Chini ya Maji Media

We have another amazing guest for you this week, William Githui is the Director of Finance at Moringa School  where he's been at the center of helping the company close a significant round of funding.  Previously, William was on the investor side as investment manager at AlphaMundi Group, which is a local venture fund that invest in growth stage companies in Kenya and beyond. So as an in...

This week Esther Kithinji, senior people operations at Moringa school shares her experiences working at a  startup. Esther talks about the lesson learnt  working in a highly dynamic, fast paced environment and how to cope with the ever changing and demanding startup environment. This is a great benchmark for anyone currently working at a startup who wants to validate that their personal...

This week we host Esther Ndeti, Executive Director at East Africa Venture Capital Association (EAVCA), EAVCA is  East Africa's largest network of private capital investors, representing 85+ firms.  Esther has immersed herself  in closing the capital flow  gaps in East Africa by bringing together various private capital investors and advisors,  looking at the region for gro...

This week we host the amazing Jason Esien, founder of MARAMOJA Transport & Utu Technologies. Jason has a fascinating story, his a founder with an non technical background but his driven by curiosity and a can do attitude. He is one of the first people to introduced a taxi hailing app in Nairobi in 2013 through  MARAMOJA Transport and through the process of building that solution he uncove...

This week we had the pleasure of hosting Chris Muraguri, founder of Micrive Infinite for our Inaugural Lunch & Learn. The aim is for local founders to meet, engage and share  insights, experiences with IAN's innovation interns hungry for startup building knowledge in the Nairobi ecosystem.  Micrive Infinite is a Nairobi based startup, that is spearheading the medical 3D printing tech...

This week we catch up with the first cohort of Impact Africa Network (IAN) interns  who came on board  in January to learn about their experiences so far. Plus the new batch (Cohort 2) of talented young entrepreneurs share what they have been working on. IAN is an ecosystem catalytic non profit startup studio in Nairobi on a mission to ensure young talented Africans have a chance  a...

This week we have the pleasure of bringing to you a real live example of a homegrown thoroughbred entrepreneur if I ever met one. Eric Muli is founder of LipaLater, a fast growing fintech startup that has all the indications of becoming a dominant and transformative company birthed right out of our local soil here in Silicon Savanna. This is one of those stories that will inspire those you who are...

This week we have a very special gift for you as we are host our very own legal counsel on the show. Eunice Kavere is founding partner at Lumallas, Achieng and Kavere advocates, who also happen to be our law firm of choice. I thought it would be a good idea to have Kavere share some legal does and don’ts that can help entrepreneurs navigate what can often be the intimidating subject area of legal....

This week we have the honor and pleasure of presenting to you a world class professional from the banking sector on the podcast. Kenya's very own Esther Waititu, head of strategy development in corporate and investment banking at Stanbic Bank graced us with her presence. The idea was to get some insights into how the banking sector evaluates business investments and the challenges they are faced w...

This week we have the never say die Alan Osoro founder of First Choice Global that owns and operates the first locally developed cash remittance app in Kenya. Alan is one of the most tenacious individuals I have ever met. His story perfectly encapsulates why entrepreneurs who have a personal connection to the problem they are solving and are genuinely passionate about it are able to overcome the d...

This week we have a groundbreaking episode. For the very first time we have an international guest and this one is filled with valuable insights on one of the hottest domains in technology today. Sameer Maskey is the founder of Fusemachines, all full cycle AI startup in New York. Fusemachines provides AI as a services to fortune 500 companies in US while at the same time developing talent globally...

This week we host a true veteran of the Silicon Savanna tech scene. Ngigi Waithaka joins us on the podcast to share amazing stories of his journey as a bona fide geek who loves technology. His story charts an amazing course from his days doing the Twiga Foods thing but with just one truck moving produce from farmers to Nairobi, building a one of a kind boutique software development business on Lin...

This week we had the well travelled, super experienced, no nonsense Luis Majanja, co-founder and Chief Product Officer at Ajua. As you will hear on this episode Luis is a well travelled tech practitioner with wide ranging experience from machining to building his own social media platform well before facebook. This gentleman is a treasure for the ecosystem and at Impact Africa Network we are super...

This week we pick up where we left off with Kenneth Kinyanjui. This time we dig into a number of super relevant topics specifically around what makes startups fail and things entrepreneurs should be aware of. 

This week we have the pleasure of hosting the evergreen and reliable Kenneth Kinyanjui aka young Kenju on the podcast. Kenneth is a long serving member of the Nairobi ecosystem. He is a talented technologist with broad experience in tech entrepreneurship process. He has been part of the Google community across the continent including GDG, Google Launchpad and Google IO. Kenju was cofounded and hel...

This week we flipped the script and the host becomes the guest. Mark Karake who is the founder and ceo of Impact Africa Network a first of its kind startup studio shares his story and entrepreneurial journey. This is a story about passion and commitment to pursuing your dreams.

This week we speak with the intrepid Leslie Mbogo, cofounder @ GoBebab an ecommerce plus logistics startup looking to solve the last mile delivery challenge for African consumers. Lesly and her cofounder Peter have deep roots in tech and startups bringing a combined 25+ years of international and local experience in the sector. Lesley spent over 10 years in Silicon Valley with IBM labs in San Jose...

This week we have the pleasure of speaking with the indefatigable Navalayo Osembo cofounder at Enda, a first of it's kind athletic shoe company which is leading the Kenyan takeover of the running shoe industry. This is a classic story of two high performing individuals serendipitously coming together around a shared interest and committing to a process of turning a daunting vision into reality by...

This week we speak with the peerless Huston Malande cofounder at Skyline Design, which is one of the more highly regarded software consulting firms in Nairobi. The conversation is a deep dive into Huston and his cofounders origin stories and how they found each other and came to work together. We also cover the subject of culture and how that intersects with and impacts the potential of the ecosys...

This week we had the amazing Ella Peinovich, cofounder of Soko, the ethical fashion brand that opened global markets to local artisan jewellers in Nairobi. We cover a great deal of ground on this episode starting with Ella's personal journey first as an architect with roots in art, to her being bitten by the entrepreneurial bug at MIT, through that finding her way to Kenya to build toilets for a s...

This week we had a fun time with the gritty, affable, never say die Mary Mwangi who is founder and CEO of Data Integrated, a startup straddling the small business and transportation digitization spaces. This is a great founder journey narrative peppered with useful insights and laughs. You will enjoy this one for sure. 

This week we had the phenomenal Claire Munene who is the Chief Revenue Officer at mSurvey sharing her corporate to startup journey. Claire spent 14 years at Safaricom after which she felt the urge to seek out a new path and ended up joining the mSurvey founders,  Kenfied Griffith and Louis Majanja to build the company. This is great story packed with insights and tips for those on the corpora...

This week we had the honor of hosting our first female founder and it was definitely worth the wait. Peris Bosire, CEO and cofounder at FarmDrive stopped by the Chini ya Maji studios and dropped some gems for the eco. FarmDrive is a fintech startup focussed on bringing financial services to farmers in Africa. Peris talks about her path to entrepreneurship, meeting her cofounder, and their journey...

This week we get some wonderful insights from a founder in an uncommon domain.  3+ years ago Thomas convinced his 4 Dr. friends to start a hospital in Embu. He breaks down their journey including all the assumptions, naiveté, and challenges they overcame to build what is now a thriving healthcare business. This will be a helpful one to many listeners. 

This week we had the pleasure of hosting another seasoned Silicon Savanna veteran. Kennedy Kirui, cofounder & CEO at Tanasuk Africa came through. The discussion is centered around design thinking, culture, and the mindset traps. Find our blogs here: https://medium.com/impact-africa-network