The NINJA Accelerator in Kenya, powered by JICA in collaboration with Double Feather Partners, Deloitte Tohmatsu, and Kenyan implementation partner GrowthAfrica, is proud to announce the launch of its 2nd cohort, which includes five tech-enabled Kenyan startups: Shamba Pride (agritech), Saada Tech (fintech), Kijenzi (manufacturing), M-Paya (smart metering), and MyMoviesAfrica (mov (entertainment). The chosen 5 will go on a 12-week journey that will culminate in an official demonstration on Demo Day on January 28, 2022.

“As we continue to run multiple acceleration programs in Africa under Project NINJA, we are particularly excited to conduct our second edition in Kenya after getting familiar with the Kenyan ecosystem during our previous programs. The NINJA Accelerator is not just about potential connections with Japanese investors or partners, but more about providing customized support to founders to help increase the socioeconomic impacts embedded in their entrepreneurship”, said Shingo MORIHATA, Senior Director — Private Sector Development Group, Economic Development Department at JICA.

Here Is What You Need To Know

Five startups made it through a rigorous selection process to join the NINJA Accelerator’s second batch in Kenya:

• Shamba Pride: Shamba Pride, founded by Samuel Mungiti (CEO), is upsetting Kenyan farmers’ rural distribution systems by converting informal agro-dealer businesses into Digishops.

• Saada Tech: Eugene Mesebe (CTO) and Gerishon Mwaniki (Business Development) co-founded Saada Tech, which developed “Flo,” a plug-and-play platform that allows small/micro-businesses to set up USSD, WhatsApp, IVR, and SMS solutions in minutes without writing a single line of code.

• Kijenzi: Kijenzi is democratizing manufacturing by providing local access to global supply chains and a distributed manufacturing platform. The startup was founded by John Gershenson (CEO).

• M-Paya Energy: M-Paya Energy, founded by Mwai Mworia (CEO) and Kevin Mutigi (Chief Commercial Officer), provides smart metering systems for electricity, water, and gas, allowing property owners to better measure consumption, bill tenants, and manage energy.

• MyMoviesAfrica: MyMoviesAfrica is a streaming network co-founded by Trushna Jayesh Buddhdev-Patel and Mike Strano that offers more global new releases and local content to Africa and its diaspora while combating piracy.

The program has also been adjusted to address specific deficiencies identified by local founders, such as foreign investor attractiveness.

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“Helping founders address business problems to strengthen their foothold in their domestic market, then expand, is one thing. The other is to ensure that local founders can access international capital. We notice that some local founders struggle to effectively articulate their stories or their very contextual business cases for international investors. So, helping startups get international-investor-ready is one of our focal points for this cohort”, said Kohei MUTO, CEO of Tokyo-based international VC Double Feather Partners, in charge of leading the NINJA Accelerator in Kenya.

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This second cohort builds on the success of the first, which included renowned firms like Sokowatch, Kwara, Amitruck, Cinch Markets, and Zana Africa, and will present their ideas to potential investors on Demo Day on January 28, 2022.

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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