5 women-led tech startups win KSh 1 million StanChart seed capital ▷ Kenya News

Five women-led technology companies have been announced 2019 winners of the Standard Chartered Women in Technology Incubator programme.

The top five tech firms were picked from 10 teams that were being incubated at Strathmore University's @iBizAfrica for six months during which they were offered coaching, mentoring and business management skills to grow their businesses to the next level.

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The 2019 winners were Lugha Ishara, Abantu (Range), Bumpy Maternity Wear, Dermi Joy skincare and Nature's Bowl enterprise. Photo: Standard Chartered Bank.
Source: UGC

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Announcing the 2019 winners, @iBizAfrica's director Joseph Sevilla stated there were very many talented young people but the finalists had showed more dedication and willingness to work.

“It was a tough choice selecting the winners from the top 10 pool of very talented young people with brilliant ideas.

These five teams have shown us dedication and willingness to work and just like last year’s winners we are hopeful to see them succeed beyond this programme and expand their businesses beyond the Kenyan market,” Sevilla said at an event held on Monday, April 8.

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The winners were Lugha Ishara, Abantu (Range), Bumpy Maternity Wear, Dermi Joy skincare and Nature's Bowl enterprise.

Lugha Ishara is a community-based organisation with a mission of achieving the transformational development of deaf children through technology-based innovations

Abantu (Range) focuses on the implementation of unique and innovative technology-based solutions to problems that they are passionate about solving.

Bumpy Maternity Wear is a fashion enterprise established in 2017 in Nairobi, Kenya, with an aim of supplying measure to wear clothes for middle-class working expectant mums.

Dermi Joy skincare is a local skincare brand that manufactures all natural cosmetics.

Nature's Bowl enterprise offers nutritious composite flours that are used to make meals for children and the whole family.

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The five women-led tech startups which made it to the final list from a pool of 10 teams drawn from more than 170 applicants who had been shortlisted initially will be awarded KSh 1 million in seed funding to help them grow their businesses.

Additionally, the winners will be supported with extended mentoring and milestone-based disbursement of the winnings for a period of nine months.

In his congratulatory message to the 2019 winners, Strathmore University Vice Chancellor Designate, Vincent Ogutu said:

“To innovate you have to be playful, experimental and be a person who never takes no for an answer. These are the qualities that the top entrepreneurs showcased”.

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Standard Chartered Bank Kenya CEO, Kariuki Ngari, on his part pointed out that the Kenyan SMEs contributed the biggest share to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and represented more than 75% of our working population.

"I would like to appreciate all the women in tech participants for being the crème of more than 170 enterprises that applied to this programme," he said.

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