Kenya’s Tech-entrepreneurs get ready!

The entrepreneurial spirit gets another boost on the African soil. Technology entrepreneurs from Kenya, who have been looking for financing to launch their innovative web or mobile business idea, have now another great opportunity coming their way.

This year again, the Kenya ICT Board will award 30 grants of between 10,000 and 150,000 US Dollars to innovative technology entrepreneurs and companies that have developed web and mobile applications.

Through the grant dubbed the Tandaa Digital Content Grant, the Kenya ICT Board hopes to promote growth in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector and foster innovation and creativity amongst entrepreneurs and developers.

Moreover, the Kenya ICT Board which falls under the country’s’ Ministry of Information and Communications seeks to promote Kenya as an ICT destination. The board has been supporting the ICT sector through capacity building, grants and organizing workshops that have helped link developers with financiers and successful technology entrepreneurs. All these efforts are geared towards making Kenya a top ten global ICT hub.

Do you feel you can enter the competition? Then, read carefully the following and make sure you send your application before the 22d of August.

The Tandaa Digital Content Grant gives interested applicants the opportunity to choose from two award categories, the Government Data Applications and Private Sector Innovation.

In the Private Sector category, the Kenya ICT Board will select “the most innovative proposals that demonstrate long term business viability. Proposals in this category must respond to a demonstrated market need and have a positive impact on the community it seeks to serve.”

Regarding the Government Data Applications, the Kenya ICT Board will support entrepreneurs to develop web and mobile applications that utilize the data to provide services or products for citizens. Your aim needs to be directed toward the community and what value you can add to public services. A very clever way to enhance entrepreneurial ideas and improve the life of the community.

For many companies that develop web and mobile solutions, access to funding to grow their company is a huge challenge. By supporting entrepreneurs with the funds they need to successfully take their products to market, the grant hopes to grow the number of relevant and local web and mobile applications available to Kenyans,” reads part of a statement posted on the boards’ website.

Last year, Eduweb, an online school portal that uses data from the Ministry of Education to provide a service for parents selecting schools for their children, was among seven grants awarded.

How to apply? The process is simple, developers and entrepreneurs aged above 18 can apply either as individuals or as teams of not more than six persons. The grant is also open to profitable companies that would like to develop innovative projects within a short period of time. To be eligible the company should have been in operation for over 10 years, have a minimum staff pool of 40 and be ready to match the grant.

The Government Data Applications is open for entrepreneurs who have developed innovations that enable citizens to use information from the Governments Open Data portal or any other government sources whereas the Private Sector Innovation will be looking for innovative business ideas that solve market challenges.

Grant awardees will be selected based on how innovative their idea or business is, its sustainability, impact on community and capability to be replicated across the country. The innovations should also be original, combine the use of Kiswahili and English languages and solve community challenges. Entrepreneurs, be creative and make sure your applications have a strong combination of innovation and social responsibility.

Last year 15 individuals and companies were awarded grants under the same programme.

In order to increase all your chances to be among the 2011 winners, don’t miss the workshops held by the Kenya ICT board. From July 26^th to August 9^th entrepreneurs will be given more information about the grants. The workshops will be happening across the country as below:

Nakuru
Tuesday 26th July, 2011
Kabarak University
9am – 11am

Kakamega
Friday 29th July, 2011
Masinde Muliro University
9am – 11am

Garissa
Tuesday 2nd August, 2011
Garissa – Hiddig Hotel
9am – 11am

Mombasa
Friday 5th August, 2011
Mombasa Polytechnic Uni
9am – 11am

Nairobi
Tuesday 9th August, 2011KICC
8am – 10am

Good luck to all Tech-entrepreneurs!

For more details send an email to: grants@ict.go.ke