Kenyans can be upset, but not in the way they were after Robin Reecht, the CEO of freshly financed delivery startup Kune, came to the media to announce the company’s newest funding round. In an interview with an American tech news organization, Robin stated: “After three days of coming into Kenya, I asked where I can get great food at a cheap price, and everybody tell me it’s impossible. It’s impossible because either you go to the street and you eat street food, which is really cheap but with not-so-good quality, or you order on Uber Eats, Glovo or Jumia, where you get quality but you have to pay at least $10.”
The comments however did not go down well with Kenyans who equated the views of the founder of the yet-to-be-launched startup to the common “white saviour” mentality and “white privilege” that many Western, white people have whenever they land on the continent.
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Adding to Wanjiru’s concerns, is Aleya Kassam who marveled at the ease of access to funds by Reecht, based on a three-week “research” timeframe, as well as what problem Reetch is trying to tackle.
For others, nothing is new to what Kune is attempting to do.
While others attempted to justify Reetch’s remarks, the enraged crowd demanded further explanations and continued to tweet throughout the weekend, prompting Kune to declare that the boss “misspoke.
Kune, which has raised a total of Ksh.113 million ($1.050 million), sprang from Reetch’s three-day frustrating stay in Kenya.
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Reetch saw a void in the market and attempted to fill it with Kune, according to press reports. “The goal? To provide affordable, convenient and tasty meals. It took a week to develop a pilot, and with a ready waitlist of 50 customers in a particular office space, his plans were in motion. Kune sold more than 500 meals ($4 average) and tripled its customer base from 50 to 150.”
Charles Rapulu Udoh
Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer who has advised startups across Africa on issues such as startup funding (Venture Capital, Debt financing, private equity, angel investing etc), taxation, strategies, etc. He also has special focus on the protection of business or brands’ intellectual property rights ( such as trademark, patent or design) across Africa and other foreign jurisdictions.
He is well versed on issues of ESG (sustainability), media and entertainment law, corporate finance and governance.
He is also an award-winning write