Walking into the iHub, the atmosphere is electric.
Espressos, Red Bulls and Coke bottles are on tables across the rooms. Huddles and groups have formed across the open space and hush conversations accompany the sound of louder discourse between team members. Topics range from business models, revenue streams, verticals and use cases.
Budgets have been submitted and Excel spreadsheets and charts are being tweaked. Founders and cofounders begin to rehearse their final pitches with the mentors from Quartz+Co.
This is IPO48.
Crowd Magnet Kitty – Ksh. 1,000,000 Virtual Fund
Through the HumanIPO platform, the founders gave every registered user a virtual Ksh. 1,000,000 (€7,400) to invest in anyt of the competing startups here and below is a snapshot based on where the crowd of over 5,000 members are putting their money. The investor who picks right can win up to 1% in real stock option in the winner of IPO48.
If you sign up at HumanIPO you can get access to the virtual kitty and invest in the startup you think has the best chance and stand to win a 1% option in the company.
The stakes are high and the challenge is set. Here’s the list of the finalists and their bylines (in order of the current crowd magnet leaderboard.
MyOrder
Followers: 226, Team members: 4, Discussions: 24
MyOrder is ordering made easy. We bring you what you want, when you want it, where you want it!
Virtual pledge: 67 050 000 KSh.
Tusqee Systems
Followers: 126, Team members: 6, Discussions: 11
We’re revolutionizing the way more than 35,000 primary & secondary schools in Kenya interact with parents by providing them with cheap, simple and interactive tools that not only let parents query for exam results, fees balances and fees statements but also allow schools to converse with parents and other stakeholders via SMS. Everybody’s a winner: schools enjoy 80% cuts in their communication budgets, reliability & efficiency while we get to make money via sale of the software & SMS credits.
Virtual pledge: 63 100 000 KSh
M-SAVE: AKIBA PAMOJA
Followers: 83, Team members: 4, Discussions: 14
The world is rapidly changing, the future is mobile
What if you could set aside a small % of your daily mobile expenditure towards savings?
What if you could dedicate money towards saving by just topping up your phone?
What if you could access a micro loan as simply as dialing *123# pap!?
M-SAVE: A simple effortless way to save using your phone, is here to make the world a better place.
And we don’t just stop at that:
M-SAVE opens up a whole new world of opportunities for entrepreneurs
Virtual pledge: 7 570 000 KSh
6ix Degrees
Followers: 71, Team members: 3, Discussions: 13
6ix Degrees attempts to kill two birds with one stone. Without running around in fancy ‘intellectual-sounding’ wording, this is what it does:
1: Provide a mobile applications that retrieves all contacts in the users’ phonebook and backs-up these in a remote server. The user can perform periodical phonebook backups which are added onto the existing server data.
2:Using the theory of six-degrees-of-separation, an algorithm sifts through this data to provide a relational nation-wide directory.
Virtual pledge: 7 215 000 KSh
PesaPay.com
Followers: 100, Team members: 3, Discussions: 13
PesaPay is a mobile payment service that enables instant online payments from the mobile phone. We allow businesses to cash out immediately on payments received on their phones.
Virtual pledge: 6 800 000 KSh
Ghafla!
Followers: 176, Team members: 3, Discussions: 20
Ghafla! is going to be a website containing local entertainment content and digital downloads from East Africa.
Virtual pledge: 3 634 520 KSh
Fooder:
Followers: 63, Team members: 3, Discussions: 13
Hungry?? Like right now??
Fooder is serving….
Try a mean steak at only ksh. 125.00 from Mr Mudachi’s Gril, just 100m from where you are…
Not it the mood for steak? Hmmm,
how abt a sandwich at only ksh. 188.00, order it in plain, with cheese, without cheese, with garlic ham from Otieno’s bakery just 125m from where you are….
Or alternatively, try the thursday thriller deal at only ksh. 200, from Chicken Inn, just 300m from where you are….
Still Hungry? see more from our Pitch….
Virtual pledge: 2 867 000 KSh
darasani2
Followers: 143, Team members: 6, Discussions: 23
In the education sector learning takes place where the student meets the teacher this usually takes place in the most basic unit of a learning environment i.e. the class room
Currently there exists no single framework that grants direct access to these basic units in order to support personalized learning environments.
We provide that framework along with a platform that provides end-user collaboration and multi application support.
Virtual pledge: 2 414 000 KSh
tutabeba
Followers: 89, Team members: 4, Discussions: 17
A simple and affordable way to get things to your friends without going through the hassle of planning a place to meet, wading through traffic or simply going out of your way to get something to them safely.
All you need is your friend’s phone number, a nearby drop-off location and you’re done.
The next time you hear from us is when we notify you that your stuff has been collected by your friend.
Virtual pledge: 2 080 000 KSh
Logistis
Followers: 59, Team members: 5, Discussions: 21
In an industry where many fear to trade, lies the greatest of opportunities.
In Africa there are millions of SMEs and only a few thousands have access to professional book-keeping and accounting services, These businesses can grow by higher profit margins with proper advice and discipline in financial matters.
Logistis, a young and energetic company, wants to meet this demand and become a household name as far as SME based book-keeping and accounting is concerned.
Virtual pledge: 1 990 000 KSh
Darasa Apps
Followers: 56, Team members: 3, Discussions: 14
How do you offer a state-of-the-art school management system to a school for free while still making huge revenues that is enough to cover the cost of running the business, and still make profit? Well, the answer lies in Darasa Apps.
Virtual pledge: 1 470 000 KSh
Mtafiti
Followers: 58, Team members: 3, Discussions: 8
Mtafiti is a product that enables conducting of survey research, market research, and last but not least opinion polls using the mobile phone as tool to reach target respondents. Mtafiti provides a simple, practical and cost effective solution to the problems inherent with manual methods of conducting research. The main reason is that mobile penetration highly supersedes fixed telephone lines and computer penetration which are used to conduct automated research in the developed world.
Virtual pledge: 302 500 KSh
Follow Afrinnovator on Twitter for the breaking news on the final pitches, the winners and how it all goes down in an hour!
Let us know what you think of the startups and the competition in the comments below!
