Kenyan Entrepreneur Asuma on How He Started His Media House From Scratch

Erick Asuma, Co-Founder and CEO Hisa Technologies - Kenya Wall Street parent company
Erick Asuma, Co-Founder and CEO Hisa Technologies - Kenya Wall Street parent company

The Kenyan media space continues to experience massive disruption, especially with the emergence of digital platforms that have significantly dented TV viewership.

The digital front has opened opportunities for entrepreneurs to redefine media consumption, with ever-evolving consumption trends among audiences.

One such entrepreneur is Erick Asuma, who is making strides and a name for himself, as he gives Kenya's traditional media owners a run for their money.

Asuma is the owner and co-founder of Hisa Technologies, a company which operates an online media platform - The Kenyan Wallstreet.

Kenya Wall Street Founder and CEO, Erick Asuma during an interview on YouTube
Kenya Wall Street Founder and CEO, Erick Asuma during an interview on YouTube

According to Asuma, he started the media company as a hobby in 2014, without ever imagining that it would morph into a fortune.

"Kenya Wall Street began as a basic Twitter handle. It was an idea that I conceived while in a matatu," Asuma told Business Hour Ke, a YouTube outlet.

With just a little above ten followers on Twitter, Asuma leveraged on the content which was not being shared on internet to gain traction.

"I was not sure it was going to be a business," he stated but with reception from foreign investors with an exposure in telecom and banking industry, he started receiving orders from foreign investors and institution for research and intelligence.

According to the CEO and CO-Founder of Kenyan Wallstreet and Hisa Inc., the business which he established as a hobby then became a source of constant revenue three years later.

Asuma who has a background in Commerce, remembered how he was involved in his parents' business, which helped him master a few management concepts.

"All this is from my parents side, especially from my mother. Most of business experience come from helping my mother," he recalled.

In December 2015, Asuma left for South Africa for a job. It is from S.A the entrepreneur operated the business remotely with one intern on board. He later quit the job and started a bar in Nairobi with little hope to build his media company.

In the interview, Asuma recounted juggling with the hospitality business in the evening for five years while still figuring out how to get his business going.

The business broke even when he received a Ksh100,000 credit facility from the father.

"My father gave me a loan of Ksh100, 000 from a SACCO and looked for a website designer."

According to the entrepreneur, international media houses - CNBC and Bloomberg partnered with his company because of its niche.

The Kenyan Wallstreet is one of the business ideas the entrepreneur tried out after clearing campus. "My first business was tender business for government, second one was bar business and now Kenya Wall Street," he concluded.

Aerial view of Kenyatta Avenue and Moi Avenue junction in Nairobi CBD.
Aerial view of Kenyatta Avenue and Moi Avenue junction in Nairobi CBD.
Photo
Nairobi County Government