A lack of accurate and timely data on electricity use has caused consumers’ uproar on the over-charged bills and has prevented them from monitoring, managing and/or reducing their power consumption. Today, utilities are thus moving to smart meters and grids as part of long-range plans to ensure a reliable energy supply, incorporate distributed generation resources, develop innovative storage solutions, reduce the need to build new power plants and enable customers to have more control over their power use.

The Disrupt Africa African Tech Startups Funding Report 2017 was released today and the results are amazing! Over the course of 2017 investment into African tech startups hit the highest levels since records began, with 159 startups raising in excess of US$195 million. What’s more, the total funding of African tech ventures grew by 51% compared to 2016, while the number of funded startups also increased by 8.9%. We dug further into the nitty gritty of the report to bring you the inside scoop.

We’re happy to announce that Season 2 of DataHack4FI is now open for registrations! DataHack4FI is Africa’s only competition that encourages finance, tech and data enthusiasts to collaborate in using data and analytics to solve business challenges and extend financial services to underserved communities. So if you’re a tech innovator or simply love data then we reccommend you keep reading.

Just because you work for yourself, doesn’t necessarily mean you have to work by yourself.  Being an entrepreneur can be very stressful times, and sometimes all you need to someone to talk to clear any confusions you may be having.  Coworking provides opportunities for professionals to observe and learn from others who are going through or have gone through similar situations. Technology has made it easier for entrepreneurs to take their tools with them where ever they go, and this makes it possible for them to work with like-minded passionate individuals from virtually anywhere.  If you have played with the idea of moving your one-man office into a coworking atmosphere, have a look at these benefits to help your big decision.

We all here at Nairobi Garage had an amazing 2017 with all our Garage members and we would like to thank you for all the support throughout the year.  We hope you have an amazing festive season, rest easy and we look forward to working with you in 2018 To celebrate the festive season, we asked some of our staff to share their highlights from 2017, what the holidays mean to them, and their resolutions for 2018.

This month we got down in the trenches with JabJab Group to find out a little bit more about who they are and what they’re doing. The folks at JabJab specialize in building and generating next generation platforms and business models, in order to remove friction across the value chain. We dug a little bit deeper on how their disruptive technology is changing Kenya and it’s importance for the future.