'I was a poor kid but it put steely determination in me'

Image source, Fanbytes

Timothy Armoo, a young blackentrepreneur with few industry contacts, has more than beaten the odds to raise investment, scale and then sell his start-up.

He grew up on a council estate in south London and had a lucky break when he was a teenager.

Mr Armoo says that his girlfriend knows that he is not meant to do it.

Mr Armoo's social media advertising business, Fanbytes, has 65 employees.

The company connects social media stars with big brands. He sold the business to a larger advertising firm for an eight-figure sum, but the exact amount has not been disclosed.

It is difficult for black entrepreneurs to get funding.

According to a recent report, less than one per cent of venture capital investment in the UK went to black entrepreneurs.

Black-owned businesses are four times more likely to have their business loan applications rejected than their white or South Asian counterparts, according to recent government statistics.

Image source, Fanbytes

When he was 3 months old, Mr Armoo moved to Africa to live with his grandmother, who lived there for ten years.

He lived in a flat with his father on the Old Kent Road council estate when he returned to London in his early teens.

He got a lucky break when he won a sixth-form scholarship to independent school in London, where boarding fees are more than $12,000 per term.

He says it introduced him to a world he hadn't known before.

There was a kid who was picked up by helicopter. Even though there weren't many people who looked like me there, it opened my eyes and gave me a sense of confidence.

He says the experience gave him confidence in how to talk in certain circles, the subjects you engage in, and he used those skills to meet investors.

Mr Armoo has been using social media to amplify his advertising.

Social media stars are signed up by Fanbytes to work with big brands on their advertising campaigns.

Fanbytes was created by Mr Armoo and two other black entrepreneurs.

The company's proprietary algorithm was developed by Mr. Cooke as part of his university thesis. Fanbytes can sign up up up-and-coming social media stars before they get popular and expensive.

It works with some of TikTok's biggest stars, like Rhia, from the UK, who has more than 14 million followers, and the 89 million followers of vloggers.

Everyone from Deliveroo to the UK government has been included by clients.

Fanbytes was bought by Brainlabs, a digital advertising company set up in 2012 by Daniel Gilbert.

Mr Gilbert says that being able to offer it alongside our other capabilities under one roof is a huge advantage to our clients.

According to research firm, Insider Intelligence, TikTok's advertising revenue is likely to triple to $11 billion in 2022.

Rebecca McGrath, Mintel's associate director for Media and Technology, says that influence advertising is growing in importance to brands, as people spend more time looking at content from social media personalities.

According to a recent Mintel report, nearly one in five people who viewed influencer content bought a product or service after seeing an influencer promote it on social media.

This means advertising firms that still focus on traditional advertising, like print, in the future might start buying smaller start-ups dedicated to influencer marketing.

Image source, Timothy Armoo

Mr Armoo wants to inspire others to follow in his footsteps.

Mr Armoo says that one of the biggest obstacles for black founders is that they don't see other people doing it, which would normalise success. There is funding and opportunities.

Mr Armoo is sharing his business advice on his social media accounts.

He says that he has always seen himself as anentrepreneur first, then a black one.

Be objective and solve problems. They can ignore you if you focus on being so good.

You can follow Dougal on social media.