eatout
mikul shah, eatout’s founder and director was feted on today’s business daily top 40 under 40. mikul, who founded eatout…
eatout is once again sponsoring the best food category at this years bake awards. this follows last years partnership where eatout sponsored the…
meloncino was nominated for the eatout award, nominated by the public and then rated and reviewed by eatout' s team of panellists .
meloncino was nominated for the eatout award best of italian in south africa 2011 .
i can' t imagine dat dis is happening in ug. thanks to eatout uganda
eatout uganda, formerly done deal uganda, is a online restaurant guide and booking service .
one of the best italian restaurants in south africa award by the eatout readers vote in june 2010 .
one of the best italian restaurants in south africa award by the eatout readers vote in june 2009 .
online restaurant reservation portal eatout has partnered with twitter to promote the nairobi restaurant week set to start today .
you’re viewing a free company profile from the pitchbook platform. to explore eatout’s full profile, request a free trial .
mikul is the managing director at eatout (www. eatout. co. ke), the regions largest online restaurant guide which he founded in 2010. he is a serial entrepreneur with over 15 years experience in mature and emerging markets .
3. fintech – gain access to special offers and earn incredible discounts at restaurants in the region through eatout and our partners .
eatout is kenya' s largest & coolest online restaurant guide and booking engine. download our new app today & unlock great restaurant offers & events !
eatout has previously teamed up with other firms in nairobi. last week the online restaurant portal announced a partnership with uber, a taxi - hailing app service .
eatout launched in 2010 and has since become east africa’s largest online restaurant guide and booking engine, having sat over 500, 000 diners at thousands of outlets generating over ksh 1 billion in revenue for its restaurant partners. eatout kenya has established partnerships with the likes of google, visa, twitter, safaricom, and viber .
“ # nrw2015 will provide a new marketing tool for restaurants to communicate to the new generation of diners in kenya, ” eatout ceo mikul shah told digital business .
kenya’s eatout, a restaurant discovery media platform, raised a $ 500, 000 strategic investment from fintech firm, craft silicon, related to the platform’s payments technology .
foodie, travel enthusiast, angel investor and entrepreneur with over 10 years experience in mature and emerging markets. founder and managing director of eatout, yummy magazine and nairobi restaurant week .
the eatout restaurant guide is a contemporary, functional and unique online portal that seeks to put the kenya’s dining culture “on the map”. its aim is to be nairobi & kenya’s most comprehensive online restaurant guide featuring the tiniest venue to the talk of the town. next to the restaurant guide, eatout introduced its own event this year, the taste awards, which has been a great success. eatout also services all other marketing needs of restaurants, from advertisements in newspapers and other media to production of promotional clips. the company currently has 6 people on the payroll .
that has been long overdue to tell i love there service there offers and the ticket give aways are to die for... truly eatout kenya has set a new standard to all .
eatout is a food media and technology business based out of nairobi, kenya. our aim is to create a vibrant dining culture across urban east africa. we have 4 separate business units :
online social networking service twitter is set to team up with local restaurant discovery platform eatout, to drive awareness for restaurants during the forthcoming nairobi restaurant week which kicks off on january 22 nd 2015 .
“we are thrilled to be working with eatout and the various restaurants taking part in the nairobi restaurant week to connect with their local communities, ” said bindiya shah, the partnerships manager for twitter africa .
eatout is a contemporary, functional and unique online portal that seeks to put the kenya' s dining culture
on the map
. our aim is be nairobi & kenya' s most comprehensive online restaurant guide featuring the tiniest venue to the talk of the town. whether you' re a fine diner or a fast food lover, if you love to eat out, you' ll love eatout !
agrolimen, grupo empresarial de la familia carulla, vende eatout, su filial de restauración, por la que espera obtener alrededor de 120 millones de euros. esta misma semana, todos los fondos y las em ...
copyright 2017 eatout magazine dewberry redpoint limited is a company registered in england and wales no: 03129594 registered office: john carpenter house, john carpenter street, london ec4y 0an, uk, vat registered, number 586 7988 48 .
eatout general manager, michelle slater presented kaluhi with her winning prize which included return flights to mombasa, dinner for 2 at tatu at the fairmont, the norfolk, a huwaei gr5 phone, ksh 5000 safaricom airtime and a samsung gear vr headset .
soni is the events & partnerships manager at eatout kenya. a self - proclaimed gastronomic enthusiast, she is also a keen blogger and you can follow her personal journey as she eats and drinks her way through nairobi' s restaurant and bar scene on her popular blog at urltoken .
this is not the first time eatout has teamed up with tech giants in nairobi. just this week the company announced a partnership with uber for nrw2015 and in the past have collaborated with google (to roll out free wifi hotspots in restaurants), and with safaricom to deploy the popular lipa na mpesa payment options .
“we are thrilled to be working with eatout (@ eatoutkenya) and the various restaurants taking part in nairobi restaurant week to connect with their local communities. using the hashtag # nrw2015, twitter will help you discover new dining experiences around the city and let you get closer to your favourite restaurants, ” said bindiya shah (@ bindi), partnerships manager, twitter africa .
in 2011, we raised $ 100, 000. and in 2012, i decided to look into the same model but for accommodation spaces. we raised $ 200 000, and then in 2013 again we raised another $ 200, 000 for eatout. we will be in another round of funding and this time we are raising about $ 1m for each of the businesses .
mikul is the managing director at eatout (urltoken), the regions largest online restaurant guide which he founded in 2010. he is a serial entrepreneur with over 15 years experience in mature and emerging markets. he currently serves as an advisor to safaricom' s spark fund and has been involved with several other organisations including naked pizza, urltoken & 88mph as an investor and / or advisor .
mikul shah, founder and ceo welcomed the idea saying “eatout has always aimed to be at the forefront of disruptive innovation. # nrw2015 will provide a new marketing tool for restaurants to communicate to the new generation of diners in kenya. we’ve worked together on a training guide and hope that restaurants use it to their advantage. i guess it’s our way of thanking the restaurants who have supported the restaurant week campaign. ”
what did happen is, about a year down the line, we won numerous awards, and because of kenya ict board was sort of pushing venture capitalists and angel funds to come into kenya and look at what the startup scene is like, we managed to get in front of a number of vc’s, and we were able to pitch our concept. we managed to raise a round of funding for eatout with the aim to build a more scalable revenue model .
but we managed to get them on board. after a few months, i realized that this is not a hobby, i could actually pursue this. so, i hired one person and together in 2010 we launched eatout, two people; one handling the accounting and reservations. and, believe it or not in 2010, we were getting one reservation a week coming through our website. so now we are into our fourth year and we are doing a thousand reservations a day at the moment .
the blog awards showcase the amazing talents of the foodie community in kenya. our aim at eatout and yummy magazine is support individuals who are helping put kenya on a global map as one of the best culinary destinations in africa. our country has some of the most amazing produce and the restaurant scene is on par with major cities all over the world growing. our ceo, mikul shah was delighted to be a judge and had a difficult task to help pick the five finalists from hundreds of entires .
my name is mikul shah, ceo of eatout. i hold positions in a few other companies. urltoken is one that received a lot of attention recently. i was born in mombasa. i lived there until i completed my a - level education. then i moved to the uk for my university studies and ended up settling there. i lived there for over ten years, in london. i attended university in manchester. and then in 2009 when i started my family and had my first son, i made a decision to move to nairobi .
there is absolutely no reason for focusing on hospitality. like i said, i am very keen as a consumer on food and travel. i love traveling and going to restaurants and trying new foods, whether it is on the side of the streets or five star hotels. so eatout was the entry. then i met my co - founder for sleepout, who have moved their offices to mauritius for banking and taxation purposes. so, we got together and he said that he was looking into doing something very similar to me in the accommodation space, and he had done a small pilot in lamu. and i thought that it could be very difficult to do both of these things. so i was happy to use the eatout brand and do an extension of that. last year, we did a quick launch of our website just to get the brand out there. however, the new platform which is urltoken and not urltoken has already attracted hosts from 30 countries world wide, from brazil to cape verde and we are starting to see bookings coming in through the new platform as well which is completely electronic. )
visa has partnered with eatout, east africa' s largest online restaurant guide as the title sponsor of the second edition of the burger festival in nairobi, mombasa cities in kenya and kampala city in uganda in a bid to foster partnerships and improve card usage for purchases. the partnership aims to encourage consumers to use their visa card. the nairobi and mombasa visa burger festivals run from 08 may to 14 may, and the kampala visa burger festival runs from 15 to 21 may. visa card holders can get two burgers for the price of one at over 90 participating restaurants during the festival .
at the moment our business model is changing completely. however, up until now we charge an annual subscription fee, very high in my opinion. it locks out a lot of restaurants willing to participate with eatout. henceforth, we are moving into a smaller subscription fee, but then a transaction fee for every booking, or every spend within a restaurant we get a small cut which will be about one or two percent of what the customer is spending. it is a very scalable model and that is the model we are progressively launching in ten cities in africa. we are looking at egypt, south africa, mauritius, uganda, tanzania, rwanda, burundi and ethiopia .
eat out kenya has won the award for best digital media platform at the 2 nd kenya tourism awards .
“today’s awards thus serves as recognition of the role the industry plays and contributes to the country’s economy through the sector gdp’s portfolio of 11% , ” minister mwazo said .
the minister noted that despite the traditional source markets that take a bigger share in contributing to the total tourist arrivals to the country, africa and emerging markets have shown remarkable growth in the recent past, an indication that the region has growth potential .
ktb board member patricia ithau said the inclusion of media in the awards is meant to recognize its role in exposing kenya as a tourist destination both to local and international audiences. she said: “ktb takes cognizance of the fact that without the media, its role as a marketing agency would not be fully realised. ”
gfk has launched its annual viewscape study in africa, showing how the rise of digital platforms is transforming consumers’ viewing habits .
four well - known durban chefs from some of the city’s hottest eateries will set out on a street - food battle for one night only on 27 july .
gin o' clock, froyo and tacos with all the tequila – we' re counting the days till summer returns with these treats and more. excuse us while we drool nostalgically .
migrating to durban' s warmer climate for the winter? we' ve got your covered .
having a crêpe day? be transported to paris by the glorious galettes at new swan cafe in zonnebloem, cape town .
bao down has been filled to the point of overflowing every night since it opened in late june. luckily we snagged a booking to try this contemporary take on the cuisines of china, korea and japan .
a third of all food production goes to waste, and the problem doesn’t stop at food – wasting food means wasting energy, water and packaging, as well as harming the environment. thankfully these innovative stores, restaurants and hotels are doing their bit .
you' ve been in the trenches with the kids for weeks now – it' s time to get out of the house. pack the kids into the car and head to one of these restaurants around sa that specialise in activities for the little ones, even when the weather is chilly .
michael cooke of camphors at vergelegen set out to prove that award - winning food can result from sustainable practices and boy did he prove it .
swan dive into a ginger - and - lime paradise with this delicious cocktail made with monkey shoulder whisky .
self - saucing puds, layered trifles and peppermint crisp tarts – we' ve got' em all in our list of nostalgic desserts around sa .
warm your frozen fingers with these golden packages of filled pastry for an ultimate winter meal .
we’ve compiled a list of eateries and bars with big screens and great food where you can catch all the sporting action .
whether your dad loves a slap - up steak lunch or a lazy wine - filled feast, these spots with great father' s day offerings are sure to keep the whole family happy .
white water spur steak ranch is a family style restaurant with a taste for life! south africa’s favourite burgers, ribs and steaks... .
montana greek spur steak ranch is a family style restaurant with a taste for life! south africa’s favourite burgers, ribs and ...
desert springs spur steak ranch is a family style restaurant with a taste for life! south africa’s favourite burgers, ribs and ...
dorado spur steak ranch is a family style restaurant with a taste for life! south africa’s favourite burgers, ribs and ...
misty falls spur steak ranch is a family style restaurant with a taste for life! south africa’s favourite burgers, ribs and ...
key largo spur steak ranch is a family style restaurant with a taste for life! south africa’s favourite burgers, ribs and steaks... .
i finally made it here for dinner. of late with the crazy weather, it is very co ...
the ambience is awesome. staff are very friendly. they have very tasty red snapp ...
it was friday and since i love going out for good food often, i suggested to a fr ...
ordered two portions of double rack pork for delivery, and enjoyed them. the por ...
i loved the burgers, service was a bit slow and the wifi never works. i would st ...
best cobb salad ever! !! i hear their steaks and cocktails are pretty good. i ...
the ambiance is quite good. i give 4 / 5 the service gets 3 / 5 the waiter for the ...
i love the place, you get to enjoy the view of kigali city and good customer car ...
i have been to sol e luna a number of times. the pizza is great, the service pro ...
the food was really good and the staff is very friendly. you can see the chef if ...
zuri is a restaurant that has topped taste in food. a restaurant that has great ...
i frequently get cravings for a j. lynns bagel, coffee and donut. my favourite is ...
in pursuit of a delicious donut, i dragged myself out on a saturday morning to f ...
ankole grill' s menu features a myriad of dishes with african influence. they even serve ‘mchicha’ as a side accompaniment to main meals .
starting from 27th july to 5th august you will enjoy two for one offers on burgers at a variety of restaurants .
st and helpful staff and a great ambiance, good location & no crowds. would recomme
of us. it felt like a fantasy, with the ambience just perfect for a date with my queen. and when it came to the food, i didnt even have much time to take the photos. it smelled so good, that for each course, i was already digging in before the thought of a photo moment would hit me. well done! we' ll definitely
ants that have signed up with eat out. keep up the good work and cheers to greatness .
offers which menu... . where to go when you crave something .
mouth smacking flavours whilst i visited during nairobi pizza festival. it' s very good for ppl who love to eat, travel, and know places than i would suggest ,
east or west but eat out keny
best thing this year for me! the fest is awesome and loved the idea .
. they surely know how to pull a rabbit out of the hat. .
my first there but its worth it. . the waiters, the quality of the food, the deliveranc
this is the best thing that has ever happened to a campus chap like like me i cannot imagine visiting all these so expensive cribs cheaply am happy... . .
yes coz everyone in uganda need to develope his country in some ways lyk ds. so we thank ds donedeal to call us as a ugandan. and thank u so much to developing
ohh my god, ts a place among places. . i love the hospitalit
had a dinner with our client and a few colleagues. we all enjoyed the asian cuis ...
its ambiance is awesome, you forget you are in a noisy mall! plus food and servi ...
loved the ambiance and the food that whole fish, whenever i think of fish my min ...
i always eat pork over the weekend, but this time around, i felt like changing m ...
every month, we will be giving away 2 artcaffe vouchers worth ksh. 5, 000 / = you can enjoy with a friend! this…
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review. fast food not quite your cup of tea? don’t worry. we kept it classy with a peking duck feature, catch up with
chasing away those monday blues... . lunch is served! # flametreerestaurant # noonedoesitbetter # bestburgersintown urltoken
have you been to @ _ coffeecasa? happy hours, freak shakes, the great casa burger and a pleasant ambience! if you haven' t been there yet, then you can catch the semi finals tomorrow over a burger and a beer. # eatoutkenya urltoken
good # coffee on a monday morning because inlaws and decaf on weekend. # mondaymotivaton @ fareedkhimani urltoken
pan asian yao are helping everyone get through their week. every thursday they' re introducing their happy hour because you' re all that and dim sum! from 4 pm to 7 pm, for only ksh 2, 000 per person, guests can indulge in unlimited dim sum and beer. urltoken
come experience our passion for food! every detail, every ingrediënt, everything counts! try something from the tapas section, and because its # thursday, you get two at the price of one! also perfect for sharing. # thursdayfunday # tapas # foodlovers urltoken
their signature dishes are humus, falafel yogurtlu and oriental salad. however, they also offer a mixed grill. find out more :
aldar is a lebanese and oriental restaurant that provides a refreshing and friendly atmosphere. # lebanesecuisine # eatoutkenya urltoken
breakfast is considered an important meal because it breaks the overnight fasting period, replenishes your supply of glucose and provides other essential nutrients to keep your energy levels up throughout the day. do not compromise! !! # karibuamaica urltoken
jets off to dar es salaam and shares with us her experience. > > >
karel t invites you to the one and only elemental special! the theme of the night will be white and silver with music from @ zelalemulat and hosted by @ wanjiral. dinner will be served between 7pm and 9pm. do not miss out on the most epic night in nairobi! urltoken
feel the mexican vibe in nairobi' s mercado restaurant, in westlands. find out more > >
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1. publishing – we publish the monthly yummy & nomad magazines. both are the largest publications in their categories with 10, 000 copies being distributed for free in malls, shops, hotels and restaurants in the region .
2. events – we host some of the most popular events within the hospitality calendar including the taste awards and nairobi restaurant week, burger festival, pizza festival and more .
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bake awards ceremony was held on may 14th, 2016 at recently opened radisson blu hotel in upper hill. bloggers, fans and sponsors, all dressed in their best african formal wear, were there to cheer on as
kaluhi adagala is a finance major who found that her passion lay in the kitchen creating delicious kenyan recipes with a modern or new twist for the everyday kenyan .
aika has been in the blogging game for four years, as she grows and develops, so does her blog. she writes food recipes that she creates saying that the most unforgettable meal in a year is always a home cooked meal .
sandy thethy will take you on a taste safari as you explore her different recipes and her different culinary destinations. in her recipes, sandy draws inspiration from different cultures, primarily her kenyan background with a focus on global fusion recipes and everyday gourmet .
meera is a fitness freak who delivers bold flavours and delicious meals in a healthy, inspiring way. her photos will make you drool and her zeal for the fit life will leave you pushing aside your laptop and hitting the gym .
jean wandimi is probably best known for her wine expertise. she has traveled on several occasions as the kenyan representative to south african wine tastings. although jean focuses on wine, she writes about other beverages and restaurant reviews as well .
get the latest restaurant news, special offers & vip invitations to the coolest event in town .
twitter provided training, through their london office, to all restaurants participating in the festival which runs for 10 days .
as part of the programme, the social media company will guide restaurant teams on best practices and effective use of the platform as a marketing tool during and after the restaurant week .
“using the hashtag # nrw2015, twitter will help you discover new dining experiences around the city and let you get closer to your favourite restaurants. ”
the partnership seeks to create awareness among middle class kenyans, who are the target of the festival, in the wake of digital marketing .
the group has a large presence on social media with a forum dubbed kenyans on twitter (kot) known for pushing their agenda on the internet .
mr shah added that the training is a way of thanking restaurants which chose to take part in the festival. this is not the first time twitter has been used to drive sales of products and events. coca cola is using # shareacokeke to drive its latest marketing campaign .
safaricom, kenya power and nic bank are among the many local firms that have used the social media to offer their customers services .
in the past, the firm has collaborated with google to roll out free wi - fi hotspots in restaurants and with safaricom to deploy the popular lipa na m - pesa payment option to restaurants across nairobi .
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urltoken
voices of leaders, the next - generation global business platform for top executives .
twitter, the real time information network, will be providing dedicated training through their london office to all restaurants participating during the 10 - day event, guiding them on best practices and the effective use of the platform as a marketing tool for their offering during and beyond restaurant week .
i am a retired digital reporter at citizen tv kenya and a digital strategist, public relations guru, manchester united fan and above all god' s son .
since inception at the end of 2009, the eat out website has quickly established a strong online presence as nairobi’s favorite restaurant guide and booking service. the website, which seats thousands of diners at hundreds of restaurants each month, currently receives over 100, 000 monthly page views and has 16, 000 registered members on facebook. the company recently launched its mobile phone application in kenya .
in 2012, eat out won the kenya tourism award for digital media and the prestigious vision 2030 ict innovation for tourism. the company was listed as one of the top 20 african online businesses to look out for by south africa’s memeburn magazine .
eat out will be expanding its services to the region in 2012, with the launch of eat out tanzania & zanzibar, followed by eat out uganda and rwanda .
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provider of an online mobile platform designed to help diners to pay for their meals through their mobile phone. the company' s online mobile platform offers to browse, discover and get access to discounts at restaurants in the east africa, enabling users to avail useful information about restaurants and food as well as pay at the same time through a single platform .
© 2018 pitchbook data. all rights reserved. pitchbook is a financial technology company that provides data on the capital markets .
mikul shah, a nairobi based serial internet entrepreneur, earlier this year spoke to startup academy about a business that started as a hobby, how startups can increase their chances of attracting investors, why a business is a business, whether offline or online and why, for his first company, going mobile is not the top priority .
mikul shah, capital fm lifestyle writer, susan wong and a chef pose for a photo after a burger eating competition at brew bistro restaurant towards the end of 2013. mikul beat wong by 350 grams
one of my biggest passions is food, and restaurants. my background in education is it. i spent over ten years in technology. but, like i said, my passion is going out to restaurants and trying new foods. when i came to nairobi, i was completely shocked that there was no online platform or mobile app that would tell you which restaurants to go to, and what sorts of cuisine are available and what customers are saying .
in terms of technology, at least when we started i felt that was a very easy thing to do. it was just collecting a bunch of content and putting it together on a platform and hence, it kind of started as a complete hobby. in 2009, i approached a number of restaurant owners and said, “hey, would you need to stay on this platform? ”. most of them said, “yes, but you are crazy, it is not going to work” .
actually, we were profitable on day one. all the restaurants we had piloted with immediately, when we said we were launching, paid us the annual fee and so from pretty much day one, we had two employees and we had 20 clients who were paying us. so we were profitable on day one .
the main thing is, if you look at things from the investors’ point of view, they are not here to donate money and give away charity, they are here to make a massive return with the money that they are putting into the business. obviously, if you already have a solid business, then it is quite comforting for an investor to say they are already making money, they know what they are doing .
when it comes to what is happening in the current scene, there are two things, and i certainly don’t think that either one is better or not: there is taking a route down competition and grants. like i said we have won numerous competitions and some big value grants; like a world bank grant of $ 50 000 that kick started some of the things we wanted to do .
however, a lot of the sort of entrepreneurs are not too serious about their business and they are really competing to win grants and competitions. if they fail to win, they close down the business because they rely heavily on that sort of funding .
i like the model where somebody is getting something out of putting some money into your business. so, my preference would be investors who are looking for equity swaps or convertible debts where if they are giving me some money, they are taking something out of the business .
obviously, what else they can bring apart from the money is very important; the network, the knowledge to help you grow your business. but, generally, i think there are sort of two or three really important things; i think the most important thing is the team. a lot of the times, we think we have a brilliant idea, we are going to change the world. however, we don’t have the experience. so, it is more important that the idea will change and adapt over time because business requirements change, conditions change, and the environment changes. so, how do you adapt your initial business idea so that once you decide to execute it things change by the go .
generally investors really look out for entrepreneurs who are able to adapt according to what is happening. and rarely do you see an idea is completely sold without a team. one of the biggest mistakes that i feel especially with our tech community, and i mention this a lot of times with teams that i mentor, is that, if you are a group of four people in a startup, ideally you should not be four techies because you are missing a lawyer, a salesperson and a marketing person. and that’s your perfect team because to run a successful business is not about you building the technology. and we have learnt the hard way that we need a strong sales team, a strong marketing team. at some occasions we’ve been really hurt by not having a strong legal team. so, in my opinion, that is what techies are missing out on. they think that because they can build a fantastic product they will be able to sell, to market and to scale it and they don’t have that expertise. at the end of the day, they are techies. so, techies should stick to doing what they do best but the entire team in a business should be much more than just techies .
in 2011, we won an award with samsung for the best entertainment application. we signed a contract with a provider who is working with samsung so we will be pre - embedded on every samsung device in the market. also, currently we are in the final stages of developing our native android app. but we have been on the mobile platform for quite sometime .
unfortunately for us, for our target demographic, mobile is not the absolute necessity. our target demographic generally has a computer at home, a computer at work and a smart phone. hence, they all play an equal part, so we don’t really need to focus absolutely on mobile. but with smart phones becoming bigger and better over time, it is a big part of what we do. our website is actually more important than moving into mobile. however, we have been in mobile from the very beginning .
you founded urltoken, then co - founded urltoken, urltoken, you are also part of naked pizza among other entities. is there a particular reason why you focus on the hospitality industry ?
there is no legislation that is easily available. with brick and mortar businesses, everybody knows the right, wrong and legal ways of doing it. to be honest, for us, there hasn’t been a massive problem. i think we operate pretty much like an offline business, it is just that our channel is online. i think that is important to note as well that a business is a business, whether it is online or offline, and certain business fundamentals have to be in place; customer service, product knowledge, simple things like accounting and running an office, taxation and legal matters, all have to be in place. first we treat our company as a business, just the fact that it is online is not so important to us here. obviously, it has gotten us a lot of attention, because we are successful in the online space, but, at the end of the day it is just another business .
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while access to capital is still a widespread issue in africa, these ventures successfully raised significant amounts (us $ 500, 000 +) so far in 2017 .
in 2016, african or africa - focused startups raised between $ 129 million and $ 367 million, according to reports from disrupt africa and partech ventures .
perhaps unsurprisingly, given promising macro trends across african markets (e. g. , increasing mobile / smartphone / internet penetration rates, a gradual rise of the middle & consumer class, rapid urbanization, and strong working - age population growth), the momentum continues into 2017 with entrepreneurs and investors in africa & beyond continuing to explore and exploit opportunities for progress and profit across the continent .
unicaf, an online education platform & operator of higher education learning centers, raised $ 12 million from kenya’s savannah fund, new york’s university ventures, and uk development - finance institution, cdc group .
kenya’s twiga foods, a b2b m - commerce platform, raised a $ 10. 3 million series a round led by dubai’s wamda capital .
flutterwave, an api - driven fintech platform, raised a $ 10 + million series a round co - led by new york’s greycroft partners and san francisco’s green visor capital, with silicon valley’s y combinator also participating .
nigeria’s urltoken, an online marketplace for used cars, raised a $ 5 million series a round from berlin’s frontier car group (a holding company backed by london’s balderton capital, london’s tpg growth, lagos’s echovc, and silicon valley’s nea. )
kenya’s powergen, a renewable energy provider, raised a $ 4. 5 million series a round led by dutch family office, dob equity with kenya’s ahl venture partners also participating .
morocco’s waystocap, a cross - border b2b e - commerce platform, raised ~ $ 3 million from silicon valley’s y combinator, waltham’s battery ventures, silicon valley’s soma capital, new york’s palm drive capital, palo alto’s amino capital, new york’s story ventures, san francisco’s lynett capital, and others .
kenyan - headquartered bitpesa, a virtual currency payment platform, raised a $ 2. 5 million series a round led by silicon valley’s draper associates, with participation from new york’s greycroft partners and others .
south africa’s hearx, a hearing - focused digital health firm, raised a $ 2. 8 + million seed round, including $ 500k in grants .
nigeria’s tizeti, a high - speed wireless internet provider, raised $ 2. 1 million from california - based venture - debt firm, western technology investment, silicon valley’s social capital, dubai’s vy capital, san francisco’s lynett capital and others .
kenya’s alternative circle, the fintech - focused parent company of mobile micro - loan app, shika, raised a $ 1. 1 million strategic investment from iceland - based credit risk management company, creditinfo group, related to data generated .
kenya’s bamba, a mobile - driven data collection startup, raised a $ 1. 1 million seed round from silicon valley’s draper associates, colorado’s foundry group, san francisco’s right side capital, and others .
ghana’s omg digital, a viral media company, raised a $ 1. 1 million seed round from san francisco’s comcast ventures, silicon valley’s soma capital & social capital, and others .
south africa’s aerobotics, a data analytics company leveraging drones, raised a $ 600, 000 + seed round from kenya’s savannah fund and south africa’s 4di capital .
uganda’s ensibuuko, a provider of cloud - based finance software for non - bank financial institutions, raised $ 500, 000 from canadian investor, ed levinson .
tanzania’s jamii, an m - health insurance provider, also raised a $ 750, 000 seed round, reportedly comprised of 50% in grants .
though perhaps not as driven by tech as the ventures above, it’s also worth noting that kenya’s africa logistics properties, a developer, acquirer, and manager of logistics warehouses, raised $ 4 million from dutch family office, dob equity, and nigeria’s tomato jos, an agricultural production company, raised $ 2. 1 million from vestedworld .
in addition, tala and d. light, which target african markets but have significant operations elsewhere, also received funding in 2017. tala, a provider of smartphone - based micro - loans, raised a $ 30 + million series b round led by silicon valley’s ivp, with participation from new york’s collaborative fund & lowercase capital, and others, and d. light, an off - grid solar energy solutions provider focused on africa & asia, raised $ 5 from norway’s norfund. (iflix, a subscription video - on - demand service, and taxify, a ride - hailing uber competitor, which are both present in african markets, also raised significant rounds. )
fintech players flutterwave, bitpesa, alternative circle, and ensibuuko all raised significant amounts in 2017. with africa - focused fintech startups raising $ 30 - 70 million in 2016 (approximately one - fifth to one - fourth of total funds raised by african startups in 2016 across all sectors), including zoona’s $ 15 million series b and branch international’s $ 9 + million series a, the sector continues to receive significant investor attention. in all, african fintech startups have raised in excess of $ 100 million since 2015 .
among the list of investors above a few names are quite active in africa, appearing multiple times. draper associates, led by tim draper, invested in both bitpesa and bamba in 2017. but that’s not all. tim draper was among the earliest investors in nigeria’s paga in 2012, and through draper dark flow, alongside toro orero, he has invested in various startups across the continent including nigeria’s paystack, south africa’s sweepsouth, and ghana’s swiftly. (draper and orero are also involved with the african startup institute, launching in march 2018, which will offer personalized entrepreneurial training in lagos, nigeria. )
we’ve always believed in the potential of the market. i expect we make more investments in africa over the next five years than the last 10 .
in addition, silicon valley’s y combinator, soma capital, & social capital, as well as san francisco’s lynett capital (also an investor in flutterwave’s 2016 seed round) all appear more than once. as does kenya’s savannah fund .
the fact of the matter is that africa is one of the toughest and least forgiving capital raising environments, and the time and effort spent on it has ‘killed’ or at least really held back many great teams and ideas. – ido sum, investor
while the list above makes it clear that finding funding is far from impossible for the right teams with the right ideas & execution, it should still be highlighted that access to capital, whether in ‘significant’ amounts or otherwise, is still a real issue for promising, high - potential teams across africa .
“focused exclusively on technology enabled solutions and innovation serving sub saharan africa (ssa). ”
i want [ to support ] african online businesses … i think e - commerce, internet, big data is the future. you can never stop it. you like it or don’t like it. but you will never stop it.
eatout is an online restaurant guide primarily based in kenya and focused on growth to uganda , tanzania , rwanda , burundi , and ethiopia . the online restaurant guide provides menus , reviews , virtual tours , offers , and event information for consumers . eatout was founded in 2010 by serial entrepreneur mikul shah.eatout is also the organisers of nairobi restaurant week and publish the popular yummy magazine . 
eatout is an online restaurant guide primarily based in kenya and focused on growth to uganda, tanzania, rwanda, burundi, and ethiopia. the online restaurant guide provides menus, reviews, virtual tours, offers, and event information for consumers. eatout was founded in 2010 by serial entrepreneur mikul shah.eatout is also the organisers of nairobi restaurant week and publish the popular yummy magazine.
eatout is an online restaurant guide primarily based in kenya and focused on growth to uganda, tanzania, rwanda, burundi, and ethiopia. the online restaurant guide provides menus, reviews, virtual tours, offers, and event information for consumers. eatout was founded in 2010 by serial entrepreneur mikul shah.eatout is also the organisers of nairobi restaurant week and publish the popular yummy magazine.