{"id":6298,"date":"2019-08-13T15:24:58","date_gmt":"2019-08-13T15:24:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lifeinmombasa.com\/?p=6298"},"modified":"2022-09-13T07:56:06","modified_gmt":"2022-09-13T07:56:06","slug":"the-2019-yepi-governors-startup-challenge-finalists","status":"publish","type":"avada_portfolio","link":"https:\/\/lifeinmombasa.com\/index.php\/videos\/the-2019-yepi-governors-startup-challenge-finalists\/","title":{"rendered":"The 2019 YEPI Governors Startup Challenge Finalists"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In an earlier post we highlighted the Governors Startup Challenge<\/a>, one of the programmes of a Mombasa based Youth Empowerment Program Initiative (YEPI) that seeks to stimulate and promote youth led businesses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Governors Startup Challenge (GSC) does this by bringing\ntogether select young entrepreneurs representing some of the best and brightest\nstartups to compete in designing and building entrepreneurial projects that\nalso solve community problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2019 marks the second edition of GSC, and as hinted in the\nlast post this year\u2019s edition presented very interesting, ambitious and\nenergetic 10 finalists that earned their way (out of a pool of over 130\napplicants) to the Entrepreneurship Boot Camp that epitomizes the GSC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 10 young fellows were officially unveiled by YEPI at a networking cocktail event held at Mombasa\u2019s Pride Inn CBD hotel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The industries repped by the #GSC2019<\/strong> finalists are as diverse as they come with blue economy, arts, health, cuisine, agri-business, event management, media & communications, technology and waste management taken care of. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Below are profile of the 10 finalists:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

JOSEPHINE ADETI \u2013 AWESCRIBERS<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Josephine is the founder of Awescribers, an early stage\nstartup which provides video scribing, augmented reality & 2D and 3D animation\nservices. Her mission is to disrupt the education sector by stimulating the\nuptake of graphic illustrations as the alternative to engaging and interactive\nlearning experiences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her creative productions also aim at changing the\nnarrative of how presentations and advertisements are packaged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cParticipating in programs like the GSC will help me professionalize\nmy project. It also helps me publicize my work, few people knew about it\nbecause mostly I used to do it \u2018chini ya\nmaji\u2019<\/em>\u201d the creative from Kilifi County says.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Animation skills sound like a complicated skills set to\nacquire, right? Then you might be surprised to know that Josephine taught\nherself all this thanks to that old, useful quality: curiousity. And the\ninternet!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen you are excited about something it\u2019s easy to learn.\nIt took one week.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

ALI MASHUA \u2013 LIKONI\nCREATIVE CLEANERS SERVICES<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Ali\u2019sLikoni\nCreative Cleaners Services is a community business tackling environmental\npollution by providing garbage collection and clean-up services as well as\ncreating awareness on proper waste management practices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is estimated that Mombasa produces up to 2,000 tons of\nsolid waste per day. So you think this is all dirt. Ali thinks he is literally\n\u2018sitting on a gold mine\u2019, plus an opportunity to help in fixing this problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI took a keen interest in the GSC so that I can be\ninspired. The program has mentors who are basically entrepreneurs who made it\nfrom scratch and learning from them can be motivating,\u201d says the 20-year old.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ELIZABETH ARUBA \u2013\nAFRI-FABRIC COLLECTION<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Elizabeth\u2019s AfriFabri-Collection is a business that up\nscales fabric waste materials to produce custom made, multipurpose African\nprint bags, pillows, cushions and shaggy door mats. The Kilifi County based\nsocial entrepreneur is also a fourth year student at Pwani University.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Apart from word-of-mouth referrals that gives her\nbusiness, she also markets her products on social media where she sells and\nmake deliveries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy long term goal is to enhance skills development\nespecially for the women of Kilifi County. When my business grows I would want\nto run a workshop and train women on tailoring,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

EVLYNE CHIDZUGWE \u2013\nHEALTHY BAKES<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Evlyneis a\nself-taught baker who is passionate about food. She founded Healthy Bakes, a\nhome based business aimed at providing consumers with freshly prepared bakery,\npastry products and educating people on healthy alternative at all times. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Evlyne\u2019s healthy baking concept is built around usage of\nalternative baking ingredients such as millet flour, rice flour, amaranth\nflour, cassava flour, honey et cetera. Her yummy products are not only for\ngluten intolerant people and those on diets, but also customers who seek to\nventure into healthy eating. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI am also in the process of making lactation cookies\nwhich am still perfecting the recipe,\u201d she lets on. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

ANZAZI KITI \u2013 TASTE\nAFRIQUE<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Anzazi is the founder of Nairobi based Taste Afrique Ltd,\na healthy food companythat manufactures\nand sells organic food seasoning\nproducts dubbed Chibundiro<\/em> and Siri<\/em> spices. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Three years now down the line since the business started,\nthey are growing bit by bit but she has an even bigger vision for it. Anzazi\nwants to see her brands become Kenya\u2019s leading natural food seasoning products and\navailable in all households. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On her participation in the GSC2019, \u201cI saw the vision in\nYEPIs program and that\u2019s why I wanted to be part of this noble intervention. I\nhope to learn something that I\u2019ve never learnt in my business journey so far,\u201d\nshe says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

LAVENDER OGADA – AFRICA\nTO MANUFACTURE (ATM)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Lavender is an Agriculture and Enterprise Development\nGraduate and co-founded ATM as a concept to bring affordable solution to small-holder cassava farmers often experiencing\npost-harvest losses and exploitation by middlemen. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

She and her team aim to be market enablers for cassava\nfarmers through decentralized agro-processed facilities thus killing two birds\nwith one stone; adding value for end user\u2019s benefit and offering better prices\nfor farmers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe need capital to make our idea work and I saw this (read\nGovernors Startup Challenge) as an opportunity to access an asset that will\ngrow our business,\u201d she quips.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SAID SHARIF – COBRA\nEVENT SEC.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Said is the founder of Cobra Event, an event security company that aims to\nrecruit and train marginalized youth on conflict management, customer care,\nhealth, safety and physical intervention skills in order to create job opportunities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With\nsome experience having worked in the sector abroad, he thought that by training\ncollege-going as well as youth who never had a chance to pursue tertiary or\nhigher education studies in event security it would empower them to eke out a\nliving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe\nidea came when I was in the UK, and before I left my home in Kisauni (Mombasa\nCounty) there had been increasing cases of youth crime. Apparently idleness was\ncited as the root cause,\u201d he narrates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s what motivated the birth of Cobra Event Sec. To provide the youth in his community with part-time gigs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MOSES MUNYAKA<\/strong> –\nAQUACULTURE<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

A 19 year-old student at Thika Training Institute, Moses\u2019\nentrepreneurial light bulb is to start a fish farming project in the sea areas\nof Jomvu in Mombasa County addressing the issues of sea waste management and\nboosting protein intake around the coastal communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s face it, traditional fishing practices & techniques\nare simply no longer sustainable in the long run and this equals to danger in\nterms of sea-food security. Fish cage farming is the future of fisheries with\nthe potential to boost food production and supply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 \u201cI believe lessons\nI\u2019ll take from the Governors Startup Challenge program will be impactful in\nbettering my idea,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STEPHEN CALOO – MWANGAZA\nDAIMA MEDIA<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Stephen is creative and passionate about youth matters. His\ndigital media agency empowers young people through impactful storytelling by sharing\ncontent on issues affecting the youth and possible solutions via its Mwangaza\nMagazine.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It all started\nin 2016 as a campus publication, but went on to rebrand outside university to\naccommodate a wider audience as well as to assume a more serious outlook in\nterms of content offering. It has since grown to also include a commercial wing\nproviding branding services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEach one of us\nhas a talent which they can use to develop themselves and others,\u201d he advises.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

RADHIA WANJIRU – MIND\nTO CANVAS<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

She is strong, is simply how you can describe Radhia. The\n24 year-old almost got crushed by the jaws of depression, but this courageous\nand energetic young woman fought back and eventually founded Mind To Canvas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes, Mind To Canvas because she\u2019s a gifted artist and\ngiven her experiences, she chose to start a social enterprise that employs art\nto pass across social messages around mental health themes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAt first I didn\u2019t use to sell my (artwork), but my friends\nencouraged me to because they liked them,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThough I realized most people don\u2019t understand art and\nthat\u2019s why they don\u2019t buy artwork. So I incorporated mental health messages to\nsell the idea that drawings (and paintings) are just as valuable as books. And\nnow people are starting to buy.\u201d  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In an earlier post we highlighted the Governors Startup Challenge, one of the programmes of a Mombasa […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6280,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"portfolio_category":[153],"portfolio_skills":[],"portfolio_tags":[170],"yoast_head":"\nThe 2019 YEPI Governors Startup Challenge Finalists - Life in Mombasa<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/lifeinmombasa.com\/index.php\/videos\/the-2019-yepi-governors-startup-challenge-finalists\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The 2019 YEPI Governors Startup Challenge Finalists - Life in Mombasa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In an earlier post we highlighted the Governors Startup Challenge, one of the programmes of a Mombasa […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/lifeinmombasa.com\/index.php\/videos\/the-2019-yepi-governors-startup-challenge-finalists\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Life in Mombasa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-09-13T07:56:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/lifeinmombasa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/GSC-Finalist.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2482\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"2018\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/lifeinmombasa.com\/index.php\/videos\/the-2019-yepi-governors-startup-challenge-finalists\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/lifeinmombasa.com\/index.php\/videos\/the-2019-yepi-governors-startup-challenge-finalists\/\",\"name\":\"The 2019 YEPI Governors Startup Challenge Finalists - Life in Mombasa\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/lifeinmombasa.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2019-08-13T15:24:58+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-09-13T07:56:06+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/lifeinmombasa.com\/index.php\/videos\/the-2019-yepi-governors-startup-challenge-finalists\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/lifeinmombasa.com\/index.php\/videos\/the-2019-yepi-governors-startup-challenge-finalists\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/lifeinmombasa.com\/index.php\/videos\/the-2019-yepi-governors-startup-challenge-finalists\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/lifeinmombasa.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Portfolio\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/lifeinmombasa.com\/index.php\/videos\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"The 2019 YEPI Governors Startup Challenge Finalists\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/lifeinmombasa.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/lifeinmombasa.com\/\",\"name\":\"Life in Mombasa\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/lifeinmombasa.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The 2019 YEPI Governors Startup Challenge Finalists - Life in Mombasa","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/lifeinmombasa.com\/index.php\/videos\/the-2019-yepi-governors-startup-challenge-finalists\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The 2019 YEPI Governors Startup Challenge Finalists - Life in Mombasa","og_description":"In an earlier post we highlighted the Governors Startup Challenge, one of the programmes of a Mombasa […]","og_url":"https:\/\/lifeinmombasa.com\/index.php\/videos\/the-2019-yepi-governors-startup-challenge-finalists\/","og_site_name":"Life in Mombasa","article_modified_time":"2022-09-13T07:56:06+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2482,"height":2018,"url":"https:\/\/lifeinmombasa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/GSC-Finalist.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"7 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/lifeinmombasa.com\/index.php\/videos\/the-2019-yepi-governors-startup-challenge-finalists\/","url":"https:\/\/lifeinmombasa.com\/index.php\/videos\/the-2019-yepi-governors-startup-challenge-finalists\/","name":"The 2019 YEPI Governors Startup Challenge Finalists - Life in Mombasa","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/lifeinmombasa.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2019-08-13T15:24:58+00:00","dateModified":"2022-09-13T07:56:06+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/lifeinmombasa.com\/index.php\/videos\/the-2019-yepi-governors-startup-challenge-finalists\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/lifeinmombasa.com\/index.php\/videos\/the-2019-yepi-governors-startup-challenge-finalists\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/lifeinmombasa.com\/index.php\/videos\/the-2019-yepi-governors-startup-challenge-finalists\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/lifeinmombasa.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Portfolio","item":"https:\/\/lifeinmombasa.com\/index.php\/videos\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"The 2019 YEPI Governors Startup Challenge Finalists"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/lifeinmombasa.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/lifeinmombasa.com\/","name":"Life in Mombasa","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/lifeinmombasa.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeinmombasa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/avada_portfolio\/6298"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeinmombasa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/avada_portfolio"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeinmombasa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/avada_portfolio"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeinmombasa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeinmombasa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6298"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lifeinmombasa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/avada_portfolio\/6298\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7067,"href":"https:\/\/lifeinmombasa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/avada_portfolio\/6298\/revisions\/7067"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeinmombasa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6280"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeinmombasa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6298"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"portfolio_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeinmombasa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/portfolio_category?post=6298"},{"taxonomy":"portfolio_skills","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeinmombasa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/portfolio_skills?post=6298"},{"taxonomy":"portfolio_tags","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeinmombasa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/portfolio_tags?post=6298"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}