The Pan-African entrepreneurial training program, a seed fund and tech incubator, Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology (MEST), announced the launch of its fourth incubator and tech hub in Nairobi, Kenya.
This will serve as its flagship East African space, joining hubs in Ghana, Nigeria and South Africa, as part of a growing network of Pan-African incubators.
The Nairobi launch comes less than a year after the opening of MEST Africa’s Lagos and Cape Town hubs in November 2017. The Nairobi space will also host the new East African office of its parent brand, a global leader in media intelligence and AI-Driven Outside Insight, Meltwater, who is also expanding into the region.
The incubator will provide the same on-the-ground support, access to resources and global MEST network enjoyed by portfolio companies in Accra, Lagos and Cape Town.
Following the announcement of a $700k investment in 7 startups from the 2018 MEST cohort, one of the first companies to move into the Incubator in Nairobi will be recent investment Sharehouse, an ‘Airbnb for warehouses.’
They will be joined by existing portfolio company Nestmetric, a platform that makes business insights and predictions through Machine Learning accessible to all types of businesses.
“We are thrilled to officially establish our presence in East Africa with the launch of our Nairobi incubator,” MEST Managing Director Aaron Fu said. “A truly Pan-African tech hub, we now have a presence across all corners of Sub-Saharan Africa: West, South and now East. I personally look forward to engaging even more deeply with the incredibly vibrant tech and startup community thriving in Nairobi, which I’m happy to call home.”
The Nairobi incubator is located on the 7th floor of Pinetree Plaza, on Kaburu Drive (Ngong
Road). It opened with an official launch event on the evening of September 20th, where the MEST community and friends of MEST were joined by leading members of the Nairobi tech, startup and investor ecosystem.
“It’s exciting to see us launch in Nairobi,” I-DEV Founder & CEO Jason Spindler said, “Our recent Africa Tech Survey of key thought leaders and investors shows Kenya is a fast-growing and leading hub for African tech startups that are designed to scale from their DNA. With network in West and South Africa as well, it’ll be no time before we see Nairobi startups take on a Pan-African footprint.”
The entrepreneurs have developed solutions addressing local and global markets, received outside follow-on funding from global investors, and have gained admittance to top accelerator programs such as Y-Combinator, 500 Startups and TechStars.