{"id":187917,"date":"2025-10-09T11:25:32","date_gmt":"2025-10-09T11:25:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/187917\/"},"modified":"2025-10-09T11:25:32","modified_gmt":"2025-10-09T11:25:32","slug":"two-kenyans-among-10-global-entrepreneurs-eyeing-sh7-6m-innovation-prize","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/187917\/","title":{"rendered":"Two Kenyans among 10 global entrepreneurs eyeing Sh7.6m innovation prize"},"content":{"rendered":"


\nA battery swapping and charging station at Dunga Beach in Kisumu, which was established by E-Safiri, an e-mobiity that is looking at tapping the unexploited electric transport sector in the Lake Region. [James Wanzala, Standard] <\/p>\n

Two\u00a0Kenyans\u00a0Elly Savatia and Carol Ofafa are\u00a0among\u00a0four Africans who made it to the 16\u00a0global\u00a0finalist\u00a0entrepreneurs\u00a0eyeing\u00a0to win \u00a350,000 (Sh7.6 million). \n<\/p>\n

The four\u00a0innovators\u00a0and\u00a0entrepreneurs, including\u00a0two\u00a0from Ghana and Uganda, will compete for the 2025 Africa\u00a0Prize, which is run by the UK\u2019s Royal Academy of\u00a0Engineering\u00a0and partly funded by the UK\u2019s Department for Science,\u00a0Innovation\u00a0and Technology. \n<\/p>\n

The other three finalists will receive \u00a310,000 (Sh1.5 million) each and an additional \u00a35,000 (Sh755,000)\u00a0prize\u00a0awarded to \u2018One to Watch\u2019. The\u00a0prize\u00a0is dedicated to fostering\u00a0engineering\u00a0innovation, with a mission to stimulate, celebrate and reward\u00a0innovation\u00a0and entrepreneurship across sub-Saharan Africa.<\/p>\n

Savatia is an\u00a0entrepreneur\u00a0who created Terp 360, an app designed to support people who are deaf or hard-of-hearing.<\/p>\n

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Ms Ofafa founded E-Safiri, a battery-swapping service, providing a convenient and accessible solution for EV users.<\/p>\n

Using AI and 3D avatars, Terp 360 translates speech into sign language with lifelike fluidity, setting it apart from other tools on the market.\n <\/p>\n

To enhance the experience, Savatia\u2019s team at Signvrse incorporated motion capture technologies and collaborated with deaf and hard-of-hearing\u00a0Kenyans\u00a0to record over 2,300 signs, including common phrases and words. \n<\/p>\n

This ensures the app\u2019s avatar feels human-like, relatable and relevant. By addressing the interpreter shortage and improving accessibility, Terp 360 has the potential to transform learning environments and create more inclusive spaces.<\/p>\n

Since beginning the Africa\u00a0Prize\u00a0programme, Savatia and his team have secured a Google.org grant to support sign language dataset expansion and scaling. \n<\/p>\n

Additionally, they have set up a presence in Rwanda at Carnegie Mellon University\u2019s College of\u00a0Engineering\u00a0and further plan to pilot classroom and public service. Operating across four locations in Kisumu, the E-Safiri addresses a major barrier to electric vehicle adoption: the lack of home charging infrastructure, particularly in rural areas where many households lack electricity.<\/p>\n

By providing charging and swapping cabinets for electric bicycle and motorbike batteries, E-Safiri eliminates the need for personal charging setups.\u00a0 \n<\/p>\n

Each hub runs on solar energy and uses IoT-enabled batteries that deliver real-time updates, allowing for proactive maintenance. The finalists were chosen from a shortlist of 16, who each received a support package designed to help commercialise their\u00a0innovations. \n<\/p>\n

This included eight-month training programme tailored for\u00a0entrepreneurs\u00a0to turn their ideas into scalable, market-ready solutions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A battery swapping and charging station at Dunga Beach in Kisumu, which was established by E-Safiri, an…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":187918,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[84,82649,4203,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-187917","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entrepreneurship","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-e-safirie-mobility","10":"tag-entrepreneurship","11":"tag-uk","12":"tag-united-kingdom","13":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/187917","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=187917"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/187917\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/187918"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=187917"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=187917"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=187917"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}