Co-creation Hub (CcHUB), the leading technology innovation centre in Nigeria, has acquired Kenya’s iHub for an undisclosed fee.
The deal will see iHub’s team become part of CcHUB’s wider central support and strategy network, whilst retaining its name and senior management structure. CcHUB’s co-founder Bosun Tijani continues as CEO across both locations. As part of the acquisition, CcHUB will now make key hires in innovation consulting, people management, programme management and community support, as it looks to strengthen its pan-African network and mobilise its far-reaching resources, network and relationships to accelerate the growth of technology innovation and entrepreneurship in Africa.
The move comes just seven months after CcHUB expanded into Kigali, Rwanda, with the launch of its Design Lab, the first creative space in Africa to focus solely on product design and technology innovation.
Bosun Tijani, CEO at CcHUB says, “We are long-time admirers and collaborators of iHub – a world-class community of developers, entrepreneurs and business people who have been instrumental in growing Kenya’s extraordinary technology ecosystem.”
“CcHUB’s mandate is to build a formidable innovation ecosystem with a deeply rooted network, cultivating strategic partnerships and practical industry know-how that can support entrepreneurs in building thoughtful, relevant and scalable solutions. We believe we can only do this if we are intentional and proactive in how we scale and grow our reach, not only across Africa, but also internationally. This is the reason behind our acquisition of iHub and we continue to be bullish in our combined efforts in creating hundreds of thousands more opportunities for businesses across Africa”.
Launched in 2011, and partnered by international companies such as Google for Start-ups, Facebook, Oracle and organisations including Omidyar Network and Ford Foundation, CcHUB is Africa’s first open living lab and pre-incubation space, home to technologists, social entrepreneurs, government bodies, tech companies, impact investors and more. It has a community of over 14,000 people and has incubated and provided support to a portfolio of over 120 early-stage ventures, providing solutions to social problems with technology including Lifebank, Riby, BudgIT and WeCyclers. In 2012, CcHUB played a major role in converging key stakeholders to deliberate and action ideas that led to the emergence of one of Africa’s most organic technology clusters in Yaba, Lagos.
iHub, launched in 2010, is home to internationally-recognised companies such as BRCK and Ushahidi, as well as start-ups such as Zayride, Eneza Education, Taimba and Optimetriks and has seen over 500 companies receive business support services, 100+ of which have gone through incubation and accelerator programs.
Nekesa J. Were, Managing Director for iHub adds, “Over the past 9 years, the iHub has been a catalyst for regional tech acceleration and a role model for innovation hubs across emerging markets. To-date, over USD40m has been raised by iHub startups in early and growth stage financing and iHub portfolio businesses have contributed over 40,000 jobs to the East African economy. Their products have impacted millions”.