m:lab East Africa is a consortium established in 2011 through a grant from InfoDev to support mobile innovation in East Africa. Over two years, m:lab conducted mobile app training for over 350 individuals, hosted the PIVOT startup competition which received over 430 applications, and incubated 8 startups. Evaluations found that the training significantly improved participants' business and technical skills and many have since started their own companies. The PIVOT competition was most valuable for providing visibility, networking and training, though follow up support is needed. Incubation provided useful office space and resources, but startups struggled with scaling, fundraising and developing business models. Recommendations include increasing incubation capacity, connecting startups to investors, and providing more

1. Catalysing the East African mobile
and entrepreneurial ecosystem
2 years of m:lab East Africa
PIVOT East 2013
25th-26th June 2013
Tonny K. Omwansa, PhD
University of Nairobi
tomwansa@uonbi.ac.ke
@tomwansa

2. m:lab East Africa
•Established through a grant from InfoDev
•Launched in June 2011
•Managed by a consortium
•Mission:
“to facilitate demand-driven innovation by
regional entrepreneurs, ensuring that
breakthrough low-cost, high-value mobile
solutions can be developed and scaled-up into
sustainable businesses that address social
needs”.
University of Nairobi

3. Partners over the years (2011 – 2013)
m:lab - A strong brand now
Activities:
PIVOT competition
(>430 start-ups applied )
Mobile app development
& entrepreneurship
training
(>350 individuals applied)
Incubation (8 start-ups)
Wireless Wednesday
sessions
Ad Hoc training programs

4. • Quantify the accomplishments
• Understand the trends
• Identify ways to improve the programs
Target Population
Population Threshold Respondents
Training program 80 50% 55%
PIVOT participants 50 50% 50%
incubated start-ups 8 80% 100%
In-depth interviews 18
Study Objectives
Respondents

5. Mobile app development & entrepreneurship training
Capacity of 25
5 cohorts
103 completed
Launched Q2
2011
Advanced mobile application development
and entrepreneurship skills
Targeted individuals with computing
background, but evolved to accommodate
others
Started with 6 months, evolved to 4 months
- including 3 week business support program
Some support beyond completion availed
125 enrolled

6. Training participant profile
Youthful, 21 &24 years (64% )
Recent college graduate (75%)
Male to female (4:1)
Average Kenyan to Non-Kenya
(15:1)
Increasing number of non-
Kenyans over the years
About half have never run a
business before (55%)
Wave 1 Wave 2 Wave 3 Wave 4 Wave 5
M
F
Other
was jobless
business networks
pitching skills
business skills
technical skills
M:Lab training

7. Relevance and outcomes
“One and a half
years of failing I
am now
learning about
how to run a
start-up”
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Technical skills Business skills Pitching skills Business
Networks
Before After
Rate yourself before and after the m:lab training
After graduating:
Continue to attend m:lab events (68%)
Some are dedicated full time to their start-up (16 %)
Many are involved some forms of start-up (72%)
M:Lab training

8. Create a knowledge loop, with past graduates
Increase ‘business support’ period – Incubation
Integrate with business mentorship
Enhance business training
Formalize support beyond the training
Mix of participants (gender, training, country)
Room to
improve
Recommendations
M:Lab training

9. Pivot East Competition & Conference
25 finalists
yearly
3 levels
Launched
2011
Annual (’11,’12,’13) pitching competition
conference for start-ups
Focus gradually emphasised on promising
start-ups
Platform for business idea to change to
apps and start-ups
Five winners get USD 5000 - 10000 and
opportunity for incubation5 categories

10. Profile of participant
Pivot Competition
Most have registered
companies (80%)
Most founders are still
involved in their start-up
(75%)
Most founders are male
(90%)
Most founders have
computing background &
college degree (86%) 0 20 40 60 80
Technical Skills
Win Award
Get Business partners
Business networks
Business Skills
Attract Investors
Get Visibility

11. Pivot Competition
Relevance and outcomes
Most valuable aspect?
Pitching skills (87%)
Visibility (74%)
Training and coaching (68%)
Least valuable aspect?
Outreach & meet – ups (27%)
Getting investment (37%)
Selection and judging (43%)
Expectation gap
Largely Met
Visibility (67%)
Business skills (64%)
Largely un-Met
Business partners (38%)
Attracting Investors (14%)

12. 75%
6%
19%
Growing
Stagnated
Suspended
20%
7%
27%
47%
Not began
generating revenue
Have broken even
Are making profit
Began generating
revenue
Pivot Competition
Relevance and outcomes
Status of business beyond PIVOT. (Those not incubated)

13. Attract skilled business people into start-ups
Increased incubation capacity
Bridge the ‘investor <–> start-up‘ gap
Tiered competition levels
Communicate more clearly purpose of PIVOT
Can everyone who got to finals be a winner?
Follow up mechanism beyond competition
Recommendations
Pivot Competition
Forster more EA participation
Room to
improve

14. Incubation
8 start-ups
supported
2 of 8 start-ups
exited
Launched Mid
2011
Comprehensive set of business support
resources
Physical incubation at Bishop Magua Centre
Nairobi in Nairobi’s Tech hub area
Portfolio of business support services
Virtual incubation been introduced
2 graduated before 24 months
6 – 24 months

15. Profile
Incubation
“We needed a good space to
work in and community to
work with. m:lab provided
exactly that.”
0% 50% 100%
Other
technical skills
business skills
access to investors
access to partners
visibility
networking
Incubated start-ups have gone
through PIVOT (8 of 8)
Registered companies (7 of 8)
College graduates (8 of 8)
Half the founders are still with
start-up (50%)

16. Relevance and outcomes
Incubation
m:lab was most helpful in?
Visibility (62%)
Business networks (50%)
m:lab was least helpful in?
Pitching to investors (38%)
Technical skills (12%)
Most useful in?
Office Space (75%)
Shared meeting room (75%)
Internet connectivity (75%)
Coaching (50%)
Least useful services?
Wireless Wednesday meetings (14%)
Seminars on business aspects (29%)

17. Incubation
Investors
(4 companies)Setting up
own office
Growing
Customer
Numbers
7 of 8 incubatees
have grown their
businesses
Evolution of
Product &
Business
Growing
visibility
Positive
cash flow
Partnership
commitment
Greatest Challenges
Scaling (50%)
Fundraising (50%)
Best business model (38%)
Relevance and outcomes

18. Focus more on coaching
Going to market support
More personalized mentorship
Stronger local investor network
Recommendations
Bridge ‘investor <–> start-up gap’
Room to
improve
Incubation

19. Thank you!
Tonny Omwansa, PhD
tomwansa@uonbi.ac.ke
@tomwansa