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\n <\/p>\nIt aims to nurture Africa\u2019s next generation of entrepreneurs.<\/p>\n
The programme has brought on 15 companies in Africa that are developing technology-enabled approaches, especially in the agriculture, mobility, and energy sectors.\u00a0Half of these are based in Kenya.\n <\/p>\n
\u201cWithin Africa, Nairobi offers a healthy mix of talent, connectivity and startup energy, the key elements that attract venture capitalists to the country,\u201d says Alan Mwangi, 500 Global programme manager.\n<\/p>\n
Kenya has a robust mobile money culture that requires little adaptation, and that\u2019s why 63 per cent of Africa’s climate tech funding were invested in the country in 2023.<\/p>\n
Among the Kenyan startups in the programme is VunaPay, a platform for agricultural cooperatives that facilitates instant payment to smallholder farmers for produce delivered to cooperatives.\n<\/p>\n
According to the co-founder and chief executive Gatwiri Njogu-Mokaya, 70 per cent of Africans are smallholder farmers who sell their produce through the cooperative movement and who have to wait for six months to one year before getting paid.<\/p>\n
To sustain their daily lives, such farmers often rely on predatory loans while losing close to 70 per cent of their product value to middlemen.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cWe realised that nobody is willing to pay farmers upfront for their produce, and such farmers end up selling the produce to middlemen on the side. By partnering with financial institutions, we have created a system where such farmers can be paid for their produce instantly,\u201d says Gatwiri.\n<\/p>\n
Currently, the payment programme targeting coffee, dairy, maize and bananas is working with 137 cooperatives in 14 counties with 120,000 farmers.<\/p>\n
Gatwiri has already raised $750,000 (Sh97.5 million) through a mix of equity, grant and debt financing but is looking to raise $2 million (Sh260 million) by mid next year and increase farmer listing to 250,000 while developing a payment engine to increase margins by 20 per cent.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cBeing selected for the seed accelerator programme means we have access to international best practices that will help us in scalability and streamlining governance structures. Such visibility will no doubt attract investors,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n
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Quinter Ochieng, founder and director of Chargebyte, Kenya\u2019s first AI-powered solar charging network, says she was inspired to design and manufacture hybrid charging and connectivity stations by the government\u2019s resolve to equip schools with digital gadgets.<\/p>\n
Her \u2018made in Africa\u2019 solution was meant to power devices and fuel education, business and communities that live off-grid and thus reduce the energy and digital access gap.\n<\/p>\n
According to Ochieng, Africa\u2019s current mobile users, now standing at 950 million, are set to increase to 1.2 billion within the next five years, and will be faced with critical power gaps, with 48 per cent experiencing daily power outages and disrupting lives.\n<\/p>\n
With revenues clocking $8,000 (Sh1.03 million) monthly, Ochieng feels that securing $500,000 (Sh64.3 million) pre seed money will take Chargebyte\u2019s revenues to between $30,000 (Sh3.8 million) and $50,000 (Sh6.4 million) per month and thus expand into low-density and underserved regions\u2014rural markets, clinics, schools, transport hubs and religious centres.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cWe knew we had the right product, but convincing financiers is easier said than done,\u201d she says. \u201cI can show you 288 pitches on Excel sheets. I only got feedback from 12 of those. I almost gave up.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
In 2025, Ochieng received $100,000 (Sh12.8 million) grant money; $50,000 (Sh6.4 million) from Giga UNICEF to connect schools and $50,000 (Sh6.4 million) from Spirit Wealth to develop end-to-end solar-powered devices with voice commands that will help her scale up.\n<\/p>\n
While investors seem to be turning a spotlight on local startups, unfavourable government taxation policies may hinder or discourage entrepreneurs from\u00a0entering\u00a0the market.\n<\/p>\n
For example, excise duties on digital transactions may raise costs for startups, which may find it hard to operate at par with established enterprises.\n<\/p>\n
In addition, startups thrive on experimentation, and when high taxation eats into limited budgets, founders may avoid\u00a0entering\u00a0into risky but potentially groundbreaking ventures and slow down the country\u2019s position as a top innovation hub on the continent.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cWe could do better in promoting favourable business policies and improving Kenya\u2019s tax regime,\u201d says Billy Mwangi, co-founder and chief operating officer at E-Moti, a startup building a smart urban mobility platform through a combination of proprietary software and wet-leasing electric buses and vans.\n<\/p>\n
E-Moti seeks to raise $200,000 (Sh25.7 million) in equity with a focus on technology development and streamlining the sales pipeline.\n<\/p>\n
According to Demola Adegbite, 500 Global Partner and who leads the fund initiatives for Africa, the continent\u2019s pressing needs create opportunities for technological solutions that can attract venture capital funding despite the concerns of the continent\u2019s higher risk profile in comparison to other regions.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cDespite the different regulations on the continent, we must amplify our success stories and create more data points where venture capitalists can draw on information. Successful founders can also tell their stories to inspire others,\u201d says Adegbite.\n<\/p>\n
He adds that startups creating climate technology solutions have a head start since the Kenyan government has clearly pronounced itself in this field.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cFounders must look at the local opportunities, especially in the climate sector, while working with mentors with a global perspective,\u201d he says.\n<\/p>\n
500 Global, headquartered in Silicon Valley, is one of the leading venture capital firms with $2.3 billion in assets under management (AUM).\n<\/p>\n
It backs early-stage companies worldwide, helping them scale through capital, expertise and connections. In Africa, the firm has invested in over 100 companies.\n \t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Nairobi has long been celebrated as the \u201cSilicon Savannah\u201d where technology and entrepreneurship converge. And for the last…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":196205,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[104593,72,191,61,60,104594,36868],"class_list":{"0":"post-196204","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entrepreneurship","8":"tag-africas-silicon-savannahentrepreneurship-in-kenya","9":"tag-business","10":"tag-entrepreneurship","11":"tag-ie","12":"tag-ireland","13":"tag-technology-firms","14":"tag-unicef"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196204","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=196204"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196204\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/196205"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=196204"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=196204"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=196204"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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