@iBizAfrica is a Startup Incubator at @iLabAfrica Strathmore University that helps budding entrepreneurs scale their businesses. It provides acceleration, experiential entrepreneurship education, training, mentorship, and coaching to startup companies, including assistance with seed funding, legal guidance, financial expertise, and access to physical resources.
Founded in 2012 by Dr.Joseph Sevilla, @iBizAfrica aims to champion innovation and entrepreneurship across diverse sectors, empowering startups to thrive and create lasting impact in technology, sustainability, social impact, and beyond. It seeks to prepare entrepreneurs and innovators to successfully navigate the different stages of building innovation-driven and sustainable companies from idea conception to market launch.
In an interview with TechMoran, Dr. Joseph Sevilla, the Founder and Director of @iBizAfrica said “ The incubator helps young entrepreneurs learn how to raise their company, how to protect their IP, how to do a business speech, how to handle finances, how to handle marketing, how to set up a governance structure that will allow them to run the company properly, how to validate their ideas, how to get traction, in their business, and how to get into the next level”.
Dr Sevilla was a lecturer at Strathmore University and for many years they had been training students and equipping them with essential life skills, however, he realized that although some students had interesting innovations, they found it challenging to turn these innovations into viable businesses. To address this, he established an incubator with a mission to mentor and support students, provide guidance, and, if possible, offer access to capital.
At the Incubation Center, they provide entrepreneurs with mentorship, coaching, and technical support to help them move along and eventually come up with successful ventures. They look at entrepreneurs’ ideas and try to guide them to get business out of these ideas. For instance, a couple of young people at the incubator realized the pain of managing the data of MPESA where you keep doing transactions. Then at the end of the month, you want to know how much you have to spend, how much is left to do business, and how much is personal. And then to collect the data you have to go through all the SMSs, and this was very complicated. So @iBizAfrica and the entrepreneurs came up with a pretty good idea of how to collect that data and then present it in a way that can be managed. They came up with a solution which they later, sold to Safaricom and this has now led to all the apps that make it much easier to handle information and customer transactions.
The Centre also supports startups by providing seed funding through strategic project partnerships with various stakeholders, such as government entities, NGOs, private sector companies, and development finance institutions. The center has partnered with several companies such as Kenya Airways, Safaricom, and KENIA, to promote local developers.
Dr Sevilla said that for many companies, their staff are engrossed in many issues and do not have time to innovate, however, the young people want to take advantage of such opportunities to grow their innovations, so the Incubator connects them with companies that might be interested in their innovations.
Although some entrepreneurs do not qualify for funding, the training they receive at the Incubator enables them to succeed. It also provides them validation which positions them where they can develop their business and attract other potential investors.
In the past seven years, the center in collaboration with Standard Chartered Bank through the Standard Chartered WomenInTech (WiT), has trained 77 women-led startups leveraging technology by offering mentorship, business advisory, coaching, networking opportunities, access to seed capital, and investor forums that help mold their businesses to international standards.
As part of the program, startups participate in 12 weeks of business incubation training at Strathmore University. The winners of the 2024 cohort, who graduated in October, include Moma Renewable Energy, Hayah Bloom, Zidallie (Nelly Alili), Gwiji for Women, Zaoshinani, AerialGIS, and PsychCare Clinic.
Since its inception, the program has provided USD 390,000 in seed funding in total with each winner receiving seed money of KES. 1.3 million while also receiving market expansion opportunities and innovation training by @iLabAfrica.
According to Dr. Sevilla, investing in women is like investing in the whole family and the whole of society. Investing in women helps them to thrive, which contributes to prosperity that can be measured in financial terms.
He also highlighted that for a business to succeed, the entrepreneur needs to have passion and be real. So, when one idea is not working, the entrepreneur should try something different.
As a Director, Dr Sevilla plays a crucial role in nurturing and mentoring entrepreneurs. His extensive background and vast experience in IT training, entrepreneurship, and business enable him to provide comprehensive and insightful guidance. His specialization areas include Mobile Technologies, Cybersecurity, ICT in Education and Development, Entrepreneurship and Business Incubators, Managerial Decision Modelling, Internet Governance, eLearning, Bioinformatics, and FOSS (Free and Open Source Software) applications.
He has also been a member of several committees such as the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Research, Technical Training and Technology, the Ministry of Telecommunications, the Commission of Higher Education, and the Kenyan ICT Board, where he has advised on drafting of national policies in ICT, ICT and Education, Cybersecurity, development of National CS/IT Syllabus for secondary and university education, and the adoption of a National ICT Strategy.
He has also served as an advisor to the Directorate of Industrial Training regarding IT training. He has been part of the East African Internet Association and the Computer Society of Kenya as a member of the Executive Board and the Education Committee respectively. He has also served as a member of the Innovation Board at Safaricom and in February 2013, he was selected as part of the Advisory Council for the IBM Innovation & Client Centre in Nairobi.
In 1991 he led the creation of the Information Technology Centre (ICT) at Strathmore and served as its first Director until October 2002. He has been a member of the Management Board of Strathmore University for over 20 years, Dean of the Faculty of Information Technology, and Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Research and Quality Assurance.
In January 2011, Dr.Sevilla founded @iLabAfrica as a Research Institute under the Faculty of Information Technology at Strathmore University. The Institute champions Research, Innovation, Product Development, and Entrepreneurship; it also offers incubation facilities to local entrepreneurs and actively engages in ICT Policy. The Center employs 60 full-time researchers and its various activities have a wide reach within the East Africa region.
Under his leadership, @iBizAfrica has supported over 1,000 startups and incubated notable ventures like PurpInk, MLedger, Denri, and Benacare among others.
Accelerators help startups grow quickly by providing resources, mentorship, and funding, and by joining tech hubs, startups gain valuable knowledge and skills that help them grow businesses. They additionally gain access to expert advice and resources to help them overcome common challenges startups encounter. Additionally, they get the opportunity to network with other entrepreneurs and investors, which can propel them to build valuable connections and partnerships.
The number of startup accelerators and Incubators in Kenya is on the rise, research shows that there are currently over 50 including, The Developers Circles from Facebook, Africa’s Talking Elarian Community, iHub, Google Developer Groups, and Zindua School Tech Community among others.
By leveraging diverse networks and partnerships, @iBizAfrica aims to equip startups with the resources and connections they need to thrive in a competitive market, empowering entrepreneurs to succeed and giving them a competitive edge. They also create a platform for startups to showcase their innovations and enhance their brand visibility within the entrepreneurial community. With such exposure, startups attract potential partners, customers, and investors.
Since its establishment, the incubator has helped many entrepreneurs who have later established successful companies here in Kenya.