The dynamic nature of technology continues to open doors for Kenyans with more startups popping up every day with accessible solutions to local problems, according to Dunstan Machoka, chief executive officer (CEO) of Nairobi-based mobile solutions company BTI Millman.
Speaking to HumanIPO, Machoka said previously most of the solutions were SMS based, but now they are evolving to Android.
“Technology is dynamic and very many changes are coming up, there has been acceptance that local solutions are as good as foreign products and people are no longer looking outside for solutions,” said Machoka.
Machoka, along with BTI’s other co-founders Steve Maina and Fred Onyango, has also benefited from the dynamism of technology given where they started and the solutions currently being given by the company.
BTI Millman Ltd was registered in March 2010 and its main business is to make customised solutions for organisations.
It was born out of the desire to create customised automated solutions because the solutions that were being offered at the time were from abroad and were not customised to address specific operational solutions.
The solutions at the time were mobile and web based, but the company also offered desktop solutions in case there was a need.
The first project of the company was the Tandaa project from the Kenya ICT board that was dedicated to environmental conservation.
BTI created mobile based solution eMazingira that used crowdsourcing platform Ushahidi that would let users report any incidents concerning the environment to relevant agencies for action.
eMazingira generated some interest and soon other clients came calling and the company found themselves with new clients, including non-government organisations (NGOs), who contracted them for data collection solutions.
The solutions offered by the company have now evolved to the Kusanya solution which has Commercial and Institution versions.
The Commercial option caters to banks and insurance companies and the Institution one caters to NGOs who rely on data collection for their day to day activities.
BTI’s growth has been organic and the products have been designed for particular consumers and according to Machoka they keep growing according to market demands.
“We have tried not to stagnate, we have tried to change so that the ground does not shift under our feet,” Machoka said.
At the moment the company is also looking to create solutions that will operate on Android and Apple’s iOS systems because of the increasing smartphone penetration.
Additionally, the company is looking to expand and as per their two year plan they have now made inroads to Uganda.
