All entrepreneurs aspire to reach the proverbial glass ceiling on the wall by transforming their ideas into multimillion companies.
However, it demands a lot of sacrifices, strategy and dedication for them to achieve this tremendous feat. During the startup phase, the company founders, delve to pitch their ideas to local and international investors to secure funding.
When the investors are fully convinced of the idea, they pump a considerable amount of money into the companies to aid them to expand and achieve their goals.
Kenyans.co.ke takes a look at a number of these business magnates who have made a mark in their respective industries.
Lipa Later
Lipa Later gained global attention after it managed to raise Ksh1.35 billion (US$12 million) during the pre-series round. The company, launched in 2018, was backed up by global companies such as Lateral Frontiers VC and Cauris Finance, GreenHouse Capital, Sayani Investments just to name a few.
Its founder, Eric Muli, partnered with mega retail brands such as Carrefour in a bid to boost its profitability margins. In the case of customers, they are allowed to purchase products in instalments. The deal is, however, restricted to retailers that have partnered with the company.
Pairiti
The company, founded in 2019, focuses on connecting African startups to various talents and resources. Ever since its inception, the company has realised a wide margin of growth- a factor that has been hailed by the company's co-founders- Wossen Ayele and Yacob Berhane.
During a past interview, Berhane indicated that the reason for developing the startup was driven by the need to help startups find their footing in the industry. The duo has since helped five companies transition to the final stages in their cycle.
The company recently received Ksh320 million funding from global investors such as US-based Harlem Capital, Accelerated Ventures, Diverse Angels, AVG Basecamp.
Kidato
Entrepreneur Sam Gichuru is a veteran in the business industry credited for establishing a number of companies. From Nailab, Kuhustle, Swap Kitabu, he endeavoured to grow his businesses to large scale enterprises.
One of his notable projects, Kidato, however, rose to monumental status opening up international investors to Gichuru's enterprise. Kidato is an online platform that provides quality education to students. It was founded in 2020.
The company, in March 2021, was named among three African companies to get the exclusive Silicon Valley Y Combinator.
This is a startup accelerator whereby the business owners got Ksh13 million in funding as well as a chance to showcase their companies to global investors in order to get more funding.
Gachuru seized the opportunity as he bagged another Ksh151 million in funding from investors, one month later.
Wowzi
Social media has created opportunities for brands and in particular, influencers capitalise on their skills to earn an income. Brian Mogeni and Mike Otieno seized the opportunity by creating a platform that connects social media users to blue chips to market their products and services.
Wowzi was launched in 2020, to capitalise on the market niche and the self-service online platform has grown considerably over the past two years.
Currently, the company has on board 70,000 influencers across Kenya and its neighbouring countries in Uganda and Tanzania. The startup secured Ksh136 million and Ksh227 million as pre-seed and seed rounds respectively.
Point to note: During the funding process, there are a number of rounds whereby the first is the seed rounds, Series A, B, and C. At the seed round during funding, if a company manages to raise a lot of money, that means they gave a considerable percentage of their equity.
