Konza Innovation Challenge // Apply before 19th March 2021

Konza Innovation Challenge // Apply before 19th March 2021

The Embassy of Israel in Kenya has partnered with Konza Technopolis Development Authority to host the Konza Innovation Challenge 2021.

The challenge is targeted at innovations in response to the advancement of the Konza Technopolis that will need technology to power the City’s smart ambitions.

The Konza Innovation Challenge 2021 will provide an opportunity for innovators in Kenya and Israel to solve the immediate and long-term needs of Konza, provide an opportunity for innovator cross-pollination and collaborations between the two countries and foster the spirit of partnership for innovation among the two countries.

The challenge will offer you a chance to earn USD 5,000 for your start-up and an opportunity to pilot your innovations in Konza Technopolis.

How does the Konza Innovation Challenge work?

Interested parties shall apply for consideration for 3 rounds of judging. All ideas received shall go through an initial vetting and those that demonstrate a strong and viable idea will pitch their idea online before a panel of judges from both Israel and Kenya.

This will present an opportunity for the judges to engage the start-ups through question and answer sessions.

The judges will then select the best ten ideas for each challenge and recommend them to proceed to the final stage of judging.

Who can apply for the Konza Innovation Challenge?

• An individual or group start-up,
• Should have been in operation for less than 2 years,
• Should be having ready solutions to the challenge at the time of presentation, and
• Should be ready to execute the solutions presented.

Application process:

All applicants will apply for the challenge from the Konza Technopolis Development Authority Innovation Application website.

The following are required for submission:

• A pitch deck, and
• 5 min video or a YouTube link for the video explaining the innovation.

About Konza

Konza Technopolis is Kenya’s first smart city, built to world-class standards and provides limitless possibilities and high quality of life for its residents. The safety of the city, its people and the environment is critical if this vision is to be realized. The Technopolis is envisaged to be home to 200,000 people.

Located 64 km south of Nairobi on the way to the port city of Mombasa, the project is marketed through Kenya ICT Board as a key driver of Kenya’s national development plan, known as Kenya Vision 2030.

The project is estimated to cost the government about Sh1.2 trillion. Dubbed “where African silicon savannah begins”, it aims to attract business process outsourcing, software development, data centres, disaster recovery centres, call centres and light assembly manufacturing industries; and build a university campus focused on research and technology as well as hotels, residential areas, schools and hospitals.

It is also intended to include a science park, a convention centre, shopping malls, hotels, international schools, and a health facility. The project rests on a 5,000-acre piece of land lying in three counties of Machakos, Kajiado and Makueni.

So far Phase One of the project has attracted over 40% uptake by investors. With over 1,000 workers on-site, horizontal infrastructure including roads, parks, water and sewerage treatment plants through tunnel technology and automatic garbage collection systems are taking shape.

The investment will be done through a 99-year land leasing on maximum and 20 years on minimum.

Last year, Konza Technopolis in collaboration with the Association of Countrywide hubs and partners also developed The Great COVID 19 Innovation challenge to harness the collective capability of the technology and innovation sector.

The challenge also sorts to bring together the innovator communities,  technology and innovation sector players together to demonstrate the power of partnerships and provide new models for government-private sector collaboration to birth the next frontier of the techno-developmental-governance interface needed to address the immediate challenges during the current pandemic period as well as with a long term impact to our Big 4 Agenda, Vision2030 and SDGs.