Kitech, a Rwandan startup which creates websites and mobile apps, has won an international award in a competition organized by Global Startup Ecosystem, which promotes corporate innovation and assists tech companies in digital transformation.
Started in 2016, Kitech was awarded a monetary prize of $150,000. Kitech will now have access to IBM Cloud, DigitalOceans, AWS, Google Cloud, and SendGrid infrastructure to host our projects as a result of the award.
“I now have space for free, and I can now host as many projects as I can, which will help me expand my business but also serve my clients with better products,” said Fridolin Niyonsaba, the proprietor of Kitech.
Niyonsaba, 32, studied Agriculture Engineering at the University of Rwanda, but he taught himself coding skills through videos and articles owing to his interest with technology. These abilities aided him in obtaining an IT job in a hotel soon before graduation.
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“I realised I can do more with my skills, and provide more solutions to the market,” Niyonsaba said, “So, I quit my job and started my company Kitech.”
Kitech has formed successful agreements with a number of organizations, including YEAN, which assists over 8,000 farmers with fundamental tasks such as planting, harvesting, and asking questions on a platform that provides immediate feedback.
Niyonsaba realized his other inefficiencies after launching his company, including marketing and leadership.
“As technicians we tend to focus on things like coding and product development but ignore the needs of the clients and how to endear the product to their interests,” he said.
He then went on to Andela to do several short professional courses, where he refined his marketing skills, among other things.
“My company now focuses on customer needs before developing a product for them. We teach them how the product works and follow-up on how they are adapting to it.”
Kitech now has a full-time staff of 12, which includes engineers, visionaries, and developers.It beat out companies from huge economies like Nigeria, India, and Ghana to win the startup lab pitch competition in the Global Startup Ecosystem. Niyonsaba’s next goal is to turn Kitech into a worldwide tech ecosystem.
“Winning this competition showed me that we not only have the local support, but we also have global support, and by working hard we can take Rwandan technology to an international level.”
Rwandan Kitech Rwandan Kitech
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 writer