Young Tech Entrepreneurs

ENTREPRENEURS IN TECHNOLOGY(copied)

By Shola Oyeniyi | August 1, 2015

KARIUKI GATHITU
Kariuki Gathitu – Founder, MPAYER
Founder of MPAYER, Kariuki Gathitu, saw
the difficulties that Kenyans experienced
when it comes to mobile payments and this
led to the birth of MPAYER – a mobile money
management system.
MPAYER recently won second position among
50 top startups in a global competition;
Dragons Den, held in South Africa and it was
also the best application in Africa. MPAYER is
having great impact in the SME space in
Kenya, allowing young businesses to build
strong scalable businesses.
Kariuki is also involved in youth advocacy
and is also a public speaker on the subject of
entrepreneurship. He has worked with the
African union, the World Bank and
governments in this capacity.

CATHERINE MAHUGU
Catherine Mahugu – Founder, Soko
27-year-old Catherine is a Computer Scientist
and the founder of Soko – an online
destination platform based in Kenya and San
Fransisco, USA for shoppers to discover
handcrafted accessories from all over the
world and purchase them directly from the
designers and artisans.
In 2013, the company raised $700,000 from a
Dubai-based investment firm and have also
garnered over $600,000 in artisan revenue to
date with the jewelry being sold by major
retailers like Nordstrom, Anthropologie and
One Kings Lane.
Catherine who is an International Telecom
Union (ITU) Young Innovators fellow was also
featured on BBC News and Forbes 30 most
promising young entrepreneurs in Africa.

MUBARAK MUYIKA
Mubarak Muyika – Founder, Zagace Limited
Mubarak, 22, is a Computer Programmer and
Kenya’s own Mark Zukerberg according to
Forbes . He was orphaned at age 10 but that
didn’t deter him from achieving greatness as
6years down the line, he founded
Hypecentury Technologies – a web hosting
company which he sold to Wemps Telecoms
two years later in a 6-figure deal. In 2012,
Mubarak’s passion for entrepreneurship saw
him turn down a fully paid scholarship to the
prestigious Harvard University to follow the
unbeaten path of setting up a computer
business.
Muyika’s new company, Zagace , which has
raised funding from local investors, is a cloud
enterprise software that helps companies
manage inventory such as accounting,
payroll, stock management, marketing and
many more all bundled in a simple and easy
to use format called Zag apps.

KELVIN MACHARIA KURIA
Kelvin Macharia Kuria; Founder, Sunrise
Tracking
Kelvin is another under 30 CEO whose
entrepreneurial spirit was awakened by an
experience a close relative of his had. The
hijacking of a family member’s car led to the
founding of Sunrise Tracking – a Nairobi-
based vehicle security tech firm that offers
GPS tracking through an automated fleet
management system, CCTV and ability to turn
engines off remotely via SMS.
The company which started with $300 is
currently valued at over a $100,000 with an
office in Nakuru and 6 full-time staff. The
company which has been featured in Daily
Nation (Kenya’s largest newspaper), Voice of
America, CNN as African Startup of the Year
by CNN, Business Daily Watch as Top 40 Men
under 40 in Kenya and Forbes magazine as
one of the top 30 most promising young
entrepreneurs in Africa.

JAMILA ABASS
Jamila Abass; Founder of M-Farm
Jamila Abass, founder of M-Farm, is a 29-
year-old Computer Science Kenyan graduate.
She founded M-Farm alongside Susan Oguya
in 2010 to bridge the gap on real time market
information regarding price of farm produce
and also help low-volume Kenyan farmers
sell their products to potential buyers, all
through SMS.
M-Farm seeks to provide up-to-date market
prices via an app or SMS, directly to farmers.
It also connects farmers with buyers directly,
cutting out the middlemen. Asides the
problem of pricing, farmers that produce in
low volume also get their produce sold to
many buyers in big cities that don’t want the
hassle of getting the volume they need from
multiple different farmers, via the M-Farm
group selling tool which gets farmers to team
up to bring produce to certain drop off
points. Then an SMS is sent to the system
promoting what they have to sell.

ASHA MWERU
Asha Mweru – CEO, Chocolate
Asha was in her 4th year at University when
Chochote started. Chochote (Swahili word for
‘anything’) is an e-commerce platform she
launched with her classmates Ivy Wairimu
and Victor Karanja, which started as a simple
classroom assignment.
The team of 4th year Strathmore students
sought to connect buyers and sellers on a
platform based on excellent customer service,
discounted prices and home delivery.
Although Chochote in Swahili means
‘anything’, the tagline of the e-commerce
enterprise is “not just anything.” Hence, the
reason it concentrates mainly on the supply
of unique crafts, jewelry and fashion items.
In the long run, the team intends to increase
its suppliers, expand to reach consumers
across the region and establishing a Chochote
mobile application.

RICHARD TURERE
Richard Turere; Inventor of Lion Lights
Challenges usually preceed innovation and
Richard’s case was no exception. His family
had a cattle herd located in Kitengela on the
unfenced south side of Nairobi National Park
which was frequently attacked by lions. This
led to a constant attack on lions which were
endangered species at that time.
Richard then sought for a solution within
himself that would ensure that his family’s
cattle herd was safe while also preserving
wildlife; hence, the invention of the ‘Lion
Lights’. The Lion Lights are flashing lights set
up around a perimeter facing outwards;
which are used to scare away lions. After his
innovation the lion attacks ceased and soon
neighbould similar rs required his services to
help build similar systems around their
farms.

EVANS WADONGO
Evans Wadongo; Chairman, Sustainable
Development For All (SDFA) Kenya
Evans is the Chairman of Sustainable
Development For All (SDFA) Organization in
Kenya. In a bid to bring succour to the people
of Kenya in the midst of the country’s power
problems, the 26 year-old Kenyan Engineer
designed a solar-powered LED lantern –
MwangaBora (Swahili for “Good Light”).
Due to its affordability, Evans’ invention is
fast replacing the smoky kerosene lamps and
firelight in rural Kenya. Through his
organization, he has been able to distribute
thousands of these lanterns throughout rural
Kenya where there is little or no electricity.
Also, Evans’ organization sponsors an
empowerment initiative that teaches poor
Kenyans how to reproduce these solar
lanterns and sell for profit.

TERESA MBAGAYA
Teresa-Mbagaya; CEO Econet Education
Mbagaya, 28, previously worked at Google on
its education team and partnered with the
Emerging Markets Outreach team to provide
free open source education materials to
emerging markets. In 2013, she joined Econet
Wireless as the youngest executive to found
and lead Econet Education.
Since joining Econet, Teresa has launched 3
education services in Zimbabwe with further
aims for international expansion: Econet Zero
targets 5 million Econet Broadband
subscribers offering them free access to 50+
education websites including Coursera, EdX,
Wikipedia, Codecademy and others; a global
first for any Mobile Network Operator in
scale. EcoSchool targets all tertiary
institutions in Zimbabwe, an education
platform that provides on-the-go, affordable,
and reliable access to world-class educational
content via the EcoSchool tablet. Recently, the
business launched EcoSchool Academy to all
9 million subscribers, an interactive mobile
learning environment which provides 50
short courses covering a range of topics.
Econet Education has reduced the costs for
Medical Students in Zimbabwe, providing
tablets on which they can access their
textbooks at significant savings.

CHRIS GATHINGU
Chris Gathitu
Chris Gathingu – Founder & CEO, Tangazoletu
Chris is an early starter, a curious individual,
analytical to the core, the very definition of
an entrepreneur and a doer. Chris Gathingu
is the CEO & Founder, Tangazoletu Limited –
an ICT and Mobile solutions firm that uses
technology to create solutions to business
process challenges to promote efficiency.
Having started Tangazoletu with less than
$2000 in the year 2005, Chris has been able
to move the company to handling contracts
worth over $15 Million.