After struggling to market her own ventures, Nigerian entrepreneur Chioma Nnanna developed Socella, an AI-native platform for simplifying social media management across Africa.
Chioma Nnanna’s entrepreneurial journey is rooted in persistence and adaptability. Growing up in Nigeria, Nnanna displayed an early knack for business, running several side ventures alongside full-time work. Despite her dedication, she often found herself hindered by the inefficiency of existing digital marketing tools and the unique challenges of the African market.
“I ran a small business for a few years, first as a side-business and then briefly full-time,” she recalls. “Solving my own business problems led me to product-building in tech.” These formative experiences, marked by both setbacks and small wins, became the springboard for her transition into technology entrepreneurship.
Before founding Socella, Nnanna built a successful career in digital marketing and corporate communications. She developed expertise in brand messaging, user engagement, and digital strategy,skills that would later become crucial in bridging the gap between entrepreneurs’ needs and emerging tech solutions.
“My background is in digital marketing and corporate comms. I’ve also run a few failed small businesses that made me interested in building tech that solves real problems for founders like me,” she shares. This blend of hands-on business experience and strategic communications gave her a deep understanding of what African entrepreneurs truly need: tools that are reliable, easy to use, and tailored to local realities.
Launched in Nigeria and now expanding across Africa, Socella (socella.com) is the continent’s first AI-native platform built exclusively for social media operations. At its heart is Nia, an AI agent designed for content scheduling, engagement management, brand consistency, and workflow automation,all accessible through a user-friendly chat interface.
“Unlike broad AI platforms like ChatGPT, Nia is specialized for social media,” Nnanna explains. “Founders interact with Nia through chat, making the process intuitive and saving valuable time.”
By eliminating the need to navigate complex dashboards, Socella empowers business owners,many of whom juggle multiple roles,to manage their digital presence seamlessly and efficiently.
Nnanna has made transparency a cornerstone of Socella’s culture, championing a “build in public” approach. The team regularly shares updates on product milestones, challenges, lessons, and fundraising progress. “We continue to build in public, sharing our journey and selling to customers as we have been doing,” she says. This openness has fostered trust with early users and attracted paying beta subscribers, helping Socella gain momentum in Africa’s competitive tech landscape.
Raising capital remains a hurdle for many African startups, and Socella is no exception. “African investors have good intentions but often lead from a place of fear, which can be hard for innovation. International investors are wary of markets they don’t understand,” Nnanna notes. Despite these challenges, Socella is focused on partnering with mission-driven angel investors and institutional funds that believe in Africa’s AI-powered future.
With successful early traction, Socella is preparing to:
Launch a free-tier model to drive adoption among more small businesses.
Expand its team to enhance product development and user support.
Accelerate marketing to increase brand visibility across Africa.
Explore entry into other emerging markets.
For Nnanna, Socella is more than just a tech platform,it’s a testament to the power of necessity-driven innovation and the potential for locally-inspired solutions to compete globally. Her journey from small business owner to CEO of a pioneering AI startup exemplifies resilience, vision, and a commitment to empowering African entrepreneurs.
As Socella continues to grow, Chioma Nnanna’s story stands as an inspiration: that innovation doesn’t always start with grand ambition, but often with the simple desire to solve a real problem.
