The iHub is set to launch an Innovation Fund to engage, support and promote the best entrepreneurs across Africa. The fund will initially start by seeking $10m for the Nairobi iHub pilot, but grow to $40m over time targeting other countries as well.
The fund will be managed outside of the iHub, but key iHub personnel will be engaged to manage the investment pipeline.
According to Dr Kamal Bhattacharya, iHub CEO, “The role of the iHub going forward is to become the best African support system for ICT focused tech entrepreneurs and individuals who aspire to create great companies that tackle some of our biggest challenges.”
The iHub will initially start by seeking $10m for the Nairobi iHub pilot, but grow to $40m over time targeting other countries as well. The fund will be managed outside of the iHub, but key iHub personnel will be engaged to manage the investment pipeline. We believe that the stature and potential of the iHub is a terrific opportunity for investors to work with us and make leap-frogging real.
The fund is part of iHub’s three product lines: Entrepreneurship Journey, Innovation Journey and Investment instruments. In a significant change from the current free for all model, the organisation will introduce several membership tiers, starting as low as $60/month.
The Entrepreneurship Journey is a product line offering services such as incubation, program facilitation and the iHub Academy, a new product focusing on locally relevant technical training. The goal is, in collaboration with its global and local partners, to master the art of creating the right kind of services that address the unique challenges in the East African market.
The Innovation Journey product line will support public and private sector to get closer in practical ways to the iHub constituency. This will include corporate co-location at the iHub, where private sector players are invited to sit at the iHub and work with the iHub team and startups to innovation engagements. The iHub will offer a spectrum of services, such as design thinking and market testing that are crucial to innovation, bringing closer those who want to innovate with those who already are innovating.
iHub will also continue to offer incubation services, but now under the iHub brandfer engagement workshops to help our clients think through their problems and come up with solutions that make sense. We will engage our constituency as well as organizations outside the iHub to facilitate Design Thinking engagements to corporates and governments. This product will subsume our UX Research organization into the iHub brand.
The iHub will also do Market Research, software development services, provide alpha-testing and offer startups and corporates from other parts of the world in-depth engagement by hosting members of their teams with us for a while, rather than or prior to setting up their own innovation centers.
Membership plans
| Membership | What’s included | Price |
| One day | Shared desk space | $10 |
| Floating Five | Shared desk space for 5 days | $50 |
| Shared Desk | Shared desk space for 1 month | $150 |
| Dedicated Desk | Dedicated workspace | $200 (includes 5h small meeting room and 1h board room) |
| Small Office | Hosts 4-6 people/per month | $700 (includes 8h large meeting room and 3h board room) |
| Large Office | Hosts 6-9 people/per month | $1200 (includes 8h large meeting room and 5h board room) |
| Small Event Space | Host 30 people | $60/hr and $600/day |
| Large Event Space | Hosts 60 people | $100/hr and $1000/day |
