few months, I have learnt a lot regarding putting together my Global Talent Visa application.
I submitted my application on the 30th of November 2021 and received confirmation of my endorsement from the Home Office today 7th of December 2021. I was endorsed in the Exceptional Promise category.
Background
I am the Founder of a travel tech startup building an online marketplace for travellers to find and book tours, activities, and things to do in African countries for the holiday.
Below is an overview of the documents that I submitted:
Letter Of Recommendations
- The General Partner at a Global VC firm with a focus on the travel technology industry.
- Founder & CEO of a travel tech startup in Nigeria
- The Founding Partner of a VC syndicate fund and the founder of an African focused entrepreneurship fellowship.
Mandatory Requirements
Outside of your normal day-to-day job role, you established, led, or were a senior contributor to a large technology-led industry initiative:
- A letter of Reference from a UK based non-profit organisation confirming my contribution to the development of a web app for COVID.
You have received nationally or internationally recognised prizes or awards for excellence specifically in the digital technology sector:
- News clippings of me winning a global tech tournament with my startup
- Screenshot of my profile showcasing my acceptance to an African focused entrepreneurship program.
- Screenshot of an acceptance email into a global fellowship powered by Seedstars and Financial Times.
You led the growth of a product-led digital technology company, product, or team inside a digital technology company:
- Screenshots of multiple online interviews, podcasts, and conferences that I have been part of as the founder of my startup. The average media outlet had around 100k monthly visitors
Optional Criteria 1 (Work Outside Occupation)
Evidence of mentorship (i.e. the sharing or teaching of skills and knowledge):
- On the first page, I wrote a cover letter about the organisation for which I was undergoing the mentorship assignment and gave context to the evidence on pages 2 and 3. Then I added screenshots of two emails from the organisational screenshots of the dedicated slack channel showing the number of learners I was mentoring.
You have gone beyond your day-to-day profession to engage in an activity that contributes to the advancement of the sector:
- Letter of reference from a speaker at a virtual tech conference where I worked as a volunteer. On page 3, I added a screenshot of a thank you email from the organisers + an introductory email when I joined the program.
Optional Criteria 2 (Impact)
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Screenshots of press clippings about my startup in different global and African based tech/startup blogs. Their monthly unique viewers range from 100k to 11 million - I included links to similar web for them to confirm the monthly viewers, something like this https://www.similarweb.com/website/pressreader.com/
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Excerpts of certificate of Incorporation of my startup as a C-corp corporation in the US as well as the certificate of incorporation in the UK. I also included excerpts of the share agreement.
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A doc outlining some of the accelerators and programs that I have been part of as the founder and CEO of my startup
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A letter of reference from the founder of a startup program - she spoke about our startup. On the third page, I added screenshots of two subsidiary products that we built.
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A doc outlining a brief detail about the startup. I also included screenshots of the following: flagship product, Github repository for V1 of the product, Google Analytics, and Google Search console.
