Nairobi Startup Ecosystem Overview

Mdundo allows users to download african music to their phones. The music can be downloaded to any internet enable phone (local reach), The music can be paid for with local mobile money payment methods (local payment). Local artists can sign up and upload their music to the platform (local music). East Africa’s first free legal music download platform. With more than 5000 Kenyan songs from Kenya’s top artists. A big catalogue of Free Kenyan music with a share of Premium music - which requires a monthly subscription fee. Fighting piracy and paying content creators fair and transparent royalties. Read more

MYDAWA mission is to deliver quality, affordable, products and experiences that enable our customers live positive, healthy, lifestyles. Read more

Kopo Kopo offers a software-as-a-service that enables the 30 million small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in emerging markets to accept, process, and manage mobile money payments (e.g. Safaricom M-Pesa, Airtel Money). Kopo Kopo is the first company to offer this service on a subscription basis and is positioning itself to be a leader in providing merchant services in emerging markets. Read more

Pesapal is an app to make easy accept of payments. Read more

Yum.co.ke is Nairobi's premier online food ordering service. We enable customers to browse through the menus of a wide range of Nairobi restaurants, place an order and pay - directly online. For restaurants that don't do their own delivery, our dedicated Yum delivery team ensures that the food is delivered to our customers promptly. Read more

Pezesha is a Digital Lending infrastructure & Marketplace for connecting Small and Medium Businesses to working Capital Read more

M-kopa is a clean-energy startup that provides low-income homes with affordable asset financing for connected solar technology and other life-changing products and services. Read more

SOKO is a social enterprise which connects micro-manufacturers and entrepreneurs to access global markets through our proprietary mobile technology. The technology allows vendors to sell their goods directly to global consumers through their personal mobile phones, despite access to a computer, the internet, & a bank account. Our proprietary technology leverages existing telecommunications technology and infrastructure to pioneer a completely new marketplace. This new marketplace revolutionizes the way money and goods are exchanged during international trade into a peer-to-peer exchange, creating economic opportunity and increased profits for vendors and savings for consumers. Read more

Pesabazaar is Kenya’s prominent online general insurance aggregator. Read more

The iHub is an open space for technologists, investors, tech companies and hackers in Nairobi. Our vision and mission and values from the strategy meeting: We catalyze the Kenyan tech community’s growth by: ** Connecting people ** Supporting Start-ups ** Surfacing information The iHub’s mission is to catalyze and grow the Kenyan tech community. We do this by connecting people, supporting startups and surfacing valuable information to the community, whether they’re engineers, web designers, investors, government or academia. The iHub was born of an idea by the community, and it should be no surprise that it grows due to that same community’s drive and ambition. iHub Resources: ** iHub Research ** m:lab (incubator) ** UX Lab ** Supercomputer cluster ** Gearbox (makerspace)  Read more

M-Changa is the world’s first SMS-based crowdfunding app. Users solicit support for a cause, track contributions, and withdraw funds all from their mobile phones. Fundraisers are launched in under 2 minutes, can support any cause, and cost nothing to initiate. M-Changa puts fundraising power in the hands of those without access to internet, banking services, or in-person gatherings. We’ve already helped thousands of East Africans raise money for school fees, weddings, funerals, medicine, community rehabilitation, and small business costs and more. Read more

Chamasoft is a simple to use web and mobile app to manage all the affairs of micro savings and investment groups The cloud based solution enables group administrators to easily and efficiently track all contribution accounts within the group. Members are also able to view group information such as :group statements,Contribution and penalties history. Chamasoft provides SMS and email alerts, tracking of Chama income and expenses and member invitations. The software has automated the processes of issuance and tracking of loans, monitoring of Chama assets and liabilities. Chamasoft is a product of Digital Vision Limited EA, a web application company based in Nairobi Kenya. Chamasoft is used by 1.Chamas-Microinvestment and savings groups:who use table banking and other related methodologies 2.Banks- To manage their chama account holders 3.Saccos-To manage loan and savings portfolio 4.Government ministries who provide government loans to groups Read more

Sendyit is an e-logistics delivery platform that connects businesses and drivers of all vehicle types for deliveries. Read more

Apollo Agriculture's mission is to deliver modern farming everywhere Read more

Cellulant is your one-stop payments platform in Africa. We are changing the way customers pay and get paid in 34 countries all from a single, connected payments platform. Our platform processes 12% of Africa’s digital payments today. Read more

Smubu provides a music platform that aims to make music legally accessible in Africa. Read more

MPost provides a patented addressing solution turning mobile phones into formal postal addresses. Read more

SunCulture designs and sells solar-powered irrigation systems to farmers in Kenya. The SunCulture SolarDrip Irrigation Kit combines the reliability of solar-powered water pumping with the efficiency of low-pressure drip irrigation. The system delivers water directly to crop roots, resulting in yield gains of up to 300% and water savings of up to 90%. The SolarDrip Irrigation Kit also benefits farmers through significant energy, labor, and fertilizer cost savings. Read more

Eastpesa is an online company that offers Instant Cross border payments in Africa Read more

is a start-up company that is designed to offer online gifting solutions to not only the Kenyan populace but also to East Africa as a whole. Purpink Gifts allows customers to shop for bespoke gifts they need for a given occasion under one roof, with the convenience of wrapping and delivery at their offices or homes. Purpink Gifts allows individuals to keep in touch with their loved ones and get them gifts even when working and living in different locations.It seeks to replace the conventional gift shopping where one hops from one shop to the next without finding that perfect gift. With Purpink Gifts, one does not have to leave their office at all in order to get themselves or their loved ones a gift, but allows them to have 24-hour shopping experience. Purpink Gifts relies on the use of social sites such as Facebook and twitter to reach its clients. The company already has the first ever fully functional Facebook shop in East Africa.  Read more

MarketForce360 is an end-to-end solution to manage your field sales activities and grow your distribution channels. Read more

Business sales, business investments, business aquisitions and startup financing. Read more

Flare is building innovative life-saving emergency response products for Africa. Read more

Utilizing AI to bring Financial Inclusion to Emerging Markets Read more

Flexpay offers an automated platform to enable merchants and their customers manage flexible payments. Read more

BRCK is a hardware and cloud services technology platform that delivers rugged and reliable connectivity solutions in the most demanding environments. As the next 4.5 billion people (65% of the world) start coming online, the need for rugged, reliable, and simple connectivity becomes critical in places with poor infrastructure and limited resources. While existing technologies work well in modern cities, the demands of emerging markets necessitates a rethinking of how technology is engineered, packaged, delivered, and supported. BRCK was conceived in exactly this type of environment. In particular, our struggles in Africa with reliable connectivity inspired us to rethink the entire concept of rugged internet access device - designing the world’s first go-anywhere, connect-to-anything, always available internet device. Whether running an office of developers or collecting sensor data from the field, the BRCK was designed to ensure that nothing gets in the way of staying connected. Read more

MPrep is a school in the cloud, an educational engine that propels students and teachers by providing them opportunities with simple technology – SMS studying, mobile web data tools, and a downloadable dashboard. We aren’t an application. We’re a solution for mediocre educational tools in the poorest schools. Read more

Koko Networks is a platform for smart commerce in urban Africa. Read more

Zanifu uses technology to enable manufacturers, distributors & retailers unlock efficiency in the process of buying & distribution of goods Read more

Ilara Health makes common diagnostics accessible and affordable to the 500 million people in Africa who today struggle to access even basic blood tests. Read more

Azafinance is a finTech company that provides currency trading solutions offering global access to frontier markets through an innovative structure. They are significantly able to lower the cost and increase the speed of payments to and from frontier markets. Read more

WorkPay is a payroll processing company for small and medium sized businesses in Africa. Read more

UTU us pioneering new models of digital trust to help online businesses and consumers engage and transact in an easier, safer, and more trustworthy way. Read more

Digiduka provides digital financial services and social commerce solutions to informal retailers in Africa Read more

BitPesa offers the cheapest, fastest, most inclusive way to transfer money to Africa. With $1.3B in remittances coming to Kenya each year, and average fees over 9%, there is a huge opportunity to improve on the efficiency and service in this market. BitPesa charges just 3% and uses a transparent market foreign exchange rate, which makes even micro-transfers affordable. Our clients are the diaspora in Europe and North America and send around $100 home each month. They are tech-savvy and price-conscious. We will introduce them to Bitcoin and show them how to make their first coin purchase. After coming to our site, customers simply log in and enter the details of their recipients bank account or mobile money wallet. We lock in a fair exchange rate for the duration of the transfer to remove all forex risk from the client. The transfer is paid for in Bitcoin and delivered in local currency in real time to the recipient, directly to their account or mobile money wallet. Read more

Sokowatch revolutionizes access to essential goods and services by connecting small shops to the digital economy. Read more

Amitruck a mobile and web-based trucking logistics platform. Read more

TaroWorks is a android-based field force management tool designed specifically for non-profits and social enterprises working in the most remote and difficult places on the planet where connectivity is limited. Built on the Salesforce platform, it provides real-time data and feedback loops that connect the head office directly to their field staff and beneficiaries. TaroWorks currently offers the following functionality via the mobile device: • m-Registration – Register an individual, project or other entity • m-Portfolio – Assign specific clients and projects to field officers, download previously collected information about the porfolio on the mobile device • m-Monitor – Track changes to a person, project or other entity overtime • m-Training – Distribute structured text or video training content in the field. • m-Performance – View progress against targets on the mobile device • m-Transact – Collect point-of-sale transctions Read more

Taimba is a B2B mobile-based platform connecting farmers to urban traders with aim of reducing food wastage and to stabilize market prices. Read more

Twende is a carpooling platform that uses an app to connect drivers and passengers going the same way. Read more

Savannah Fund is a seed capital fund and Accelerator specializing in investments between US$25,000-US$500,000 in early stage, high growth technology (web and mobile) startups in sub-Saharan Africa. Initially focused on East Africa, the fund aims to bridge the early stage/angel and venture capital investment gap that currently exists in the region. Founded by experienced local & international Entrepreneurs with high quality mentors and limited partners both in the region and from Silicon Valley. Read more

#1 recruitment platform for designer and software developers in Kenya and East Africa. Read more

Transforming small holder farmers' access to financial services. Read more

Taz Technologies envisions, develops and implements inventive, homegrown tech-management and tech- marketing solutions for organizations. Read more

KejaHunt is an online property listing platform that helps you find a house and/or a roommate and gives local businesses visibility. We do this by using geo-location and social graph to ease the process of finding a house and match up roommates with people already in their social networks. Read more

Kejahunt helps you find houses in an easy, convenient and credible way. Read more

Biotechnology firm Read more

The 1 Slum 100 Computers project is a self sustainable project providing free computer training and entrepreneurship mentoring for disadvantaged youths in Eastern Nairobi slums and informal settlements. At completion of the training and mentorship, loans them computers and other technological devices to help them set up a computer based business such as cybercafe, respectively to the business plan designed during the training/mentorship. Read more