The third edition of Startup Weekend Nairobi came to an exciting close on the 7th of December, 2014. Attendees formed teams at the start of event before presenting their pitches to a judging panel composed of: Elijah Kitaka, Program Manager at Google; Nabeel Ali, of Genesis Consult & Christian Kamayou Founder of MyAfricanStartup.
It was an exciting weekend which pushed ambitious entrepreneurs to the limit. Audience members questioned the teams in an attempt to weed out the best ideas. Concepts and business plans were evaluated on three main areas: Validation, Execution & Design and their Business model. These areas are crucial to the success of any startup or business. The creativity of the teams present was evident as some went ahead and created miniature demos of their final product.
It has to be said that all the entrepreneurs at the Nairobi Garage were exceptional. However, at the end of the weekend Drinks On Wheels, Boresha and Biogas Map emerged as the best. Below are the companies and the prizes they won:
1st position
Drinks On Wheels, a startup that wants to revolutionize how you order your drinks, took first place. Anyone can order their drinks online and have them delivered to them as long as they are within Nairobi. As the winners, they:
* Qualify for Google Developers Startup Launch Program
* 3 months Office space at Nairobi Garage
* 3 months with a Google UX Architecture support
* Access to a Startup lawyer (10 “free” hours)
* $100 Hosting credits on AWS
* $500 credits on Google Cloud
*Free .co website domain & hosting (12-months)
* Incubation at Nailab (t&c)
2nd Position
Boresha, a Social Projects Integrator, came in second. It provides a platform for connecting individuals and companies with social projects that are looking for resources in the way of sponsorship and personnel. They are going to benefit from:
* Admission to Google Developers Startup Launch Program
* 2 months Office space at Nairobi Garage
* 2 months with a Google UX Architecture support
* Access to a Startup lawyer (5 “free” hours)
* $100 Hosting credits on Amazon Web Services
* $500 credits on Google Cloud
* Free .co website domain & hosting (12-months)
* Incubation at Nailab (t&c)
3rd Position
Biogas Map, an aggregation portal mapping bio gas plants, plans to connect people looking for bio gas facilities with those with excess waste that can be supplied to those needing it. For their great efforts, they:
* Qualify for Google Developers Startup Launch Program
* 2 months Office space at Nairobi Garage
* 1 months with a Google UX Architecture support
* Access to a Startup lawyer (5 “free” hours)
* $100 Hosting credits on Amazon Web Services
* $500 credits on Google Cloud
* Free .co website domain & hosting (12-months)
* Incubation at Nailab (t&c)
The organizers of Startup Weekend also announced that they would increase the number of events held in Kenya so as to provide access and a platform to more entrepreneurs looking at brushing up their business skills.
Nairobi Garage is glad to have participated as a corporate sponsor, and is looking forward to hosting the three winners of the event at our Ngong Road coworking space.
