I finally decided to put together my application for the GTV, and will be applying for the exceptional talent route. Could you please provide me with feedback on my document list? Thank you in advance!
My Background
I am software developer with 7 years of experience, developing both mobile apps and backend software services. I have co-founded 2 startups in the last 5 years (My second startup has not officially launched the product yet, this is just a few months away)
LoRs
CEO and Founder of Bamboo, an investment startup that has over 500 investors and has processed over $1,000,000 USD worth of trades. (I worked with him about 5 years ago)
CEO and Founder of Canta, a digital platform that enables Africans to send and receive money globally and instantly (Secondary job - I currently work with him as an employee)
CEO and co-founder of Fintech company in Nigeria (Secondary job - the company is a consulting company/service provider, I am a co-founder and I built the mobile app for 7 top MFBs)
Mandatory Criteria
Co-founder of 2 startups. Under Company A, I have developed a total of 7 mobile apps used by top banks. I have also co-founded another company that will provide contactless payments service to Nigerians as this is not yet widely available in the country. (Hoping this demonstrates innovation).
Recognized at a Previous Job 1 with a beyond excellence recognition award. Also Previous Job 1, I won a tech Ideathon where I competed against over 100 teams and emerged 2nd place. The competition was about innovation and providing means by which the company could move forward.
I also was recognized at Previous Job 2 for contributing to the team of developers that improved the code services. For this, an email was sent from HR and my name was noted in the list. (I have the email).
A screenshot of the email from HR showing my name
A screenshot of the beyond excellence recognition award.
A screenshot of the plaque recognition award for second place in the tech ideathon
Led a team of developers that built the mobile apps which is the core revenue generating platform for each of the companies. At company 1 - I am on the founding team and the app has serviced over 2000 customers and has processed over $20M in transactions. Has also gotten funding from investors. At company 2 - Its a service providing company, I am a co-founder and under this company I have built 7 apps for 7 major Microfinance banks in Nigeria At company 3 - Its a startup in the final stages before launch. I am the CTO and I am working on providing a contactless payment app for Nigerians, This will be amongst the first of its kind in the country.
Working at my current company - we have multiple products used by major accounting firms in the UK. I am a software developer there and I have directly contributed to the development of these products.
Optional Criteria
Criteria 1 - Proof of recognition for work beyond the applicant’s occupation that contributes to the advancement of the field
Recognized by the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) with The Next Generation of Bankers award for my role in the financial sector in Nigeria.
A screenshot of the plaque recognition ward
A screenshot of me being awarded on the stage and the url to the media coverage on their website
Criteria 3 - Significant contributions to the field as a co-founder and employee of a product-led digital technology company
Demonstrate the impact I have made in the Fintech industry through the apps I built for the clients (the MFBs). The banks service over 10million customers in total and the app I built for them as clients has contributed to helping them service their customers.
My contribution to my secondary job which is a startup which I am now a director. We have a product (an app) that processes global payments for users and has processed over $20M in transactions for more than 2000 customers. I built the mobile app, as the only mobile developer.
I am aiming for the Exceptional Talent visa, how strong is my application for it?`
I also have a question regarding using a high income evidence
I currently earn a gross annual salary of 45k pounds in the UK, is this high enough for me to include as an additional “High income salary” evidence under Mandatory Criteria?
you have to present a minimum of two pieces of evidence per criterion - your OC1 has just one.
Can you share your LoR list? These recommendations should show recognition from established leaders and strengthen your case.
My opinion:
Sounds like some of your work is not suitable as per TechNation’s guidelines (freelance, contracting, consulting) - make sure not to use this as evidence, or if you were involved in these projects like an employee/founder, make sure to highlight this and explain why you think it should count as per the guidelines.
Your innovation case seems a bit weak. Contactless payments aren’t new, it sounds like you’re implementing a technology in a new market rather than doing something completely new. For instance, is your implementation in Nigeria very different than how contactless payments handled in different markets? If so, focus on that - show you solve a problem in a new way. Explain why the well known way isn’t good enough for your case. Try to answer the question “how am I advancing the field (globally)?”
For the impact case, I think you’re good - emphasize your contribution, make it clear you are the lead/only developer and back it up with screenshots and references.
This is in no way an advice nor I’m an expert nor hold a complete context of your work an experience, just my own personal interpretation of the guidelines.
Co-founder of 2 startups. Under Company A, I have developed a total of 7 mobile apps used by top banks. I have also co-founded another company that will provide contactless payments service to Nigerians as this is not yet widely available in the country. (Hoping this demonstrates innovation)
A company that isn’t existing yet or generating revenue cannot show innovation and cannot be used as evidence as it is purely a vision and not a product that is already in market. You should focus on the products built and present them in a way that doesn’t look like “consulting or service delivery”. Speak as a founder that builds xyz used by banking professionals and has generated xyz revenue, include screenshots of product, metrics etc
Recognized at a Previous Job 1 with a beyond excellence recognition award. Also Previous Job 1, I won a tech Ideathon where I competed against over 100 teams and emerged 2nd place. The competition was about innovation and providing means by which the company could move forward.
I also was recognized at Previous Job 2 for contributing to the team of developers that improved the code services. For this, an email was sent from HR and my name was noted in the list. (I have the email).
Internal company recognition is not good enough as a standalone evidence, you should instead highlight one or 2 products built within company 1 that has generated revenue with external evidence, screenshots of the products etc and then include the recognition award given to highlight how your impact on that product(s) was recognised. Company 2 should be another evidence, and you need to highlight product built and the metrics and then include the email from HR.
Criteria 1 - Proof of recognition for work beyond the applicant’s occupation that contributes to the advancement of the field
5. Recognized by the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) with The Next Generation of Bankers award for my role in the financial sector in Nigeria.
OC1 is about innovation, also one evidence is simply not enough, You can highlight one product and back it up with alot of evidence. You should read Tech nation’s guide in detail.
Demonstrate the impact I have made in the Fintech industry through the apps I built for the clients (the MFBs). The banks service over 10million customers in total and the app I built for them as clients has contributed to helping them service their customers.
You cannot repeat evidence. This also looks like consulting so you need to read tech nation’s guide in detail
My contribution to my secondary job which is a startup which I am now a director. We have a product (an app) that processes global payments for users and has processed over $20M in transactions for more than 2000 customers. I built the mobile app, as the only mobile developer.
This is great, ensure you detail this through screenshots and include third party evidence through a letter from someone senior in this company.
I currently earn a gross annual salary of 45k pounds in the UK, is this high enough for me to include as an additional “High income salary” evidence under Mandatory Criteria?
How does this compare to the average salary of people with your job title? If it’s low then I would advice that you do not include it.
You are applying for exceptional talent which is heavily scrutinised so you need to read Tech Nation’s guide carefully and fit your evidence around it.
The actual salary number does not matter. To qualify highly, it should be higher than the average in your field in your region. And the most important part is that you should show statistics of salaries where it is clear to see that your number is high.
For a software developer in Nigeria, 45k is probably very high. So if you had this salary while working in Nigeria, you just need to include some analytics services graph showing the salary range in this country.
However, if you started to get this salary in the UK, I don’t suggest including it as evidence because I am afraid it is lower than the average for 7 years of experience.
You evidence are mostly related to your work. Do you have conference speaking evidence, contribution open source project, contributions to industry initiatives? The CIBN award doesn’t not show how you have advanced the sector, awards may be more suitable for the mandatory criteria. What was your contribution to CIBN?