BLK Labs

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder and owner of Beeyond Africa, a travel community platform focused on sharing real stories, guides, and experiences across Africa.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with BLK Labs?

We needed to design and build a clean, engaging platform that could showcase travel stories and guides in a way that feels immersive and easy to navigate. We also wanted to ensure the site performed well across devices and was structured for future content growth.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

BLK Labs handled the end-to-end design and development of the Beeyond Africa website. This included research and design, all the development, and setting up the overall structure of the platform to support different types of content like travel guides, interviews, and curated stories. They also created a simple admin panel for us.
On the development side, they built a responsive website for both desktop and mobile, with a strong focus on readability and performance for long-form content. They also helped define how content was organized across the site, including page layouts, navigation, and content flow.
In terms of deliverables, this included the website build, reusable content layouts, responsive design implementation, and performance optimization to ensure the site loads smoothly and provides a good user experience. BLK Labs also integrated Google Analytics.

What is the team composition?

We worked with 2–5 teammates from BLK Labs.

How did you come to work with BLK Labs?

We found them through an online search and a referral. We chose them over other options because they had high ratings, were close to my geographic location, had a great culture fit, and were referred to me.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent a little over $10,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from May–October 2025.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

We saw strong early indicators that the platform was working as intended after launch. Users were spending a good amount of time on pages, especially on long-form guides and interviews, which was one of our main goals.
The site performed well across devices, with fast load times and a smooth reading experience, which was important for content-heavy pages. It also made it much easier for us to structure and publish content consistently, so we were able to scale the platform without friction.
We also wanted users to fill out forms so they could schedule interviews for us to get their experiences and add to the website. We’ve already started building our community, which is also one of our main goals. Overall, the outcome was a solid, well-structured foundation that was ready to grow as we added more content and features.

How did BLK Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

They delivered on time. We had a six-month timeline, and they delivered in five months. We communicated via virtual meetings, emails, and messaging apps.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The way they did a deep dive into our product was impressive. I loved the research phase, even though it took a bit too long. They did a few interviews with prospective travelers to get their opinions on what they wanted on the site. This really helped shape the website and platform. They also helped give us new ideas we didn’t consider before.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I was very happy with everything.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Head, Marketing of a performing arts government organization

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Our organization is a performing arts government organization dedicated to preserving, promoting, and showcasing Nigeria's cultural heritage, including its diverse folklore, music, dance, and drama

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire BLK Labs to accomplish?

• Create functioning website. Ours has been down for years now and we need one from scratch
• Help setup online presence via web, socials, and other mediums

SOLUTION

How did you find BLK Labs?

• Online Search
• Referral

Why did you select BLK Labs over others?

• High ratings
• Referred to me
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from BLK Labs were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

Full-site strategy & structure

We hired them to own content for the entire site for 15+ pages as per our agreement. They clarified goals and CTAs per page and tightened the overall voice.

Page copy & headers

They helped wrote/edited long-form copy for every page, rebuilt the CEO bio from our materials, and delivered very well. They also handled messaging, Gallery and Events intros, and all microcopy.

Compliance & dev-ready content

They produced News and Updates from our newsletters, and set up a typed News/Updates model section so our internal team could update everything directly.

Content & launch support

They normalized names and dates, & converted our PDFs into web copy, populated initial Gallery/Events entries, and handed off a concise style guide plus paste-and-go snippets. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

We went from a messy brief to a live site with consistent voice and multiple pages with deep information about NTN. Updates are easy for us to make, and all the necessary bios and programs and finally on the website.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

They hit every milestone and actually shipped the full content a few days early. No last-minute scramble, no surprises. We had weekly check-ins scheduled, and they were always quick to replies. We setup a clear roadmap initially, and and test links + demos regularly were done for reviewing progress.

What was your primary form of communication with BLK Labs?

• In-Person Meeting
• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

The attention to detail. We wanted a colorful and vibrant website, and they over-delivered. The whole team was very happy with the final designs and delivery

Are there any areas for improvement or something BLK Labs could have done differently?

N/A

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

 I am the Project Manager of an advertising & marketing company 

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Online Dating

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire BLK Labs to accomplish?

• 1. Idea Validation & Market Research
• 2. UX/UI Design (Wireframing & Prototyping)
• 3. MVP deployment

SOLUTION

How did you find BLK Labs?

Referral

Why did you select BLK Labs over others?

Referred to me

How many teammates from BLK Labs were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

DateSpark: Building a Next-Generation Dating App with BLK Labs

When we teamed up with BLK Labs to build DateSpark, our vision was simple: create a dating app that felt different. We wanted something that went beyond the typical swipe model and offered a more meaningful way for people to connect—powered by AI and built around user engagement and privacy. From the initial concept to the final product, BLK Labs played a critical role in bringing this vision to life, using their expertise in mobile development, UX/UI design, and backend architecture.

Strategic Planning & Market Research

Before diving into development, BLK Labs took the time to understand the competitive landscape. They conducted thorough market research, analysing existing dating apps to find areas where DateSpark could stand out. This was crucial in shaping DateSpark’s unique value proposition. 
Instead of just focusing on a swipe-based system, we prioritised AI-driven matchmaking and interactive features like icebreakers. BLK Labs helped us refine this approach, guiding decisions from the feature prioritisation (we focused on a lean MVP first) to the monetisation strategy (we went for a freemium model with premium perks).

Intuitive UX/UI Design That Engages Users

The success of any dating app is in its user experience, and BLK Labs truly nailed it. Their team created sleek, user-friendly wireframes that balanced aesthetics with functionality, ensuring the app was easy to navigate from sign-up to matching. 
The design included micro-interactions like playful swipe animations and personalised profile prompts, making the app feel dynamic and engaging. After testing prototypes with real users, they fine-tuned the UI based on feedback, resulting in a visually appealing, smooth experience.

Scalable Development & AI Integration

For development, BLK Labs chose React Native, which allowed us to build a fast and efficient web application without compromising performance. They also designed a secure real-time chat system and implemented a custom AI-driven matching algorithm that analysed user behaviours to improve connection suggestions. 
Plus, they seamlessly integrated third-party services like Stripe for payments, Google Maps for location-based matching, and Firebase for authentication.

Rigorous Testing & Smooth Deployment

Before launching, BLK Labs carried out thorough QA testing to ensure everything was working smoothly. This included functional, performance, and security checks, which helped identify and resolve bugs early on. Their team also took care of App Store Optimisation (ASO) to make sure we got the best visibility upon release, setting us up for a smooth and successful launch.

Post-Launch Support & Iterative Improvements

Even after the app was live, BLK Labs didn’t just walk away. They continued to provide ongoing support, addressing user feedback and rolling out feature updates like video profiles and enhanced AI filters. Their commitment to iterative improvements ensured that DateSpark not only attracted users but also retained them over time, allowing us to scale the app effectively.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Fully deployed application, awaiting funding and ready for a soft launch later this year

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

They were responsive and trustworthy the whole way

What was your primary form of communication with BLK Labs?

Virtual Meeting

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

Their commitment to our work and agile approach to project delivery that made the development cycle easy to manage

Are there any areas for improvement or something BLK Labs could have done differently?

Nope, they exceeded my expectations and delivered the project under our quoted cost, even when we faced difficulties due to team members leaving, or other unforseen circumstances

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the CEO of YELF Climate Trust Foundation

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We are an NGO that drives transformative, science-led climate solutions through strategic advocacy, research, and diplomacy across Nigeria and Africa.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire BLK Labs to accomplish?

• Develop an engaging website to promote climate action initiatives and educate the public.
• Provide clear information about YELF’s programs and projects
• Build a professional online presence to improve credibility and reach
• Ensure the website is responsive and user-friendly on all devices
• Setup mailing and domain hosting

SOLUTION

How did you find BLK Labs?

• Online Search
• Referral

Why did you select BLK Labs over others?

• High ratings
• Close to my geographic location
• Pricing fit our budget
• Good value for cost
• Referred to me

How many teammates from BLK Labs were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

They helped us design and develop the YELF Climate Trust Foundation website from scratch. They worked closely with us to understand our mission and created a modern, user-friendly design that reflected our brand and environmental focus. Their team built multiple pages for our programs, news updates, about us, and ways for visitors to get involved, like donating or volunteering. They developed the site using Javascript technologies so we it can be easy for future developers to make changes for us. Some of the key deliverables included the website’s design mockups, fully developed web pages, integration of our content, a responsive layout that works well on mobile devices, and guidance on how to manage the site going forward.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

• Successful launch of the website on schedule
• Setting up our emails, domain, and hosting
• Showcasing all of our programs and research so we can have online visibility
• Making a simple website that we can update/edit in the future

Positive feedback from YELF’s stakeholders and visitors

Clear, accessible presentation of YELF’s mission and programs

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

• Communication was clear and they kept us updated throughout the project
• We were part all the phases: research, design, development, testing
• We had access to all the assets, designs, and code during the project so we could see the live updates
• They respected our timeline and delivered the phases on time
• Overall it was a very smooth process and they were easy to work with

What was your primary form of communication with BLK Labs?

• In-Person Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

I would say their attention to detail in the research phase. They spent time gathering information from us, key stakeholders, people in the industry, and our competitors. They did interviews and sent out questionaires. This also helped up with some of our own internal business and we kept all that information for the future. I loved this process because it helped everyone have a good understanding of what we would need from our webstie and how it would improve our online presence.

Are there any areas for improvement or something BLK Labs could have done differently?

Overall, they were responsive, easy to work with, and made the process smooth. I loved the ontime delivery and working with them so I dont have anything I would suggest.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Creative Director of Minimal Concepts LTD

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Interior Architecture & Design

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire BLK Labs to accomplish?

• Redesign and upgrade our website

SOLUTION

How did you find BLK Labs?

Referral

Why did you select BLK Labs over others?

• Pricing fit our budget
• Good value for cost
• Referred to me
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from BLK Labs were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

    •    Designed and Developed the Organization’s Website: Led the end-to-end design and development process of the official website, ensuring a user-friendly interface, responsive design, and alignment with the organization’s branding and strategic objectives.
    •    Ongoing Website Management and Maintenance: Oversaw the regular upkeep of the website, including content updates, performance monitoring, troubleshooting, and implementing improvements to enhance user experience and functionality.
    •    Social Media Management and Content Creation: Managed the organization’s social media presence across multiple platforms by creating, curating, and scheduling engaging content. Monitored analytics to assess engagement and reach, and adapted strategies accordingly.
    •    Digital Strategy and Web Presence Optimization: Developed and executed a comprehensive digital strategy to strengthen the organization’s online presence. This included SEO best practices, audience targeting, and leveraging analytics to inform content and outreach decisions.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

We observed significant improvements to our website’s performance and usability, resulting in positive feedback from clients and stakeholders. Additionally, the enhanced design and functionality have contributed to a noticeably improved user experience for both external users and internal teams.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

They delivered on time & were patient on our slow response and feedback 

What was your primary form of communication with BLK Labs?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

We were highly impressed with their effective management of the website, as well as the thoughtful enhancements they proposed and implemented throughout the year of their management 

Are there any areas for improvement or something BLK Labs could have done differently?

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BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the CEO of Washae LLC

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We give back our customers time by getting their laundry done.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire BLK Labs to accomplish?

• Build a modern, user-friendly mobile and web platform for a laundry service business
• Enable customers to securely request, manage, and pay for laundry services online
• Provide admins with tools to manage users, orders, and business analytics
• Integrate secure payment gateways including PayPal, Stripe, Apple Pay, and Google Pay
• Ensure a scalable architecture for future business growth

SOLUTION

How did you find BLK Labs?

• Online Search
• Upwork project lead

Why did you select BLK Labs over others?

• High ratings
• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost

How many teammates from BLK Labs were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

Took a business idea and then built an application. 

Somehow built an application for 1 person to do laundry services.  Got that corrected from September 2024 to March 2025.

Split up the deliverables into 2 applications and 1 administrator.

Stripe API integration was added and will eventually help us remove manual tasks. 

Safety features for onboarding customers and drivers were essential.  Stripe verifies addresses so looking forward to removing manual onboarding as we scale.  Able to add features in the future to ensure quality management and continuous improvement for customers.  

Did an excellent job once we had the correct MVP and was very patient with us throughout the process. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Successful launch of both web and mobile apps.

Working on getting in the Google play store and Apple I store for continued business services. 

Secure integration of multi-platform payment systems

Streamlined customer registration and verification process

Efficient order processing and real-time status updates

Positive feedback from users on ease of use and speed

Data-driven insights for admin team via analytics dashboard

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

Had to crash down on the project after initial confusion on the road map. 

They met the expectations of the project. 

It takes time to work through the design process, costs,  and deliverables.  Benefits outweigh the time delay since we had to regroup on the deliverables.  We came out with a scalable product. 

What was your primary form of communication with BLK Labs?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

The willingness to get on a meeting and discuss in order to make it happen the way you want to address it.  

Are there any areas for improvement or something BLK Labs could have done differently?

If we would have communicated earlier about picking the load assignment that would have been beneficial. 

The stripe API we mentioned later on and you all adapted well.

The GPS overlay In the future to make the optimized 1099 compliance efficient will be tremendous. 

You did an excellent job on communicating throughout the process.  Overall, longer than expected but the adaptable team thrived to bring the product to life.  We will continue to use them in adding additional features to the platform.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the founder of Magnetify, an advertising and marketing company. We create AI-powered lead magnets to help businesses grow.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with BLK Labs?

I needed help with developing an MVP app.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of work with BLK Labs?

I started with just a vision of what I wanted Magnetify to be, so the goal was to get a working MVP. BLK Labs has developed a fully functional app that currently has paying customers. Magnetify has the ability to create three different types of lead magnets: lead pages, mini-courses, and e-books. Users can download leads or create webhooks to send captured leads to their email service provider or CRM. One of the features we like best is that Magnetify has a clean UI that makes the user experience simple when using the app. Our project is still ongoing because we're working on a major feature addition.

What is the team composition?

We mainly work with Kabir.

How did you come to work with BLK Labs?

I found them through Upwork. When I spoke to Kabir about the vision for my software, I felt like we clicked and that he understood what I was trying to build.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in November 2024, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

Once specific milestones within the project were met, such as the lead magnet formats being created and AI being integrated, we had many measurable outcomes. For the overall project, we had 3–4 major milestones, including research, design, app functionality, and building out the blog for Magnetify. The outcome was that everything was completed, and we're now working on adding another feature. The completed milestones have allowed us to market the MVP at different stages since we're building Magnetify in public. We believe this has allowed other people to have an expectation of what was to come once the MVP was completed. We had people sign up for a beta tester waitlist and follow our journey as we documented it on YouTube.

Based on the feedback we received from our initial launch, we streamlined the checkout process.

How did BLK Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

As I mentioned before, the project was delayed by a few months, but I'm happy with the results. BLK Labs has gone above and beyond with bug fixes and iterations before we finally launched. We mainly communicate through Upwork.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I'm impressed with their patience with me as a first-time SaaS founder.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could provide a better estimation of time completion, although I know that can be hard sometimes. Other than that, I'm happy with their services.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Founder of Araafit

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Araafit builds AI-powered body measurement and fit technology that lets fashion brands and shoppers capture accurate measurements from a single photo, reducing sizing errors, returns, and friction in online fashion.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire BLK Labs to accomplish?

• Deliver a fast, mobile-first PWA experience
• Enable measurement capture and reusable user profiles
• Launch a working MVP ready for real-user testing
• Build an AI-powered body measurement app for accurate clothing size estimation from user photos

SOLUTION

How did you find BLK Labs?

Referral

Why did you select BLK Labs over others?

• Close to my geographic location
• Great culture fit

How many teammates from BLK Labs were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

Araafit was built as an end-to-end fashion technology product that uses image processing and machine learning to help users get accurate body measurements and better-fitting clothing online.

The core scope involved designing and developing a system that allows users to upload a full-body photo, provide basic reference information (such as height), and receive automatically generated body measurements. This required building a custom image-processing pipeline for pose detection and measurement estimation, rather than relying on off-the-shelf third-party APIs.

Beyond the AI component, the work included developing the full product experience around the measurement system - user onboarding, image capture guidance, measurement output, and integration into a shopping and recommendation flow. The platform also includes backend services to handle image uploads, run measurement inference, store user data securely, and support future model improvements.

An admin layer was developed to manage clothing items, assign sizing and style attributes, and oversee orders and product data so recommendations align correctly with user measurements.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Measurable Outcomes

• Successfully delivered a working body-measurement system capable of generating consistent measurement outputs from a single full-body image, validating the core technical feasibility of the product.
• Built and deployed a complete end-to-end product (AI pipeline, backend services, and user-facing web application), reducing the concept from an idea to a usable, testable platform.
• Achieved reliable measurement inference using minimal user input (single image + height), lowering friction compared to traditional multi-step or hardware-dependent measurement approaches.
• Demonstrated improved size matching accuracy during internal testing by aligning generated measurements with predefined clothing size parameters, reducing obvious size mismatches.
• Established a scalable technical foundation (APIs, data storage, admin tools) that allows for model iteration, additional data collection, and future improvements without reworking the core system.
• Enabled faster onboarding and experimentation by keeping the measurement flow lightweight, allowing users to complete the process in minutes rather than requiring manual measurements.

Successful photo-to-measurement processing rate

User measurement completion rate through MVP launched and used by early testers

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

Project management was structured and responsive throughout the engagement. Milestones were clearly defined upfront, and work was delivered in stages so progress was always visible rather than happening in a black box.

Key deliverables were completed on time, and when timelines needed minor adjustments, they were communicated early with clear reasoning. Feedback was incorporated quickly, and changes were handled pragmatically without derailing the overall schedule.

They were responsive to questions and evolving requirements, adapting the scope where needed while keeping the core objectives intact. Overall, communication was consistent, expectations were well managed, and the team stayed aligned with the product goals from start to finish.

What was your primary form of communication with BLK Labs?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

What I loved the most was their ability to take a technically complex problem and turn it into a usable product without overengineering it. Instead of relying on third-party solutions, we worked together to buid our own measurement pipeline and focused on making it work reliably with minimal user input.

They also showed strong product judgment, balancing accuracy, performance, and user experience rather than chasing “perfect” AI at the expense of usability. The combination of hands-on technical execution and practical product thinking made the collaboration feel focused and efficient.

Are there any areas for improvement or something BLK Labs could have done differently?

None. Loved working with them!

We are currently working together to build a marketplace expansion for Araafit.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am a Director at Miagro Limited

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Marketing and distribution of agro-allied products and equipment.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire BLK Labs to accomplish?

• Build a new company website
• Complete revamp of company IT department

SOLUTION

How did you find BLK Labs?

Referral

Why did you select BLK Labs over others?

• High ratings
• Close to my geographic location
• Referred to me
• Company values aligned

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

The project included a web redesign and a revamp of our IT department, the project went through identifying the basic requirement of the design, developing an initial prototype and review of prototype before finalization, Which was all done and completed within the timeline.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

improved site structure and speed boosted traffic growth to the site, friendlier and easily accessible to our clients from some customer feedback. Staff  were happy with the upgrade to our IT facilities as it made work for efficient.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

Blk labs were always on hand to assist when needed. Even when we made some minor last minute changes they were able to deliver high quality output within our timeframe.

What was your primary form of communication with BLK Labs?

• In-Person Meeting
• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

Their seamless communication and understanding of what our needs were were highly impressive.

Are there any areas for improvement or something BLK Labs could have done differently?

No, thoroghly impressed with their work and hope to work with them in the future again.