IPO48 support Kenya’s entrepreneurial spirit
When was the last time someone told you that they we’re willing to invest a million shillings in a single idea? IPO48 will do you one better. This weekend, one lucky start-up will have 48 hours to impress a panel of 3 judges and walk away with not one, not two, but Kshs.3 million.
“We want to inspire entrepreneurship,” said David Owino, co-founder of Human IPO- the company behind the exciting initiative, as he sat on a 5-member panel at the press conference held at the iHub on this chilly Thursday morning.
Seated on his left was fellow Human IPO co-founder, Kresten Buch who describes himself as a ‘serial entrepreneur’. Buch also owns www.bold.dk, Denmark's largest football website.
With Owino’s telecommunications and IT skills, the two founded HumanIPO as a means of tapping into the power of collaboration between networks of free agents. With a tagline aptly stated as ‘enterprenuership acclerated’, who is better placed to source and fund Kenya’s emerging entrepreneurs in the mobile app and online business scene?
An investment company, 88mph, has also come on board infusing Euro 400,000 (that’s over 53 million, thank you very much) towards an investment plan in the Kenyan online businesses.
This is the 2nd edition of IPO48 and if the success of last year’s winner is anything to go by, hopeful techies ought to pay attention. “We have over 2,000 subscribers with 400 active users,” said the soft-spoken Susan Oyuga whose mobile app M-Farm scooped top honors in 2010.
M-Farm is an innovative application that connects farmers, with suppliers, agro-vets and cooperatives. Through the application, farmers get current market prices that are compared with market prices in other regions.
The winning team will not just get mullah, but expert advice from 18 local and international mentors. Mentors such as Quartz+co, a leading Nordic management consultants company that pledges to offer thorough training and share the knowledge, time and tools that will make a start-up get on its feet.
So, how does IPO48 work? For over a month, applicants submitted their business ideas via www.humanipo.com. 60 ideas caught the attention of the team. This number was scaled down to-ironically-the ‘lucky’ 13 that showed the most potential.
These are the boys and girls who will stand before the panel and pitch with their heart and soul and hope to charm the dough into their pockets. Sources within the iHub state that, unlike last year where the participants were not allowed to work through the night tweeking and practicing their final pitches, this year may just see bleary-eyed, and slightly musty applicants grace the stage-and for 3 million, why not?
“iHub is much more flexible, we might have the participants stay over,” said the source.
UP TIP: The panel will look for the team with the most heart- granted, they want a good, solid idea, but a passionate and dedicated team should also stand behind it.
Who will emerge victorious this year? Follow @UpNairobi to keep informed, we’ll be live-tweeting from the competition.
The winning pitch made by M-Farm,
