Seedstars World gives an overview of the Kenyan startup ecosystem. During the worldwide startup competition, the Seedstars World travelled through 20 countries, focusing on the fast growing startup scene and the emerging markets, to select the best startups of the world. www.seedstarsworld.com

1. NAIROBI
Africa’s Silicon Savannah
Nairobi, which means in Maasai "the place of cool waters", the only place in the
world to have a safari in the city is not only the most prominent city in Africa both
politically and financially, but also a window on the future. Kenya leapfroged landlines and mobile payment has become a day-to-day commodity.
Kenya: 44M inhabitants
Nairobi: 3.3M inhabitants
Kenya
69 local languages
/ Two official: English and Swahili
iGDP
WEF
(contribution of internet
to GDP)
54
2.3%
USA
Sweden
(5th in the African
continent)
96th
5.1%
6.3%
Kenya
startups on
Angel list
3.3%
8400 millonaires
in the world
Global
Competitiveness
Index
Average
annual growth
of services in
economy
62%
MARKET
31% of GDP in Kenya
For every 100 Kenyan….
have
smartphones
Economic growth over the
last 3 years
4.5%
is processed through
M-Pesa (mobile-phone
based money transfer)
71%
of internet-enabled
mobile phones users buy online
31
5
4
3
2
1
0
-1
78
Kenya
Top 3 trends in the
tech market more than
-0.2%
50% of internet users use it for
EU
Percentage market cap
(as part of GDP)
50%
39.6%
have mobile
phones
Games
40
30
41
20
10
EU
96th
are online
growing
Kenya
75%
annually
99%
Mobile data contributes
of total internet
subscriptions
89th
in the world
for Technology readiness
(WEF)
in the world
for quality of
its infrastructures (WEF)
Music
16.2M
50
0
of population aged
below 24
Smartphone users
13%
Kenyan students
have laptops
1.8 million Facebook users
Upcoming project:
Konza Technopolis
project - 9.7 billion$
investment - 5000
acres of land 80000 new jobs in
4 years
FINANCING
$3bn
Stock of
Direct Foreign
investment at home
1212 70th (46.2)
Number of
BAs / VCs
VC and Private Equity
attractiveness index
Social Media
$140.3 million
(12 billion Kenyan shilings)
Capital invested with public
funds into startups in 2012
LOCAL CONTEXT
Technology exports
Quality of education
and human capital
scoring by IESE
71.3%
35th
100M USD
100
worldwide for the
quality of its education system (IESE)
80
60
44.4%
40
20
Kenya
- Business Lounge
- Genius Executives
- iHub
Cost to start a business
(% of income per capita)
All of
Africa
3 major
co-working spaces
22M USD
4 major accelerators
(88 Mph - Savannah
Fund - Sinapsis Group
- The Growth Hub).
0
2003 2010
$19,180
per year
38.2% in
Kenya
67.4% in
Sub-Saharan Africa
2 major incubators
(iLab Africa - Mlab)
average salary for Rank 74th worldwide
in terms of Entrepreneurial Culan IT manager
$76,758 in the US ture and Deal Opportunities
(IESE)
WHO TO FOLLOW
Kenyan entrepreneurs to follow
Michael Macharia
Peter Nduati
Njeri Rionge
Co-founder of Founder and CEO, Founder & CEO
of Resolution
Wananchi Group Seven Seas Technologies
Group
@MikeMachariaSST @PeterNduati
@njeririonge
Kenyan startups to
follow
Chris Kirubi
Founder of Tiger
Haco Industries
Mobile commerce network operator
@CKirubi
Success story
Mobile payment platform
Kenyan Software firm with
over 200 institutional
clients in 40 countries
spread across Africa, Asia,
Europe and the Americas.
$50 million market
value, annual revenue
of $6 million.
Has an office in Silicon
Valley, one of the very
few Kenyan companies
to have one
Social gaming
paltfrom
Sources:
Global Competitiveness Index (WEF)
WorldBank - Bloomberg
Credit Suisse Global Wealth Report 2013
Global Innovation Index 2013
Angel.co
www.gemconsortium.org
CCK, April, 2013
www.gs.statcounter.com
Seedstars World
www.seedstarsworld.com