This week we continue spotlighting  VC's and investors creating effective impact in  Nairobi's startup ecosystem.  Our guest is Royosuke Yamawaki, Fund Manager at Kepple Fund who over the last 15 months has invested in over 24 Nairobi based startups!  

Kepple Fund, a Japaneses venture capital entered the Nairobi market on August of 2018 and proceeded to make their first investment in December of the same year.  This is precisely what the Nairobi ecosystem has needed. A seed stage investor who moves fast and supports entrepreneurs effectively. Kepple fund is the match that is going to light up the Nairobi startup fuse and the fireworks will be glorious!  

What an exciting time to be in Africa. Enjoy the podcast!

This week we had the pleasure of hosting Jason Musyoka, Angel Investment Manager at ViKtoria Ventures. Creating successful and lasting connections between startups and angel investors.

Jason runs the Viktoria Business Angel Network connecting angel investors with innovative startups that are charting new paths and tapping into large market opportunities. Prior to joining Viktoria Ventures, he  worked at Farm Capital Africa as the Head of Finance and Administration operations. Project Manager for Arriscar Ventures responsible for client engagements and company projects, and at Apex Communications as the Finance and Administration Associate charged with streamlining their financing operations.

If you are the founder of a start-up seeking an opportunity to acquire capital, he is definitely the man to meet. Enjoy the podcast.

We have another amazing guest for you this week, William Githui is the Director of Finance at Moringa School  where he's been at the center of helping the company close a significant round of funding. 

Previously, William was on the investor side as investment manager at AlphaMundi Group, which is a local venture fund that invest in growth stage companies in Kenya and beyond. So as an investor and now an operator, William is a young professional who has been on both sides of the entrepreneur equation, and despite that he's still one of the nicest, most humble, reliable, high integrity people you will ever meet  and others like him represents the hope we can all have in the future of Silicon Savannah. Listen and learn from the man.

Enjoy the podcast.

This week Esther Kithinji, senior people operations at Moringa school shares her experiences working at a  startup. Esther talks about the lesson learnt  working in a highly dynamic, fast paced environment and how to cope with the ever changing and demanding startup environment. This is a great benchmark for anyone currently working at a startup who wants to validate that their personal experiences are pretty standard for startups and also a way for those who maybe interested in understanding what it's like to work at a startup.  

This week we host Esther Ndeti, Executive Director at East Africa Venture Capital Association (EAVCA), EAVCA is  East Africa's largest network of private capital investors, representing 85+ firms. 

Esther has immersed herself  in closing the capital flow  gaps in East Africa by bringing together various private capital investors and advisors,  looking at the region for growth,  to create a favorable environment for  investments.

This week we host the amazing Jason Esien, founder of MARAMOJA Transport & Utu Technologies.

Jason has a fascinating story, his a founder with an non technical background but his driven by curiosity and a can do attitude.He is one of the first people to introduced a taxi hailing app in Nairobi in 2013 through  MARAMOJA Transport and through the process of building that solution he uncovered another problem and established  Utu Technologies  to solve this.

Jason firmly believes in building a trust economy with great social relationships and he has built high impact companies based on this.

This week we had the pleasure of hosting Chris Muraguri, founder of Micrive Infinite for our Inaugural Lunch & Learn. The aim is for local founders to meet, engage and share  insights, experiences with IAN's innovation interns hungry for startup building knowledge in the Nairobi ecosystem. 

Micrive Infinite is a Nairobi based startup, that is spearheading the medical 3D printing technology sector in Kenya. They work closely with surgeons, incorporating 3D printing in the treatment-planning phase to improve success rates, reduce complications and pursue cost effectiveness. With over 4 billion people globally risk financial catastrophe due to high costs of surgery, they aim to strategically implement additive manufacturing technology to enhance the planning and execution of surgery.

This week we catch up with the first cohort of Impact Africa Network (IAN) interns  who came on board  in January to learn about their experiences so far. Plus the new batch (Cohort 2) of talented young entrepreneurs share what they have been working on.

IAN is an ecosystem catalytic non profit startup studio in Nairobi on a mission to ensure young talented Africans have a chance  at participating in the digital transformation of Africa as creators and owners. Providing 12 month internships to talented college to develop relevant professional skills, gain innovation experience, and the chance at being part of a startup founding team.

This week we catch up with the first cohort of IAN interns  who came on board  in January to learn about their experiences so far. Plus the new batch (Cohort 2) of talented young entrepreneurs give an update of what they have been working on.

Impact Africa Network (IAN) is an ecosystem catalytic non profit startup studio in Nairobi on a mission to ensure young talented Africans have a chance  at participating in the digital transformation of Africa as creators and owners. IAN provides 12 month internships to talented college graduates providing an enabling environment where they can work on well-vetted projects with like minded peers while developing startup skills. What emerges out of this process is investable seed stage startups and more hardened young professionals with the foundational skills to build strong careers.

This week we have the pleasure of bringing to you a real live example of a homegrown thoroughbred entrepreneur if I ever met one. Eric Muli is founder of LipaLater, a fast growing fintech startup that has all the indications of becoming a dominant and transformative company birthed right out of our local soil here in Silicon Savanna.

This is one of those stories that will inspire those you who are right now in the trenches building something, give a good kick in the pants to those sitting on the sidelines just talking about doing something, and challenge those who doubt that we have all the ingredients needed to launch and build high growth startups right here in our backyard including entrepreneurial talent, local capital, and a ready market that scales beyond Kenya for the right solutions.