- The funding, Mozilla African Innovation Mradi, promotes ideas based on unique African user needs.
- The program scouts for innovation that produce a meaningful impact on the African internet ecosystem.
- Kenya is a leader in broadband connectivity, ICT infrastructure and is home to over 300 tech start-ups.
Kenyan tech start-ups are jostling for a pie of Mozilla’s $300,000 funding targeting projects solving unique user needs in Africa. The funding, a collaboration between Mozilla Africa Mradi and the Nairobi City County, will supporting tech-based firms in Kenya’s capital.
Dubbed Mozilla African Innovation Mradi, the funding promotes innovation led by and grounded in tackling unique needs of users in Africa.
Africa Innovation Mradi leverages Mozilla’s role as stewards of the open web to promote innovation in African countries.
The program establishes networks of partners and communities exploring and developing new projects and technologies. Winners will produce projects that offer meaningful impact on the African internet ecosystem, Senior Director Africa Mradi Alice Munyua said.
Establish and run profitable businesses
The new partnership comes just weeks before Mozilla Africa Mradi Innovation Challenge set for June in Nairobi.
Mozilla’s Africa Mradi Innovation challenge will identify and support Kenyan tech entrepreneurs/startups and tech-students. The challenge offers an acceleration programme that provides technical support, access to grants and ultimately, market access for their products.
Through the Innovation Challenge, Mozilla seeks to support Kenya’s tech start-up ecosystem to ensure that youth innovators have access to information and knowledge needed to establish and run profitable businesses.
Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja said his administration will collaborate with Mozilla Africa Mradi on carrying out a situation analysis of available tech-start-ups.
Read also: Kenyan Tech Startups bag $574M in funding in 2022
The two entities will also build capacity of tech innovators in Nairobi City County so as to ensure they have equal opportunities and platforms to showcase their innovations.
Further, Mr Sakaja offered to ensure tech startups are “exposed to venture capital investments” and how to scout for “accelerator opportunities” in Africa.
Funding Kenya’s tech firms
Kenya is East Africa’s ICT hub, with expansive broadband connectivity, ICT infrastructure and home to over 300 tech start-ups. Additionally, Kenya, along with Nigeria and South Africa are at the top of Africa’s tech industry.
In Kenya, 308 promising tech startups have attracted funding from governments, as well as local and international organizations. So far, Nairobi, remains the centre of Kenyan tech innovators, hosting 97.4 percent of the total tech startups in the country.
Also known as Silicon Savannah, Kenya has one of the fastest-growing tech sectors across the continent. A 2022 report by GSMA indicates that funding tech startups became the “new investment plan” in Kenya.
The bulk of tech innovators in Kenya had promising and unique inventions, each tailor-made to benefit the economy. Further, 91 startups in Kenya got the third-largest capital inflow in Africa at 17.2 percent of new funding recorded in the continent. In total, Kenyan tech startups got $574.8 million in funding last year, being double the $292 million realised in 2021.
