Self-Taught Developer’s Online Auction Platform Attracts Thousands Upon Launch

A self-taught developer has debuted an online auction platform in a bid to expand access to tenders and reduce participation costs. TenderSpan is craving a niche market for itself by focusing on vehicle and spare parts bids while also hosting construction and related products. The incipient software startup with a two-week-old platform has already managed to pull in over 3000 registered members and currently features north of 1,300 active tenders.

Anteneh Atre, Founder of Tender Span, says he ventured into the business after noticing a giant market gap unaddressed by current service providers. The electrical engineering graduate developed the Platform in three months, hoping to quickly engage in an emerging sector. TenderSpan's rapid growth is partly driven by its strong social media presence, particularly on TikTok, where it posts multiple tenders daily, amassing over six million views.

“I just leaped into the business,” he told Shega.

Users can sign up on TenderSpan with a seven-day free trial period. The Platform relies on a subscription model, which is renewed either annually or every quarter. Quarterly subscriptions are currently priced at 599 birr, while annual packages cost 1999 birr. Payments can be made via the mobile money services telebirr and CBE Birr.

While several technology companies have tried to introduce a digital alternative to the classifieds section, only a few Ethiopian startups have found success. 2merkato which has been in operation since 2013, takes up a major slice of the market while a few others have ventured into the space over the past few years.

TenderSpan’s founder hopes that the auction platform will serve as a demonstration of competence as the company looks to establish itself as a premier player in Software as a Service (SaaS) solution. Anteneh has already added features like NFC business cards and bespoke software development as complementary supplementary features on the Platform.

“Digital solutions can remove most of the inefficiencies of the local business environment,” he says.

The self-taught entrepreneur began taking classes Evangadi, a tech education initiative that offers foundational skills for competency in the digital space, two years ago. After finishing up the full stack courses on a full scholarship, he went on to work as a freelancer for some hands-on experience.

He plans to tackle the challenges of information access for Ethiopian business people by continuing to offer simple technology alternatives. TenderSpan started off by aggregating and structuring existing tenders in an easily searchable format before transitioning to a primary source of freshly floated tenders.