In the quest to survive, man adapts. This is however only possible through innovation.

Nairobi is a city of great opportunity and hosts African headquarters of many multinationals and world organizations including the United Nations. However traffic jams threaten to cripple the city and research has shown Kenya loses billions of shillings not forgetting man hours in traffic jams.

So how does a social innovative city like Nairobi do?

Ma3route, mobile, web and SMS platform came to the rescue. The startup was founded out of a need to identify which roads are jammed so as to avoid those as well as keep commuters in the know in case of traffic accidents or otherwise.

By crowd-sourcing data from locals, the service is able to inform other users which areas to avoid and is crucial in mapping your route for efficiency. This saves both time and money for the commuter.

According to the founder Laban Okune, they hope to perfect their business model in Nairobi before rolling it out in other towns in Kenya and subsequently other developing countries.

This business model and innovative idea saw Ma3route win the mobile utility category in the Pivot East 2013 competition.

The platform survives by getting an income from advertising through mobile, its web page as well as the Ma3route app which is available on all platforms.

This is one serious startup and the potential to scale even greater.

Be sure to check in with Nairobi Garage for more amazing Kenyan startups.