DEV Community: Oscar Awowari

Why Every Place Needs a Digital Identity

Oscar Awowari — Sat, 25 Jul 2026 14:52:01 +0000

Most places don't suffer from a lack of information.
They suffer from fragmented information.
Photos, reviews, contact details, videos, and updates are spread across multiple platforms.
LeeX explores a different approach:
One Profile
One Location Page
One Source of Truth
The goal is simple: make places easier to understand, discover, and interact with.

Designing a Platform Around Businesses, Events, and Infrastructure: The Thinking Behind LeeX

Oscar Awowari — Fri, 24 Jul 2026 13:39:17 +0000

By Oscar Awowari – Founder & CEO, LeeX

When people build technology products, one of the first questions they ask is, "What features should we include?" I approached the problem differently. Before thinking about features, I wanted to understand what makes a city function. Every city, regardless of its size or location, is made up of thousands of interconnected places and experiences. Businesses create economic activity. Events bring people together. Infrastructure enables movement, development, and access. These three elements exist in every community and influence how people experience the world around them. That observation became the foundation of LeeX.

My name is Oscar Awowari, and I am the Founder and CEO of LeeX. Instead of creating another social media platform or another map application, I wanted to explore how technology could organize cities in a more meaningful way. The result was a simple framework built around three pillars: Businesses, Events, and Infrastructure.

Businesses are the heartbeat of every city. From neighborhood restaurants and supermarkets to banks, hotels, hospitals, shopping malls, fuel stations, pharmacies, salons, and technology companies, businesses provide services, create jobs, and drive local economies. Yet many businesses remain difficult to discover, especially small and growing enterprises. A great business should not remain hidden simply because it lacks visibility. LeeX aims to create a structured environment where businesses can be discovered based on categories, location, services, and relevance.

Events are another essential part of city life. They create memories, support local economies, promote tourism, strengthen communities, and introduce people to new experiences. Concerts, conferences, exhibitions, sporting competitions, cultural festivals, educational seminars, religious gatherings, and community celebrations all contribute to the identity of a city. Unfortunately, event information is often scattered across multiple websites and social media platforms. Through LeeX, events become part of the city's living ecosystem, making them easier to discover before, during, and after they happen.

The third pillar is infrastructure. Roads, bridges, airports, universities, hospitals, government buildings, transport terminals, stadiums, parks, monuments, markets, public facilities, and utilities shape how cities operate every day. Infrastructure is more than concrete and steel; it is the foundation upon which communities grow. Organizing infrastructure into a structured digital ecosystem makes cities easier to understand, especially for residents, visitors, researchers, and businesses.

These three pillars work together. A business exists because infrastructure supports it. An event succeeds because businesses and infrastructure make it possible. Infrastructure becomes valuable because businesses and communities use it. Rather than treating these as separate systems, LeeX brings them together into one connected discovery ecosystem.

Designing LeeX has also changed the way I think about data. A location is more than a point on a map. Every place has a name, a category, a purpose, operating hours, contact information, media, reviews, nearby locations, relationships, and a story. Organizing this information consistently creates a better discovery experience for users and a stronger foundation for future innovation.

This philosophy is currently being developed through LeeX Beta, the active development phase of the project. LeeX Beta is where new ideas are tested, data structures are refined, user experiences are improved, and city databases continue to grow. It is an opportunity to build carefully before expanding further. Every business listing, every event entry, every infrastructure record, and every design improvement contributes to a larger ecosystem rather than existing in isolation.

Looking beyond the current platform, the long-term roadmap includes LeeX AI. As artificial intelligence becomes increasingly capable of understanding context and natural language, I see an opportunity to rethink how people discover cities. Instead of manually searching across multiple platforms, users could simply ask questions such as, "What are the best family-friendly places near me?", "Which business districts are growing?", "What events are happening this weekend?", or "Show me important infrastructure within this area." LeeX AI is envisioned as an intelligent discovery assistant built on the structured foundation created by LeeX and LeeX Beta.

One lesson I've learned while designing LeeX is that architecture matters just as much as features. A product without a clear foundation becomes difficult to scale. By centering LeeX around Businesses, Events, and Infrastructure, every future feature—from search and recommendations to analytics, rankings, check-ins, location moments, and AI—fits naturally into the same ecosystem.

The internet transformed how we discover information. Mobile technology transformed how we access it. Artificial intelligence is transforming how we interact with it. I believe the next step is transforming how we discover and understand the physical world around us.

That is the vision behind LeeX.

That is the work happening through LeeX Beta.

And that is the future I hope to build with LeeX AI.

Oscar Awowari
Founder & CEO, LeeX
Building LeeX Beta | Designing the future of LeeX AI

Every Startup Starts With a Problem. Mine Was City Discovery. -Oscar Lee

Oscar Awowari — Fri, 24 Jul 2026 13:36:58 +0000

By Oscar Awowari – Founder & CEO, LeeX

Every successful startup begins with a problem.

Not with funding.

Not with a logo.

Not with an office.

And certainly not with writing code.

Technology is full of examples of companies that became successful because they solved problems people experienced every day. Before Google, finding reliable information on the internet was frustrating. Before Uber, getting transportation could be inconvenient in many cities. Before Airbnb, finding unique places to stay wasn't as simple as opening an app.

Great products usually begin by asking a simple question:

What problem deserves to be solved?

For me, that question eventually led to LeeX.

My name is Oscar Awowari, and I'm the Founder and CEO of LeeX. While studying, traveling around my city, and observing how people interacted with places, I noticed something that became impossible to ignore.

Cities are full of opportunities that many people never discover.

Every day, new businesses open their doors.

Events bring communities together.

Hotels welcome visitors.

Restaurants create memorable experiences.

Public infrastructure supports millions of people.

Tourist attractions tell the story of a city.

Yet discovering these places often requires jumping between search engines, maps, social media platforms, websites, blogs, and personal recommendations.

The information exists.

The experience doesn't feel connected.

That observation became the problem I wanted to solve.

Initially, I thought about creating a business directory.

Then I considered a location-based application.

The more I researched, however, the more I realized the problem was much bigger.

Cities are living ecosystems.

Businesses create economic activity.

Events create experiences.

Infrastructure connects people.

Communities shape culture.

Together, these elements define how people experience a city.

That realization completely changed my thinking.

Instead of building another application focused on one category, I started designing LeeX as a city discovery ecosystem.

The purpose of LeeX is straightforward.

Help people discover businesses.

Help people discover events.

Help people discover infrastructure.

Help people discover opportunities that already exist around them.

Unlike traditional navigation platforms that focus on getting users from one place to another, LeeX focuses on helping users understand what exists before they even decide where to go.

I often describe the difference this way.

Navigation answers "How do I get there?"

Discovery answers "What should I know about this place?"

Both are important.

But I believe discovery deserves much more attention than it receives today.

Of course, every ambitious idea starts small.

That's why the current stage of development is LeeX Beta.

LeeX Beta is where ideas become practical systems.

It is where city databases are built.

It is where business categories are organized.

It is where event structures are tested.

It is where infrastructure data begins to form a connected network.

Most importantly, it is where we learn from real-world challenges before expanding further.

Building LeeX Beta has taught me something that isn't obvious from the outside.

Creating a discovery platform is not simply about displaying locations on a map.

Every location needs identity.

Every business needs categories.

Every event needs context.

Every piece of infrastructure needs accurate information.

Every city needs structure.

The quality of discovery depends on the quality of data.

Looking further ahead, one of the most exciting parts of the roadmap is LeeX AI.

Artificial Intelligence is changing how people interact with information, and I think the same transformation will happen with cities.

Instead of opening several applications and performing multiple searches, imagine simply asking:

"What businesses should I visit today?"

"What interesting places are close to me?"

"Which events are happening this weekend?"

"What makes this city unique?"

The goal of LeeX AI is to make discovery conversational, intelligent, and personalized.

Not just providing information.

Providing understanding.

Like every founder, I know this journey will require patience, experimentation, and continuous improvement.

There will be challenges.

There will be mistakes.

There will be moments where ideas change completely.

That's part of building technology.

What matters is staying focused on solving a meaningful problem.

For me, that problem remains the same as it was on day one.

Helping people discover the world around them.

Technology has already transformed how we communicate, learn, shop, and work.

I think the next opportunity is transforming how we discover cities.

That is the problem that inspired LeeX.

That is the work happening through LeeX Beta.

And that is the future I hope to help shape with LeeX AI.

The startup journey is still in its early chapters, but every great platform begins with identifying a problem worth solving.

For me, that problem was city discovery.

Elvis Awowari - CTO LeeX AI
Oscar Awowari
Founder & CEO, LeeX
Building LeeX Beta | Exploring the future of LeeX AI

Why I'm Building LeeX Instead of Another Social Network - Oscar Awowari

Oscar Awowari — Fri, 24 Jul 2026 13:33:25 +0000

By Oscar Awowari – Founder & CEO, LeeX
Every year, thousands of new startups are launched around the world. Many of them are social networks, messaging apps, marketplaces, or AI tools competing in already crowded industries. While I admire the innovation happening across technology, I found myself asking a different question: Does the world really need another social network?
My answer was no.
What I believe the world needs is a better way to discover the places around us.
My name is Oscar Awowari, and I am the Founder and CEO of LeeX. Instead of building a platform focused on connecting people with people, my goal is to build a platform that connects people with places. That simple shift in perspective became the foundation of LeeX and continues to shape every decision behind the platform.
When we think about the biggest technology companies in the world, each one organizes a different part of our lives. Google organizes information. YouTube organizes videos. LinkedIn organizes professional connections. Spotify organizes music. These platforms succeeded because they made something easier to discover.
But cities remain surprisingly fragmented.
Every city contains thousands of businesses, hundreds of events, public infrastructure, tourist attractions, restaurants, hotels, schools, hospitals, parks, entertainment venues, and countless experiences. The information exists, but it is spread across maps, websites, social media platforms, directories, and word of mouth. Discovering what a city truly offers often requires switching between multiple apps and sources.
That observation inspired LeeX.
LeeX is being built as a city discovery ecosystem centered around three core pillars: Businesses, Events, and Infrastructure. These pillars exist in every city, whether it is Port Harcourt, Lagos, London, Dubai, or New York. Together they represent how people experience places every day.
The objective is not to replace maps or social media. Maps are excellent for navigation. Social networks are excellent for communication. LeeX focuses on something different: discovery. It is designed to help people understand what exists around them and uncover opportunities they might otherwise never find.
A local restaurant should be easier to discover.
A community event should be easier to find.
A landmark should tell its story.
A public facility should be visible to the people who need it.
A growing business should have the opportunity to be seen.
This is the problem LeeX aims to solve.
Like many early-stage startups, the vision begins with an experimental phase. That phase is LeeX Beta. LeeX Beta is where ideas become working systems, where features are tested, where city databases are created, and where the foundation of the ecosystem continues to grow. It is an opportunity to learn, iterate, and improve before scaling further.
Building LeeX Beta has taught me that creating a discovery platform involves much more than placing pins on a map. Every location needs structure. Businesses require categories. Events need dates and venues. Infrastructure must be organized logically. Search needs relevance. Discovery needs context. Good user experience depends on how all of these pieces work together.
Looking further ahead, the roadmap includes LeeX AI.
The long-term goal of LeeX AI is to make discovering cities feel more natural through intelligent conversation. Imagine arriving in an unfamiliar city and asking questions like:
"What businesses should I visit today?"
"What events are happening nearby?"
"Show me interesting places within walking distance."
"Which locations are popular with families?"
Instead of manually searching across multiple platforms, an intelligent discovery system could understand your request and provide contextual, location-aware recommendations.
That is the direction I see for LeeX AI.
Building a startup is rarely about having all the answers on day one. It is about identifying a meaningful problem, committing to solving it, and improving every single day. Every feature, every design decision, every database entry, and every lesson learned through LeeX Beta moves the platform one step closer to that vision.
Technology has transformed how we communicate, shop, work, and learn. I think the next opportunity is transforming how we discover the physical world around us.
That is why I am building LeeX instead of another social network.
The journey is still in its early stages, but I am excited to continue building, learning, and sharing that journey publicly. If you're interested in startups, geospatial technology, product design, AI, or city discovery, I'd love to hear your thoughts.
What problems do you think technology has overlooked that deserve more attention?
Oscar Awowari
Founder & CEO, LeeX
Building LeeX Beta | Exploring the future of LeeX AI

From a Medical Student and a Developer to Building LeeX: Our Attempt to Map Cities Differently

Oscar Awowari — Thu, 23 Jul 2026 16:52:21 +0000

A few months ago, if someone told me I'd be spending hours collecting business information, coordinates, and city data, I probably wouldn't have believed them.

My name is Oscar I. Awowari, also known online as Oscar Lee.

I'm currently a Public Health student in Nigeria.

My brother, Elvis Awowari, is a software developer and entrepreneur who leads the technical side of our projects.

Together, we're building LeeX.

The Conversation That Started It

One day I asked a simple question:

Why is it so difficult to discover everything that exists within a city?

Businesses are relatively easy to find.

But what about:

Event venues?
Public infrastructure?
Parks?
Markets?
Stadiums?
Universities?
Monuments?
Transportation hubs?

The information exists somewhere.

The problem is that it's scattered.

That's when the idea for LeeX started taking shape.

What We're Building

LeeX is an attempt to create a structured digital layer for cities.

Instead of focusing only on businesses, we organize three major categories:

Businesses
Events
Infrastructure

Our vision is that every meaningful location should have a digital identity.

Not just a map pin.

A real profile containing useful information.

Why This Is Hard

When people think about startups, they often think about coding.

Ironically, coding isn't the hardest part of LeeX.

Data is.

A discovery platform with 100 listings isn't very useful.

A discovery platform with 50,000 listings is a completely different product.

That realization changed how we think about growth.

Instead of focusing on downloads first, we're focusing on building the foundation.

Two Brothers, Different Roles

One thing I enjoy about this journey is that my brother and I approach problems differently.

I spend most of my time thinking about:

Product vision
User behavior
Discovery systems
Growth strategy
City intelligence

Elvis focuses on:

Platform architecture
Backend systems
Technical scalability
Infrastructure decisions
Development workflows

Those perspectives often lead to interesting debates.

Many of our best ideas come from challenging each other's assumptions.

Why We're Sharing Publicly

Most startup stories are told after success.

We're documenting ours while we're still figuring things out.

Maybe LeeX becomes a major platform.

Maybe it doesn't.

Either way, the lessons learned while building it will be valuable.

For now, we're continuing to build, collect data, test ideas, and learn.

If you're working on local discovery, mapping, GIS, location intelligence, or startup products, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

What would you prioritize first: users or data?

Building LeeX: Why We're Starting With Data Before Users

Oscar Awowari — Thu, 23 Jul 2026 16:48:31 +0000

Most startup advice sounds like this:

"Get users first."

"Validate demand."

"Launch fast."

For most startups, that's probably correct.

But while building LeeX, I've discovered a problem where the opposite may be true.

My name is Oscar Lee (Oscar I. Awowari), and together with my brother Elvis Awowari, who serves as CTO, we're building a city discovery platform called LeeX.

The goal is simple:

Create a platform where people can discover Businesses, Events, and Infrastructure in one ecosystem.

Sounds straightforward.

The challenge is not.

The Empty City Problem

Imagine downloading a city discovery app.

You search for restaurants.

Nothing.

You search for schools.

Nothing.

You search for parks.

A few results.

You close the app and never return.

That's the problem.

Unlike many products, local discovery platforms become valuable only when they already contain a large amount of information.

An empty city is a dead city.

Our Solution: Supply First

Instead of launching immediately and hoping users create content, we're experimenting with a supply-first strategy.

Before focusing on growth, we're building the city's database.

That means collecting:

Businesses
Event venues
Schools
Hospitals
Markets
Parks
Stadiums
Tourist attractions
Transportation infrastructure
Government facilities

The objective is simple:

Make the city useful before asking people to use it.

Why Infrastructure Matters

One thing that surprised me during research was how much attention businesses receive compared to infrastructure.

Most discovery platforms focus heavily on commerce.

But cities are more than commerce.

People search for:

Universities
Hospitals
Airports
Bus terminals
Landmarks
Parks
Public facilities

These places influence daily life just as much as businesses do.

That's why Infrastructure sits alongside Businesses and Events as a core pillar of LeeX.

Starting Small

We're beginning with Port Harcourt, Nigeria.

Not because it's the biggest city.

Because it's easier to build depth in one city than spread ourselves thin across many.

The current goal isn't downloads.

It's completeness.

The question we're trying to answer is:

How much structured city data is needed before a discovery platform becomes genuinely useful?

I don't know the answer yet.

But that's what makes building startups interesting.

If you've worked on maps, GIS systems, local search, marketplaces, or location intelligence products, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

What would you do differently?