Startup Weekend Goes to Nairobi

Startup Weekend, NGO based in Seattle, having done 468 events since 2010, has 195 more planned for this year. Over the last 14 months Startup Weekends have been held in 8 other African countries, including South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana and Egypt.

The events usually start with the pitching of ideas by participating start-ups on day 1, followed by teams working on their products on day 2. The final pitches taking place on day three.

Startup Weekend Nairobi contributing organizers include Linet Kwamboka (Co-Founder of Akirachix), Nailab and Growthhub. The event thus taking place in Nailab with break out sessions in Growthhub. The organizers of Nairobi are aiming to bring together technology entrepreneurs as well as participants from other sectors, like agriculture, education and communication.

The event speaker line include Paul Kukubo, Chairman of the Kenya ICT Board and John Waibochi of Virtual City in Kenya. So far, 3 mentors and 4 judges have been announced, amongst them Kenyan business tycoon Chris Kirubi.

The participants will be charged Kes 2000, while tickets for the final day will go for Kes 500.

Update: “The first prize for the StartupWeekend is a KES 250,000 prize – consisting of a cash prize of KES 55,000 from StartupBootcamp and a 3-month membership (top-tier) at The GrowthHub for all team members plus one permanent seat for the same period at The GrowthHub (in total valued at KES 195,000). The GrowthHub and StartupBootcamp will further avail their mentors network to the winning team (no value attached!).”

The tech event and competition ecosystem grows to take lead in promoting young African entrepreneurs. Some of the popular startup events in East Africa include IPO48, Garage48, Mobile Monday and Mobile Web East Africa.