Meet Valentine and Frank Aikhu of Blinte in Downtown Phoenix

Today we’d like to introduce you to Valentine and Frank Aikhu.

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
Frank and I migrated from Nigeria to the United States in 2008 along with our younger brother, Kizito and mother. It was perhaps one of the biggest adjustments that we had ever had to go through in our lives at the time. The perception I had of America was that it is the land of opportunity and that to me meant that I was somehow already prosperous just from living here. I found out very quickly that opportunity meant that you had a chance at prosperity, but you were going to have to work for it.

Entrepreneurship was not a strange topic in our household as we grew up watching our mom and dad start and grow numerous business in Nigeria. At a very young age, we tried to follow in their footsteps. When I was about 11 years old, my brothers and I ran a video game-center out of our living room (without the knowledge of our parents). We understood very early on what it takes to conceive an idea, and turn that idea into reality.

In 2014, my brothers and I launched our first internet company based out of Charlottesville Virginia. We provided online ordering and delivery for restaurants (Similar to UberEats, GrubHub, DoorDash). There were challenges throughout the journey of the business and a lot of it stemmed from the sheer inexperience of the team. Despite the challenges, we were able to expand to multiple cities in Virginia until we shut it down in 2016.

In January of 2016, I bought a one-way ticket to Phoenix mainly because I wanted a fresh start. I moved here barely knowing anyone, but I had a feeling that this was the change I needed after running a business for that long. August of 2016, Frank did the same thing right after finalizing the end of our food delivery company.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
It has not been an entirely smooth road getting to where we are today. I had to make a difficult decision in October of 2018 when I left my full-time job to work on building my company full-time. I knew I would have to rely on support from Frank, and the rest of the team to make it work, and they all stepped up to the plate.

The journey still continues and we are still telling the story. We have lost team members who started the journey with us but did not have the zeal to continue through the difficult times or perhaps found other interests that became a priority. We have come from a point in time when no investors would even have a meeting with us, to being in rooms with some of the largest VC’s in the country. I’m just excited to continue with the work I do at Blinte.

We’d love to hear more about your business.
Frank and I are into restaurant technology. We are very passionate about improving efficiency for restaurants and enhancing the diners experience through technology.

Our current company Blinte, is focused on empowering restaurants to offer the option of self-service to their guests. We are able to achieve this by allowing diners to take control of their dining experience with the help of our mobile app.

We are very proud of the work we have done with Blinte. The product is a result of direct feedback from restaurant owners, staff, and diners. We captured a good number of each party’s pain points and developed an app to help alleviate all the hassle of the dining experience.

We took a holistic design approach to solve this problem. We are the only application on the market that stays with diners throughout their dining experience.

We are officially launching our app in the Phoenix area by Mid July, and we are excited to get more customer feedback and continue improving dining experiences for everyone.

What do you love about our city and what do you dislike?
Valentine – I love the weather a lot. Most people complain about the 100+ degree weather, but I will take it over snow any time.

Valentine – The light rail system is not very interconnected across the city, so there is still a huge need to have a car/use ubers and lyfts. I understand that this is something that could happen with time and as the city continues to grow.

Frank – I like the fact that it is a growing city, so it makes it exciting to be a witness the changes as they happen.

Frank – One thing I’m not a big fan off is the proximity to the East Coast. It makes traveling to certain parts of the world a hassle.

Pricing:

 

• Free for diners to use the app
• No setup fees for restaurants

 

Contact Info:

• Address: 330 East Roosevelt Street, Phoenix, AZ 85004
• Website: www.blinte.com
• Phone: 7573384284
• Email: valentine@blinte.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/blinteapp/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Blinte/
• Other: http://blinte.launchrock.com

Image Credit:
Samuel Tadesse; Kaajal Koranteng

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