Bizna Kenya has announced winners of its inaugural Young Entrepreneurs Awards (YEA Awards) 2018, featuring some of the most industrious businessmen and women in Kenya.
The 10 winners were selected from 32 nominees in 10 categories who were subjected to a public vote through an online system.
The YEA Awards have been designed to identify upcoming and industrious entrepreneurs between 18 and 35 years old with great business acumen. The annual awards seek to create a network of outstanding young entrepreneurs and encourage more to start their own businesses.
The winners include Expedition Maasai Safaris co-founder Pancras Mwangi who won in the Young Entrepreneur – male – category; Michelle Ntalami of Malini Naturals Young Entrepreneur -Female); Tim Kipchumba of Questworks (Real Estate); and Samuel Majani of Ghafla (Digital Technology).
Others are Rodgers Kirwa of iAgribiz Africa (Agripreneur), Anyiko Owoko of Anyiko Public Relations (Service Industry Awards); Abel Mutua of Phil-It (Entertainment); Mercy Kyallo of Yallo Ltd (Manufacturing), Ian Mati of Vintara Collections-Ke (Fashion and Beauty); and Martin Ruga of Deserts Anyone Ltd (Hospitality).
The winners will get marketing and other business support services worth over Sh1 Million.
The inaugural edition of the YEA Awards attracted nominations from different sectors of the economy including agribusiness, entertainment, beauty and fashion, manufacturing, hospitality and service industry. The voting process, conducted online, took three weeks from October 30 until midnight 25th November.
The YEA Awards’ judging criteria is based on business plan, strategy and vision, clear product offering, technology integration and customer service. It also looks for innovation and creativity, social responsibility and effectiveness of business operations.
Congratulating the winners, Bizna Kenya Founder and CEO Tonnie Mello said:
“We are happy to set the ball rolling on our ambition to create a network of outstanding young entrepreneurs that can drive our economy forward. We will continue to encourage more to start their own businesses by recognising those we are making significant contributions to the economy.”
Bizna Kenya is a business portal that provides marketing and enterprise development solutions to small businesses and entrepreneurs.
It empowers businesses to create awareness about their products and services, market products and services to a wide range of clients and link them to suppliers and key business resources.