Three Kenyan startups clinched the coveted 2019 Sankalp Africa Award out of the final five. Kwangu-Kwako, a social enterprise that builds safer, healthier homes for families in informal settlements in Kenya emerged the overall winner.
Kwangu-Kwako is named from the Swahili for ‘My place, your place’.
Winnie Gitau, the co-founder of the startup said the modular houses are built from reinforced precast concrete panels made by local artisans within the target community, providing sustainable livelihoods to those most in need.
Guess what? We won #Sankalp2019 awards. Thank you to our investors, partners, clients, Kenya local communities @GrowthAfrica @IntellecapTweet @ewb @KoinangeJeff and all. Thank you pic.twitter.com/nNdHuvRyib
— Kwangu Kwako (@kwangu_kwako) February 21, 2019
“We are looking for $500,000 to scale up the business because at the moment we have built 33 homes with 40 others in the pipeline and so we think that this is a great opportunity that gives us access to potential investors and financiers,” Winnie said.
The first runners up, Lake View Fisheries, an aquaculture company run by Dr. Gilbert Mbeo.
The second runners up, insurtech startup Insurance For All (IFA) that delivers relevant and affordable insurance products to workers in the informal sector covering Health, Accident, Property, Life, and Pension Covers products.
The three were announced at the 6th edition of the Sankalp Africa Summit held at the Kenya School of Monetary Studies in Nairobi which focused on promoting social entrepreneurship and impact investing, which the event organizers describe as “using business as a tool to achieve social impact” while also generating profits.
Other finalists; Tanzania was represented by clean energy company Jaza and Uganda’s agri-tech startup Nampya Farmers’ Market.
