Birmingham, UK — Imaiger, a pioneering artificial intelligence (AI) visual content solution, has been named the Best AI-Powered Visual Content Platform at the Midlands Enterprise Awards 2025. The platform’s recognition is a major win for its Nigerian United Kingdom-based founder, Salam Lawal, highlighting the global impact of African tech entrepreneurship.
The annual Midlands Enterprise Awards, hosted by SME News (a subsidiary of AI Global Media), are dedicated to celebrating businesses and individuals driving remarkable growth, innovation, and sustainable practices across the UK’s competitive Midlands region.
Melissa Bramall, the awards coordinator, underscored the significance of the winners, noting that their work is fundamentally “altering the trajectory of their industries for the better” and making a substantial positive difference in people’s livelihoods.
Democratising Visual Content Creation
Imaiger was specifically lauded by SME News for its innovative approach to content generation, helping creators and brands achieve accelerated growth through high-performing visual assets like images, thumbnails, and slideshows.
For Lawal, the award is a powerful validation of the company’s commitment to accessibility. He views the win as an “acknowledgement of our technical innovation in making AI-powered visual content creation accessible and affordable” for small businesses and independent creators who traditionally lacked the resources to compete with larger brands.
Lawal added that beyond recognition, the award is crucial for the startup’s future trajectory: “More importantly, it strengthens our credibility as we scale and attract partnerships in the competitive creator economy space.”
Driving UK Tech Innovation
In detailing Imaiger’s contribution to the broader UK economy, Lawal explained that the platform is actively democratising access to high-quality visual content. This mission directly supports the country’s flourishing creator economy by enabling smaller entities to level the playing field.
“We are enabling small businesses, independent creators, and marketers across the UK to compete with larger brands by providing affordable, high-quality visual content tools,” Lawal stated. He also pointed out the platform’s role in the national tech landscape, citing its active participation in prestigious initiatives like the Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub and Paddle AI Launchpad, which reinforce the UK’s position as a leader in AI innovation.
Founder’s Advice: Focus on Execution and Impact
Using the spotlight of the award, Salam Lawal took the opportunity to issue a strong message to technology professionals and entrepreneurs in Nigeria. He urged them to “build products that solve real problems, not just what is trendy,” emphasising that the global technology industry primarily respects execution and tangible impact.
He provided concrete advice for aspiring founders:
- Prioritize Launching: Focus on getting products to market and gathering real users immediately. “Waiting for perfect conditions will not solve any problem; rather, starting with what one has and learning as they build will.”
- Embrace Metrics: Lawal stressed the importance of documentation: “Most importantly, document your journey and impact with clear metrics. Whether it is user numbers, revenue, or testimonials, concrete evidence of your work speaks louder than promises.”
- Maintain Discipline: The journey requires persistence: “Stay consistent, embrace rejection as feedback, and keep building.”
Lawal concluded by thanking SME News for its commitment to celebrating entrepreneurship and spotlighting UK startups.
