Finland’s largest growth company event Slush is spreading its operating model to the world. This year, 15 little Slushes will be organized in Europe, Asia and Africa.
Slushi’s expansion manager who was involved in Kenya’s first Slushi Natalie Lingwood says that there is an active network of growth companies in Kenya, but there are even more opportunities.
Lingwood draws attention to the fact that African growth companies do not focus so much on the development of games or mobile phones, but on real everyday problems, such as food security or access to water.
– If solutions are found here locally, they can ultimately serve all of humanity. That’s why Slush is here. We believe that it is worth investing in African startups, says Natalie Lingwood.
We now give you, the reader, the opportunity to be a risk investor. Which of these ideas of young Kenyan entrepreneurs would you consider to be worth the funding and risk? Whose elevator pitch appeals to you the most?
At the end of the test, you can compare your choices with a startup veteran Jussi Hinkkanen to opinions.
Food traditions for modern times
Irene Etyang, 35, graduated as a nutritionist, but could not find a job corresponding to his education. That’s when he decided to combine his scientific understanding with the food traditions of the Teso tribe in western Kenya.
– Traditional knowledge about food and nutrition is disappearing. I founded the Afrifortified company so that we could save and transfer the tradition for the benefit of Kenya, Africa and the whole world, says Irene Etyang.
Afrifortified currently has six paid staff in Kisumu city and dozens of volunteers in rural communities.
As a result of our own research, three food products have been created for which Afrifortified is now looking for manufacturers and wider markets: an energy bar made from millet, instant porridge made from millet, tamarind and peanuts, and vegetable broth powder made from Kenyan green vegetables.
– Vegetable broth powder contains plenty of vitamins and minerals. It strengthens foods and in the same way Afrifortified strengthens Africa, with the power of its own people and its own foodstuffs.
Afrifortified is applying for additional funding of 80,000 euros. For this, the company would build a new, larger research and production kitchen, increase production and marketing, and expand information acquisition in rural communities.
The idea of a mobile wallet matured in a bakery
Joshua Odongo, 34, is a graphic designer by training, but also a self-taught programmer. Already in 2012, he was involved in designing a discount application for restaurants, hotels and taxis.
– But then I got into the entrepreneur program and decided to start a small bakery, so that I could understand what the reality of a small entrepreneur is like. That every shilling is important when there are few of them, says Joshua Odongo.
The Tusenti mobile wallet idea matured at the same pace as donuts and chapati breads.
The idea is that when the consumer pays for his purchases with the mobile wallet, he receives 90 percent of the commission normally charged by the mobile wallet company to his own Tusenti account. The money accumulated in the account can be used for purchases in the stores and companies that are included in the application.
– Previously, the consumer paid the commission entirely to the operator and received a functioning payment system in return. Now he gets both a working mobile wallet and most of the commissions for his own use, explains Joshua Odongo.
The Tusenti application was released in March, and so far it has just under a thousand users.
– But the growth is almost 50 percent per month. According to our forecast, Tusent will already have more than 250,000 users at the end of next year, Joshua Odongo estimates.
Tusenti now has 10 employees. The company takes its own profits as commissions from consumers and companies.
Now Tusenti is applying for a million dollar investment. It would be used to develop technology, increase market share and train employees.
Shortcut from farmer to consumer
Agrima was born out of irritation in 2020. IT engineer Ted Maingi26, got nervous when the Kenyan government wanted to import maize from abroad during the corona pandemic, even though farmers in western Kenya had it in storage and were willing to sell.
Maingi investigated the situation with his three friends and realized that the problem was middlemen who didn’t care about farmers or consumers, but about their own profits.
– We set out to develop a website and an application through which farmers could sell their products directly to merchants in cities, Ted Maingi says.
Now Agriman web page is in trial use and the application is nearing completion. The small warehouse in Nairobi receives products from a hundred farmers, but the growth plans are big.
By the end of the year, Agrima wants to connect a thousand merchants and 2,000 farmers. In the coming years, the company’s goal is to serve all of Kenya and tens of thousands of small farmers.
Afgrima employs four people, but they do not yet receive a salary from the company. The application now has funding of around 200,000 euros. With the funds, the company plans to develop the website and application, acquire customers, increase transport and storage capacity and develop information security.
Fair oil trade
Titus Monoru, 38, has studied development sciences and worked in numerous community projects. In 2021, he was looking for a way to create jobs for young people, support small farming families and protect the environment. The answer was found in the avocado.
– When you plant avocado trees, carbon sinks are created. And the value of an avocado increases many times when oil is squeezed from it.
Monoru founded Savorganics, which sells skin and hair oils made from avocados and other fruits. Savorganics employs six people full-time and ten part-time. It buys oil production from subcontractors.
The goal of Savorganics is not to achieve the greatest possible profits as quickly as possible.
– We are a social company, the most important thing is that rural families get more income Selling fruit to us and that as the business expands, we create jobs for young people, Titus Monoro emphasizes.
Savorganics is now seeking a total of nearly one million euros in investments. With the new funding, the plan is to buy our own production equipment and grow from a “backyard company” to a national operator. Savorganics conducts a fair oil trade.
“As good as the pitches of Finnish startups”
We showed the pizzas Jussi Hinkkanen, who has personal experience of growing a business in Kenya. Hinkkanen has had a long career, for example, in the service of Nokia and as an advisor to the Ministry of Science and Technology of Mozambique.
In 2014, he launched an AI-based career development and recruitment service in Nairobi Fuzuwhich has grown into East Africa’s most significant player in its field.
Jussi Hinkkanen is pleased that the ideas show a strong desire to find solutions to the everyday problems of Kenyan consumers. According to him, the challenges of an entrepreneur in Africa are often much more extensive than, for example, in Finland.
– With us, a startup entrepreneur can rely on functioning structures and focus on very narrow problems. In Africa, the entrepreneur has to take care of the whole package himself, find solutions for e.g. transportation, financing or retail sales.
Hinkkanen also appreciates the fact that agriculture attracts growth entrepreneurs.
– Just ten years ago, few young Africans wanted to do anything related to agriculture. Now the situation is completely different, entrepreneurs recognize the enormous potential of African agriculture.
Africa has more unused arable land than anywhere else. African agriculture is also interesting because the rich northern countries are looking for solutions to slow down climate change with the help of African carbon sinks.
– Africa has the potential to feed itself. But it requires exactly this kind of entrepreneurship that creates new trading places, financing models or logistics chains, Jussi Hinkkanen emphasizes.
Which of the ideas convinced you the most? You can discuss the topic on 1.10. until 11 p.m.