Around Ksh 3 Million is up for grabs as the Human IPO organised IPO48 contest kicks off in Nairobi. The event which starts from 11th to 14th will see 13 teams battle it out to convince the judges and mentors that they can have a business plan which works in 48 hours. The event will see mentors and entrepreneurs advice and challenge the contestants on their ideas and the idea which comes top will win Ksh 2.5 Million in funding.
According to David Owino “Human IPO sees it best to fund green startups because any existing business which is accepted by the mass but is not bringing in revenue is considered a risks on many fronts key being that the revenue model might not be pleasing”.
Kirsten Buch who is the founder and CEO of Human IPO says “alot of good ideas goes to waste as the concept developers do not have the right support system.” But he adds “the main challenge in the Kenyan entrepreneurial space is raising equity capital.”
That is where the Human IPO comes in where they guarantee investment and mentorship opportunity for entrepreneurs. Human IPO helps the startups get capital for advancing their projects. The startups are first exposed to the Human IPO’s online platform from where they submit their ideas which are then subjected to scrutiny by other professionals and mentors online before the most convincing ideas are then moved to the next stage. The online scrutiny of ideas is put in the relevant category so the teams are exposed to others with similar ideas.
Video from IPO48 event 2010
[youtube width=”620″ height=”450″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9AXpaepObY[/youtube]
More than 18 mentors from the US and UK would be present to help the teams during the 48 hours of programming and concept development. We prodded Kristen on why he thinks that foreign mentors who does not have experience in starting winning startups which can be accepted also in Africa will be handy. He offered that the team look for startups which would globally hence the presence of a good number of international mentors as well as a few local mentors.
Some of the applications which have been successful needs the push of the operators to market them to their wide clientele. David said that Human IPO is willing to work with the local operators and are just looking at the best way they can engage them.
An investment company 88mph, has infused € 400,000 boosting the the Human IPO’s Kenya’s investment plans. Human IPO looks to bring tech-preneurs together with online investors and 88mph just happen to be one of the investors. The event is happening at the iHub from 12th August and the winners of the Ksh 2.5 Million will be announced on Sunday at the same venue.
Email your news TIPS to Editor@Kahawatungu.com — this is our only official communication channel
