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5 Kenyan startups have been selected to be part of the 2nd cohort of the NINJA Accelerator program. The program powered by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in partnership with Double Feather Partners, Deloitte Tohmatsu and GrowthAfrica.

The selected startups will embark on an updated 12-week mentorship journey, leading to an official showcase on Demo Day scheduled for January 28 2022. The 2nd cohort follows a successful program for the first cohort which included notable startups such as Sokowatch, Kwara, Amitruck, Cinch Markets and Zana Africa.

Listed below are the 5 Kenyan startups selected for the program.

  1. Shamba Pride: Founded by Samuel Mungiti (CEO), Shamba Pride is disrupting rural distribution systems for Kenyan farmers by transforming informal agro-dealer stores into Digishops.
  2. Saada Tech: Co-founded by Eugene Mesebe (CTO) and Gerishon Mwaniki (Business Development), Saada Tech created ”Flo”,  a plug & play tool that enables small/micro-businesses to set up USSD, WhatsApp, IVR, and SMS solutions in minutes without a single line of code.
  3. Kijenzi: Founded by John Gershenson (CEO), Kijenzi is democratizing manufacturing by providing local access to global supply chains and a distributed manufacturing platform.
  4. M-Paya Energy: Founded by Mwai Mworia (CEO) and Kevin Mutigi (Chief Commercial Officer), M-Paya Energy provides smart metering systems for electricity, water, and gas, imroving consumption tracking, tenant billing and energy management for property owners.
  5. MyMoviesAfrica: Co-founded by Trushna Jayesh Buddhdev-Patel and Mike Strano, MyMoviesAfrica is a streaming platform that brings more global new releases and local content to Africa and its diaspora while fighting piracy.

“As we continue to run multiple acceleration programs in Africa under Project NINJA, we are particularly excited to conduct our second edition in Kenya after getting familiar with the Kenyan ecosystem during our previous programs” said Shingo Morihata, Senior Director – Private Sector Development Group, Economic Development Department at JICA.