CEO Roundtable bridging Asia: Recent Episodes
David
David Kim dives into the interesting stories behind entrepreneurs of rising startups and SMEs around the world. CEO roundtable bridging Asia weaves a narrative journey about innovators, entrepreneurs, and idealists. CEO roundtable was created for you, the Entrepreneur, business owner of SMEs, and solopreneur. Our journey will start in Africa and travel to Latin America, Asia, America, and Europe.
Today's guest is Rob Anders, co-founder and CEO @Niio Art, digital art platform, that offers customers a subscription service to access pre-curated, rotating collections of high quality works, as well as limited edition, available for purchase.
In this episode, Rob and I talk about: 1) His Journey to founding Niio Art. What was his aha moment 2) The value proposition and mission at Niio? 3) Business model 4) To what extent is digital disrupting the art market 5) The fundraising strategy and lesson learned 6) Fixed HR cost of full time employees at a startup is the biggest risk when business slows down. 7) A big picture for Niio Art and the vision.
FIRE QUESTION: a. What is his favorite book and why b. What is one thing he wants to change most in startup ecosystem c. Who is the nicest person he has ever met? And Why?
In this episode, I speak with Sarah Chung, CEO @ Landing International. Landing is the leading B2B technology company helping indie beauty brands connect with global buyers and succeed at retail. Sarah and I talk about:
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Her journey to founding Landing
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What problems Landing is solving
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What is the business model
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What is her advice to CEO of retail brand in Asia with respect to branding building
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One piece of advice to give a founder of a company of indie or new brand who is starting out.
In this episode, I speak with Matthew Reid, a serial entrepreneur, Co-Founder Steelhead Group // Maximal Concepts // KIN Food Halls // Disruption Labs Matt Reid is an entrepreneur and co-founder of Steelhead Group which includes Maximal Concepts, KIN Food Halls, Far North Productions, Plastic Conscious and Disruption Labs, with long time business partner, Malcolm Wood. Steelhead Group is a symbiotic group of companies across four primary verticals; hospitality, environmentalism, wellness and content production. Each business draws from the other; all grounded in core areas of passion and disruptive ideas harnessing creativity, innovation, powerful content, branding, strategy and design. Everything is led by the desire to use business to create positive impacts and a triple bottom line mentality.
Matt and I talk about:
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His journey to founding Kin food?
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What problems Kin is solving
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What is the business model: Netflix for food, Starbucks for a building owner or 5 star brand gym for a developer? 4. What are one thing he wants to change most in startup ecosystem
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A secret to keeping a long term friendship and business partnership
In this episode, I speak with David Hwan, Co-founder & COO at KWARA, a Nairobi and Berlin based startup turning credit unions into modern digital banks. Backed by Finparx, Google, Norrsken, FINCA Ventures, Catalyst Fund and Kepple, today Kwara serves over 50,000 end clients David and I talk about: 1. His journey to founding of Kwara? 2. What problems his team is solving for African credit unions 3. What is the business model 4. The potential of credit unions in emerging markets. 5. Fundraising. what was the biggest challenge 6. What is the next step in terms of the growth and expansion. 7. What are one thing he wants to change most in startup ecosystem 8. Does diversity really help to grow the business. If yes, why?
In this episode, I speak with Nitin Jain, Co-founder & CEO at O'AgriFarm (a unit of OfBusiness) OfBusiness is an India-based B2B platform focused on industrial supply chain and procurement financing services for SMEs. Jain and I talk about: 1. His journey to founding of Ofbusiness? 2. What problems his team is solving 3. What is the business model of Ofbusiness and O'AgriFarm. 4. Ofbusiness made from the 1st year of its operation, how was that possible 5. Fundraising. what was the challenges 6. What is the next step in terms of the growth strategy map.
In this episode, I speak to James Chan, founder and CEO of Ion Mobility Ion Mobility is a tech-driven all-electric mobility company tackling a challenging and complex space. James has more than 15 years of working experience, sitting across all three sides of the table — as a public servant and industry developer with Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (now known as IMDA), as a venture capitalist and angel investor at Neoteny Labs and Silicon Straits (his personal holdings), and subsequently as a serial entrepreneur focused on software, robotics and fintech. I asked and James talks about 1) His journey to founding Ion mobility. 2) What problems he is solving now. 3) Value propositioning and business model 4) How big is the market? and the future of EV mobility company 5) Who are the competitors? What does set Ion mobility apart from others 6) What is the biggest challenges in scaling your business and taking it to the next level 7) How different is his life now being an entrepreneur as compared to an investor and a government servant. 8) The next step and the long term vision
In this episode, I speak to Kees Aarts, CEO and founder of Protix. 1. His journey to founding Protix 2. What problems he is solving now. 3. Business model. 4. How big is the market? 5. What is the future of insect farming?
Protix is world leading insect-nutrition company with a solid IP base and derisked technology platform. Protix has grown its revenues to 7M in 2020, a 240% growth factor after the opening of its flagship facility in Bergen op Zoom. Protix is the first company to achieve large-scale operations since it’s nascency in 2009. Protix is the pioneer in the industry having laid the foundations for the IPIFF, new regulatory frameworks and was the first to be solidly funded for expansion in 2017. Protix is now at the cusp of international expansion.
In this episode, I speak to Hrish Lotlikar, Founder & CEO of SuperWorld to understand his metaverse platform of Virtual World in Augmented Reality including 1) How he is building the Metaverse 2) How SuperWorld connects virtual world (Superworld) with real world 3) How people can invest, trade and own NFT Virtual real estate and build their own metaverse world on top of real world.4) How people can enjoy the appreciation of property value
In this episode, I speak to Jayson Kim, General Partner @Legendary Ventures and Peter Chernyshov, Former CEO at Kyivstar (Київстар), the biggest mobile telecom operator in Ukraine about The future of tech and startup scene in Ukraine
In this episode, I speak to Susana Solis, Member of European Parliament. Susana Solís Pérez is a Spanish politician who was elected as a Member of the European Parliament in 2019. She has since been serving on the Committee on Regional Development. In 2020, she also joined the Special Committee on Artificial Intelligence in a Digital Age. She also served as vice chair for Delegation for relations with the Korean Peninsula. Originally from Spain, she is an Industrial Engineer from the University of Oviedo and a Machine Engineer from the Fachhochschule of Osnabrück (Germany). She holds an Executive MBA and a Master’s Degree in Marketing Management from the Instituto de Empresa in Madrid. She has 19 years of professional experience in several multinationals in Germany (Mercedes Benz, Bosch) and in Spain (Rexel, Essilor and Johnson&Johnson) where she held managerial positions until her election as a Member of the Assembly of Madrid in 2015.
In this episode, I speak to IRENE SHVAKMAN, co-founder and Executive Chairman of Revo Technologies, the leading fintech specialized in Buy Now Pay Later services, operating in Central Eastern Europe and Russia. Irene has more than 25 years of experience in fintech, financial services, and technology. In addition to Revo, Irene is a Member of the Board of Directors of Veon, a NASDAQ listed emerging markets mobile telecommunications company as well as on the European Advisory Board of Harvard Business School. Prior to founding Revo, Irene was a Senior Partner at McKinsey & Company, where she advised top executives at leading banks, insurers, and regulators across emerging markets on strategy, organization, and performance transformation. Irene holds an MBA degree from Harvard Business School and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Biochemistry from Brown University in the United States.
Today, I speak to Jan Pacas, CEO of a rising star plant based meat alternative startup in Australia. Jan Pacas is the Founder and CEO of All G, a food-tech company playing in the alternative protein and biotech space. His career spans globally and includes scaling a $1Bn CHF multinational business, being a CEO of a successful multichannel AU business and co-founding two successful start-ups, Mad Paws - Australia's leading online marketplace for pet services (ASX 2021) and Flare HR - Australia’s first all-in-one HR platform backed by KKR, Westpac (recently valued at more than $100M AUD). Jan strongly believes that focusing simultaneously on social, economic, and environmental performance is good for society and good for business. Leading him to his newest venture - All G Foods. All G Foods is a food technology company with a mission to build a healthier, safer, and more sustainable food system in our lifetimes. The company's expertise, from functionalizing plant proteins to creating DNA identical dairy proteins through precision fermentation, is powered by a world-class team of scientists and chefs spanning multiple research disciplines. All G has created BUDS, Australia’s fastest-growing plant-based meat brand, which is made entirely of plants, and the world’s first-to-market identical dairy milk entirely without the cow. The company has been backed by CEFC, Ellerston capital, and Triple star capital.
DEREK TING, CREATIVE DIRECTOR A writer, director, producer originally from New York, now based in Hong Kong, Derek strives to challenge himself in everything he does. He’s written and produced several feature films: $upercapitalist shot in Hong Kong, New York, released internationally in 2012 with millions of views; Always, a romance drama shot in Hong Kong and Shanghai released globally this 2016, and has a 8.5 rating in China on qq with 300K+ views, and “Agent”, a science fiction thriller, shot in 2016, entirely in California that explores the origins of the Pyramids, Stone Henge, and the Great Wall as well as Alien conspiracies. Recently, he wrote and directed a science fiction short film, “Lucid”, about the possible future use of “virtual reality” as a way to reconstruct memories. He writes, and directs lifestyle branding videos , corporate and music videos, and has had the opportunity to work with some of the greatest stars and brands in entertainment, both in Asia, and North America. Random Art Workshop Media (RAW Media) is a cutting edge strategic global media company engaged in multiple aspects of content production, financing, distribution, and consulting services for movies, television, brands, corporates, in both traditional and new media. RAW Media efficiently leverages its professional hands on expertise, experience, and relationships in Asia and the US to develop and package formidable international works. Based in Hong Kong, RAW Media has produced and internationally distributed two feature films shot across the USA, Hong Kong, China. Our client list includes W Hotel, Bloomberg, Intercontinental Hotel, Pernod Ricard, CNN, Toys R Us, Pizza Hut, Earth Hour/WWF among others. http://www.randomartworkshop.com/about/
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한국기업 및 스타트업의 인도네시아의 진출시 어려운점 또 기회가 뭔지 인도네시아 전문가 두분을 보시고, 토크쇼를 해봤습니다
1) Itemku 창업자 김성진 대표: 2012년부터 인도네시아에 거주 중인 한국인 기업가 김성진. 한국에서는 NHN게임스에 근무했었고, 2013년에 인도네시아에서 itemku 서비스를 창업하여, 2021년에 인도네시아 회사인 bukalapak에 창업한 회사를 매각하였습니다. 향후 인도네시아 진출을 희망하는 기업인들에게 인터뷰가 조금이나마 도움이 되길 희망합니다.
2) 세종 인도네시아 이대호 변호사: 이대호 변호사(한국)는 법무법인 세종 인도네시아 사무소 대표변호사로서 변호사는 인도네시아 UPH 대학에서 법학석사(Magister Hukum) 과정을 수강하였고, ‘인니법-인도네시아 법령 소개서’를 발간하는 등 인도네시아 법에 관한 최고의 한국인 전문가로 인정 받고 있습니다.
In this episode, I and Eva Yoo, co-host speak to Patrick Dai, founder and CEO at Qtum foundation (China, Signapore) Qtum is a hybrid blockchain application platform. Its core technology combines a fork of bitcoin core, an Account Abstraction Layer allowing for multiple virtual machines, including the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), and a Proof-of-stake Consensus protocol, aimed at tackling industry use cases. Qtum (pronounced “quantum”) is a cryptocurrency software that aims to combine different parts of the Bitcoin and Ethereum design models in a bid to entice application developers. The Qtum’s cryptocurrency, QTUM, for example, is used to pay fees to those who help operate the network, and the distribution of newly minted QTUM is based on ownership of the asset. QTUM coins also provide voting rights in its on-chain governance system, meaning if you buy QTUM, you can influence the direction of the software’s development.
In this podcast, I speak to Sunny Lu, founder and CEO of VeChain Launched in 2015, VeChain Technology is a global leading enterprise-friendly blockchain company which aims to connect blockchain technology to the real world by providing enterprises with blockchain-enabled solutions suited to their business needs. It offers VeChain ToolChain™, a low-code blockchain-based SaaS platform that allows enterprise clients to rapidly build and drive digital transformation on a global scale, enabling the evolution of a trust-free and a distributed ecosystem. VeChain Technology is a pioneer of real-world blockchain applications, with international offices in China, Singapore, Luxembourg, Japan, France, Italy and the United States.
In this episode, I speak to Judy Joo, a native New Yorker, celebrity chef, TV personality and food writer living in London. Judy has been a regular face on TV, starring in Iron Chef UK and securing herself the title ‘Iron Chef UK’, becoming the only female Iron Chef in the UK and the second female Iron Chef worldwide. Off the back of her success in the UK show, Judy became a resident judge on Iron Chef America. Her expertise in Korean cooking led to her own shows: Judy Joo’s Return to Korea and two seasons of Korean Food Made Simple. Since then she published her debut cookbook, Korean Food Made Simple and has made regular appearances on numerous programs in the USA including The Today Show, Wendy Williams, The Talk, and various Food Network shows, and in the UK she has popped up on Saturday Kitchen, Sunday Brunch, James Martin’s Saturday Morning. Judy will also be appearing on ITV’s Cooking with the Stars this week. Having settled in the UK, London was the obvious choice for Judy’s first restaurant as Chef Patron, and she opened the doors to her modern Korean restaurant Jinjuu – meaning ‘pearl’ - in 2014. Judy’s cooking is focused on the flavours of her childhood – raised in a Korean-American family in New Jersey, her back porch was lined with her mother’s clay pots, filled with fermenting kimchi, gochujang and doenjang. The house’s garage had racks of drying seaweed, and a Korean barbecue grill tucked in the corner. Judy and her sister were often drafted in to help fold row upon row of dumplings. Her multicultural heritage and training is evident in her dishes today: from ‘disco fries’ influenced by New Jersey highway diners, and topped with spicy cabbage kimchi, to classic French pastries that incorporate traditional Korean ingredients. In 2019, Judy left Jinjuu after five years in order to start a new chapter, which included the launch of her new cookbook, Korean Soul Food in October 2019, and has since launched her latest restaurant, Seoul Bird, in Westfield and Canary Wharf specializing in the Korean fried chicken for which Judy is known.
TMA is a leading software company in Vietnam with 3000 engineers and 24 years of experience in providing quality software services for clients in 30 countries. Beside 7 offices in Vietnam, TMA also has offices in Canada, USA, Japan, Australia, France and Singapore. Chairman, Dr. Nguyen was born in Vietnam during the Vietnam France war. And He went to Australia to study with the full scholarship during Vietnam US war in 1967 and got PhD in Telecommunication at University of Adelaide. After he worked at international telco in US and Canada, he came back to 2001 to start TMA together with his wife. Now, TMA is one of the largest software companies in Vietnam.
Today’s guest is Aigerim Baimuratova (Айгерим Баймуратова) Director, Chocofood at Chocofamily Holding
Chocofamily Holding is the largest and fastest
-growing e-commerce group in Kazakhstan. Holding's structure combines a number of various services in the e-commerce industry through 10 subsidiary companies. Its strategy is to establish and promote subsidiaries that could be leaders in their particular segments with significant market shares. Currently, the group has a 12.4% share of all e-commerce market in Kazakhstan. The subsidiaries have more than 3 millon registered users, 750 thousand active customers, and 34 thousand purchases per day.
Dr. Gang LU is the founder and CEO of TechNode Group, making him one of China’s most recognised influencers in the global technology sector. What started as Dr. Lu’s personal blog quickly became a highly respected international innovation platform, with six business units including TN Media (Chinese and English technology media platform), TN Inno (corporate innovation services), TN Global (Asia and global business), TN Events (branding and event services), TN Data (startup ecosystem data analysis) and TN VC (venture capital and financing services). Through these initiatives, TechNode connects China’s start-up technology ecosystem with the rest of the world. Today, TechNode is the exclusive China partner of TechCrunch.
Today's guests are Frank Wu and Jian Zhang.
In this episode, we talk about the Chinese property market, new trends, REITs and overseas investment activities of Chinese investors. Mr. Jian Zhang: For over 20 years Jian Zhang (Jim) has been a professional practitioner in the commercial and residential property investment sector, as well as the development and fund management sector. Jian Zhang is Founder and Secretary-General of China Real Estate Club which is well-known Chinese real estate organization for senior real estate developers, investors and professionals who are interested in accessing Chinese market and Chinese investors bring Capitals to overseas, and currently Jian Vice President for China Association of Real Estate Fund. Frank Wu is a founding partner of Shanghai Genesis Investment Management Co., ltd, a boutique investment management and financial advisory company in Shanghai, China. Mr. Wu has 20 years of work experience advising international investors making direct investment in China and Chinese investors investing overseas. One of Frank’s controlled companies was also Authorized Sales Representative of Cessna, one of the largest general aviation manufacturers in the world, for its private jet sales in China.
Today’s guest is Anton Volianskyi, CEO and Co-Founder of Jiji.Africa
Jiji, is one of the largest online marketplaces that provides buyers and sellers with an avenue to meet and exchange goods and services in Africa. It has also recently acquired “cars45”, one of the largest transactional car market place in Africa.
Today’s guest is Johnny Widodo, CEO OLX Group Indonesia. I had a casual and very interesting conversation with Johnny Widodo, CEO OLX Group Indonesia. OLX Autos. OLX Group is an online marketplace company headquartered in Amsterdam, Netherlands. It was founded in 2006 and operates in 45 countries. OLX is owned by Prosus, the international assets division of the South African multinational Naspers. Johnny is a CEO of a startup in digital automotive with over 16 years of multiple industry and consulting experience across the globe. Prior to this, built blueprint and work in multiple areas from analytics till marketing for Indonesia 5th Unicorn FinTech company. He is also active as public speaker across Asia both offline and online, serving as President of NTU AA Indonesia and Alumni Advisory Board of Nanyang Business School, publishes two books and have biography published, and mentors for startups in various organizations. In his free time, Johnny hosts J-Talk Podcast at YouTube, Anchor and Spotify and does powerlifting. #startup #fintech #podcast #indonesia #powerlifting
베트남 전문의 최고 법률전문가인 법무법인 광장의 한윤준 변호사와 "한국기업의 베트남 진출시 고려할 법률이슈"에 대해 얘기를 나누어 봤습니다, 한윤준 변호사는 법무법인 광장의 파트너 변호사로 한국인 변호사로서는 베트남 투자관련 최초 그리고 최고 전문가이다. 삼성물산 상사 법무팀 및 다국적 기업인 Sybase Inc.의 사내변호사로서 기업법무에 대한 많은 경험과 사업에 대한 이해를 바탕으로 2006년 부터 수많은 한국계 기업의 베트남 진출에 대한 자문을 제공해 오면서 단순한 베트남 법률해석은 물론이고 한국기업의 needs에 맞는 사업적/구조적 자문 또한 가능하다는 것이 가장 큰 장점이라고 평가받고 있다. Han, Youn Joon is the Partner @ Lee & Ko, a top tier law firm in Korea. He is the first and best Korean lawyer practicing in Vietnam with respect to foreign investment in Vietnam. Since 2006, with his extensive experiences and corporate-generated understanding as the In-House Counsel for Samsung CT (Commercial Unit) and Sybase Inc., he had provided not only general advice regarding Vietnamese law, but also business/structure advices for the Korean companies developing Vietnam market. #베트남투자
Today’s guest is Will Lee, Founder and Chairman at Shareable Asset.
Will is a serial entrepreneur who started his entrepreneurial journey in Silicon Valley in 2011. With his knowledge from studying Artificial Intelligence at Stanford University, Will is on a mission of building a human-centered platform through the newest technologies. Prior to Shareable Asset, he established Blue Whale Foundation and Verlocal. Blue Whale Foundation is the organization of realizing a decentralized sharing economy system. He moved to Singapore in 2017 to realize the vision of Shareable Asset
In this episode, I speak to Ken Cage, President of International Recovery Group (ÏRG)
International Recovery Group is the premiere specialty asset company in the world. They repossess boats, airplanes, RVs, construction equipment and more. They have been featured in many print, TV and radio outlets, having consistently been called "The Ultimate Repo Men"
IRG is the premiere repossession and remarketing company in the world. They focus on high end repossessions and insurance claims cases. They have repossessed over 2,000 assets in 10 years and are currently handling insurance salvage and subrogation cases for many insurance companies.
A Moment of Magic Foundation operates on the mission of "restoring the magic of believing at a time when a child needs to 'just be a kid' and reminding them to be brave, strong, and fearless". The most popular services include Princess Visits, Superhero Visits, Personality Visits, Athlete Visits, Direct Family Support, and Inter-family Connection. Our organization visits children in need free of charge to the institution. They provide services such as individual visits, bedside visits, group visits, story readings, and special events- just to name a few. They are the largest organization of our kind with 16 chapters all over the United States and 500+ volunteers.
In this episode, I speak to Cory Willness, CEO - Croptimistic Technology and CropPro Consulting.
SWAT RECORDS and SWAT MAPS are owned and operated by Croptimistic Technology Inc. SWAT (Soil, water, and topography) MAPS is the #1 variable-rate fertilizer and seed map. The FREE SWAT RECORDS app for field scouting and crop record keeping syncs to the ultimate POWER DESKTOP SOFTWARE for complete farm agronomy management and is the proprietary software platform for SWAT MAPS.
CRAVE is a tech-enabled, social commerce platform that builds a celebrity’s fanbase in China and monetizes it. CRAVE is the world’s first end-to-end solution for international celebrities to make money in the Chinese market with no cost to them. Simply put, most Athletes, Celebrities and Influencers (we call them “ACI’s”) are making very little direct money in the Chinese market. There are several excellent reasons why this is the case, we call them
- Athletes, Celebrities and Influencers (again, “ACI’s”) often have a small window of time to monetize their fame. They all want to make as much money off their fame while they can, and they are currently missing out on the seconds largest and richest markets in the world in China.
- CRAVE solves the barriers to monetization in china by offering celebrity's a user- friendly technology platform and associated services suite to grow and monetize their fan base in China with relatively little effort and no cost:
In this episode, I speak to Ashley Dudarenok , founder and CEO of Alarice & ChoZan , China Marketing Expert, Global Speaker | 3x Bestselling Author
(1) Alarice (alarice.com.hk) is a social media agency. they develop tailored digital marketing strategy for China and execute it — eg. do consumer research and craft China marketing strategy, manage brand’s social media communities (WeChat, RED, Weibo, Douyin), develop content, execute campaigns, work with influencers and live streamers, etc. (2) ChoZan (chozan.co) is an insights and training company. They consult, educate and provide resources for in-house marketing & e-commerce teams to be successful in China.
Ashely and I talk about:
- Her background and journey to China and founding Alarice & ChoZan
- What problems she is solving now and How her business model works
- About the market and target clients,
- Reinventing Business Models Post Pandemic (lessons form inland China and my now firm examples)
- Her long-term vision for the entrepreneurial journey
In this episode, I speak to Sugahara Tomomi, founder and Chair of Emerald Club
Sugahara and I talk about:
- Her background and journey to founding Emerald Club
- What are the main challenges for female professionals and CEOs in Japan
- How Emerald club is trying to solve the problems
- A movie project of Emerald club: What is the title, storyline and the objectives the club wants to achieve. How do you finance production cost?
- About the real business (subscription of perfume sales) the club is trying to launch based on the story of movie.
- Her long-term vision of the emerald club.
Pencil Group is an indie group of agencies combining creativity and technology in marketing services from brand building to e-commerce enablement. Pencil Group exists to make, collaborate and nurture meaningful human connections between companies and their customers in the digital era. Some of their retainer clients are LG Group, Carlsberg Group, Vingroup. The group is founded by some ex C-level leaders from global agency networks, headed by Nguyen Tien Huy, former Chief Digital Officer at Ogilvy Vietnam.
Huy and I talk about:
- His background and journey to founding Pencil Group
- The ecosystem of the digital agency market in Vietnam
- The business model and differentiation of Digipencil
- How Digipencil expanded the business (Pencil group) during the pandemic.
- The long term vision for Pencil Group
- Who is the nicest person he has ever met in his life and why.
In this episode, I speak to Amun Thapa, founder and CEO of sastodeal.com ,
the largest local born E-commerce platform in Nepal.
Nepal's local leading ecommerce company. Strategic partners with Flipkart & Myntra. Partners with the Government of Nepal, Food Management Division. Marquee investors - Dolma Impact Fund, Televentures, ICTC Group, IME Group. The company is fighting a global giant – Alibaba Group in its home turf and is doing really well in an industry that is poised to grow to $1BN GMV by 2026.
Amun and I talk about:
- His background and journey to founding comsastodeal
- What problems he is solving now and How his business model works
- Ecommerce infrastructure in Nepal including Internet and mobile penetration and payment solution (credit card, e-wallet )
- The problems are not issues but opportunities to grow.
- The growth strategy map of sastodeal; From Nepal to the world.
- His long term vision for csastodeal
- Who is the nicest person he has ever met in his life.
In this episode, I speak to Llyod Park, Founder and CEO at Elancer Korea
Elancer Korea matches freelancers of Software programmers and IT engineers with corporate clients in South Korea. The core of matchmaking is to fill both parties' needs. Elancer platform uses AI for the matching which is leading the technology in freelancer matching platform. As a platform, Elancer strives to create a culture where freelancers can work anywhere and anytime.
Lloyd and I talk about:
- His background and journey to founding Elancer Korea.
- What is the problem he is solving now?
- How his business model works
- Who are the competitors? How to differentiate the solution against others in the markets?
- His fundraising plan to scale the business and expand into overseas markets
- What is the biggest challenges in scaling your business and taking it to the next level
- His long-term vision for Elancer Korea.
In this episode, I speak to NJ Ayuk, Executive Chairman African Energy Chamber Voice of the African energy industry, representing all facets of the African oil and gas sector. The AEC is the leading chamber of successful networks, transactions and partnerships at the helm of Africa’s growing energy industries. NJ Ayuk and I talk about: 1. The introduction of the African Energy Chamber and its role in the African energy sector 2. Which companies and countries play a key role in Africa’s oil and gas industry? 3. The main challenges for the energy sector in Africa? 4. How AEC solves these problems or improves or evolves African energy sectors 5. What kind of collaboration and partnership AEC is looking for or promotes with Asian countries, investors, and partners? 6. What kind of specific collaboration you are expecting to develop with Korean companies and partners, e.g short term, and long term and any advice to share 7. Any plan for this or next year and Long term plan for African Energy Chamber?
In this episode, I speak to Manolo Atala -Co Founder and CEO at Fairplay
Fairplay is the first revenue-based financing enabler for the new digital economy in Latin America that supports entrepreneurs’ growth with a flexible, fast & friendly product by investing in their performance marketing campaigns and their inventories. For fast-growing businesses, Fairplay offers a sales advance as funding in exchange for a steady revenue share of their earnings until capital is paid back plus a flat fee.
Manolo and I talk about:
- His background and journey to founding Fairplay.
- What is the problem he is solving now. (Freedom to Scale for digital SMEs)
- How his business model works
- Who are the competitors? How to differentiate the solution against others in the markets?
- His fundraising efforts and the challenges in fundraising?
- How he found smart people/employees for his business.
- What is the biggest challenges in scaling your business and taking it to the next level
- His long term vision for Fairplay
- Who is the nicest person he has ever met in his life.
"UTU is building the trust infrastructure of the internet to help businesses and consumers engage and transact in an easier, safer, and more trustworthy way. Our AI-based API products collect and analyze data to create trust signals and personalized recommendations that help consumers and businesses make the best decisions for their situation. And the UTU blockchain protocol rewards users for trustworthy actions and compensates them for sharing their data while protecting their privacy. UTU changes the economics of trust, ensures trust can’t be bought or manipulated and leverages data to help people make better decisions."
Jason and I talk about: 1. His background and journey to founding Utu. How he fell in love with Africa. 2. How he is solving trust issues in the internet and E-commerce. 3. How his business model works 4. Who are the competitors? How to differentiate the solution against others in the markets? 5. His fundraising efforts and the challenges in fundraising? 6. What is the biggest challenges in scaling your business and taking it to the next level 7. His long-term vision for Utu. 8. Who is the nicest person he has ever met in his life.
In this episode, I speak to Mike Williamson, CEO and President of Cascadia Seaweed
Cascadia Seaweed is growing to be one of the largest providers of cultivated seaweed, a climate-positive crop with a variety of uses requiring only the sea and sunlight to grow. This British Columbia based corporation was founded in 2019 by three maritime professionals who believe in building a profitable and scalable business that enhances the natural environment, reverses human impact on the oceans, and provides economic opportunity for rural and coastal communities.
Mike and I talk about:
1. His background and journey to founding Cascadia Seaweed
2. What problems he is solving now and How the business model works
3. How he came up with a business idea
4. Innovative seaweed products and potential market
5. The long term vision for Cascadia Seaweed
In this episode, I speak to Yvonne Otieno, founder of Miyonga Fresh Greens ENT in Kenya.
Miyonga begun as a transitional horticultural farm with 10 acres located in Lukenya, Machakos County to fully established exporters with access to a network over 10000 small holders out grower’s across East Africa
In the past three years the company has grown from out growers of fresh produce to award winning in exporters of fresh fruits and vegetables to UK, Norway, Netherlands, Germany, Greece, Ireland and South Africa.
Yvonne and I talk about:
- Her background and journey to starting a family business, Miyonga
- What Miyonga (company name) means.
- What problems she is solving now and How her business model works
- How the supply chain works (mobile food factory)
- How she came up with a business idea
- The potential market and target clients
- Her long term vision for Miyonga
- Who is the nicest person she has ever met in her life. (learned humility from a Korean professor)
In this episode, I speak to Cecile Dekeuwer, an international lawyer turned entrepreneur, Founder and CEO at WeCo-Toilet
WeCo are the first eco-innovative autonomous flushing toilets. All the excrements are recycled on site into treated water for flushing and energy. WeCo are developing the eco toilets of the future with a strong R&D and eco-design focus. WeCo co-develop with Alstom a plug and play system, a cartridge for wasted water treatment in the train toilets and other public toilets.
Cecil and I talk about:
- Her background as an international lawyer and journey to founding WeCo Toilet
- What problems she is solving now and How her business model works
- Co-development with Alstom a plug and play system in the train toilets and other public toilets.
- The potential market and target clients
- Her long term vision for WeCo Toilet
- Who is the nicest person she has ever met in her life.
In this episode, I speak to Abubakari Malik Addae, Co Founder and CEO at LifeCheq
LifeCheq helps people achieve their goals through good financial decision making. LifeCheq will post content on how to achieve goals such as buying a car, saving for a house, traveling or studying further as well as discuss topics in insurance and investment.
Abubakari and I talk about:
- His background and journey to founding LifeCheq
- What problems he is solving now and How his business model (a platform) works
- How he differentiates his services against others in the markets?
- The potential market and target clients
- How he found co-founders or employees in the beginning
- His long term vision for LifeCheq
- Who is the nicest person he has ever met in his life.
In this episode, I speak to Eric Muli, Co Founder and CEO at Odyssey Capital, also known as Lipa Later.
Lipa Later is a risk-free, point-of-sale credit option that allows retailers to sell goods and services to consumers with repayments made in affordable monthly instalments. It is the leading third-party instalment plan for retailers in East Africa currently operating in Kenya and Rwanda.
Eric and I talk about:
- His background and journey to founding Lipa Later
- What problems he is solving now and How his business model works
- How he found co-founders or employees in the beginning
- How he will evolve the business model into diverse directions focused on convenience and solutions rather than financing.
- What are the biggest challenges in scaling your business and taking it to the next level?
- His long term vision for Lipa Later
In this episode, I speak to Tesh Mbaabu -Co Founder and CEO at MarketForce 360
90 percent of trade in Africa is informal (often called “corner shop”), and MarketForce's software-as-a-service platform to better manage their field sales agents and distribution.
MarketForce bridges the gap in retail distribution by delivering an end-to-end platform that enables consumer brands to deliver essential goods and services to retailers and consumers.
Tesh and I talk about:
- His background and journey to founding MarketForce 360
- How his business model work: software-as-a-service platform
- How he found co-founders or employees in the beginning
- How he find smart people and motivate them to grow business together
- how the company has grown since establishment and is performing now
- What is the biggest challenges in scaling your business and taking it to the next level
- His long term vision for MarketForce 360
THIS EPISODE IS AVAILABLE WITH SUBTITLE AT https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbLluBpx3NQ&t=2109s
In this episode, I speak to Yong Park, Owner and CEO of SAMJIn Amook, 86 year old fish cake company based in Korea. The brand specializes in “amook” which is “fishcake” in Korean, a popular Korean food made from minced fish. Although the fishcake maker faced a financial crisis and its factory operating rate tumbled, Yong Park turned the crisis into an opportunity by expanding its business from business-to-business (B2B) to business-to-customer (B2C). In Samsung SDI’s newsletter for employees, the firm introduced Samjin Amook, a local fishcake maker, as a business model for successful transformation. Yong and I talk about: 1) Introduction of himself and his journey to CEO at Samjin Amook 2) History and background of Samjin Amook 3) How he came up with the idea of launching a bakery-style fish cake restaurant and successfully transforming its business model from B2B and B2C 4) Key success factors of Samjin Amook 5) Introduction of continued new ideas and products after so-called “Samjin Amook bakery” 6) Overseas expansion plans 7) A new business model (Co-growth) : from a manufacturing company to become an ecosystem leader 8) The long-term vision and beyond fishcake for Samjin Amook
In this episode, I speak to Eva Chaewon Yoo, Author of “Do business like Chinese startups" and "Cycling Silkroad” and Tech writer. Eva and I talk about: 1) Introduction of Her background 2) Three books she has written 3) How she came up with the idea of 8-month cycling journey from Seoul to London 4) Interesting backstory of preparation and fundraising campaign to finance her trip 5) The project of interviewing 10 startup CEOs in 10 Silk road countries. 6) The biggest challenges and the most difficult moments during the cycling journey? 7) The professional career plan, and long term plan? 8) Who is the nicest person she has ever met in her life,
In this episode, I speak to Ms. LE HOANG DIEP THAO, Founder and the CEO for TNI Company (King Coffee) which is headquartered in Vietnam and Trung Nguyen Instant Coffee JSC
In 2020, the TNI King Coffee international market is expanded from 60 countries to more than 120 countries and territories. Revenue and market share increased by 200%, the Russian market alone grew by up to 350% despite the on-going global pandemic.
Her talk focuses on the history of the Vietnamese coffee culture, and how her company turns national values into a core branding strategy to win the domestic market and to expand its global foundation.
A prestigious London based publication, Global Brands Magazine (GBM) awarded her with the title of “Most Admired CEO – Food & Beverage Industry in Vietnam” for the year 2020.
Ms. Thao and I talk about:
- Her background and journey to founding King Coffee
- Introduction of King Coffee and its business model.
- How she differentiate King Coffee against others in the markets
- What are the biggest challenges in scaling her business and taking it to the next level?
- Her interest in Social impact and contribute to solving the social problem in Vietnam:
- The background of TNI coffee (King coffee) sponsoring the National Soccer team
- The next step and her vision with King Coffee?
- The nicest person she has ever met in her life; her mother.
In this episode, I speak to Anthony Bowers, Founder, and CEO at Tallant Asia
Tallant Asia services companies around the globe with highly skilled staff. We build teams for companies in various back-office functions. This includes roles such as software development, accounting, payroll, virtual assistants, CAD operators and more.
Anthony and I talk about:
- His background and journey to founding Tallant Asia
- Problems the company is solving now and how his BPO business model works
- Its value propositioning for his clients
- How he came up with a business idea
- How to differentiate its services against others in the markets?
- What is the biggest challenges in scaling your business and taking it to the next level
- How he finds smart people in things he did.
- The potential markets, expansion plan into other production centers and target clients
- The next step and his vision for Tallant Asia
S3E4 The leading mobile financial services and digital payments company in #Myanmar
In this episode, I speak to Hal Bosher, Chairman of the Board of Directors at Wave Money
Wave Money is the leading mobile financial services provider in Myanmar operating with over 55,000 Wave shops across the country. Wave Money introduced a unique way of transferring money, bringing millions of people in Myanmar access to formal financial services. Through Wave Money, thousands of people a day are sending money anywhere and at any time. Wave Money is a joint venture between Telenor and Yoma Bank
Hal and I talk about: 1) His background and journey to Yoma Bank as CEO and now chairman at Wave Money in Myanmar 2) Wave money: The business model, What problems the company is solving now. What are the key features of the app 3) His angel investment: various portfolio companies he has invested 4) What are the biggest challenges in running startups or business in frontier markets like Myanmar 5) Advice to foreign investors that are interested in frontier markets; Patience and long term commitment to co-grow in the ecosystem 6) The next step and his long term plan in frontier markets 7) Who is the nicest person you have ever met and Why? the opportunity to work as CEO at Yoma bank
In this episode, I speak to Benjamin Wong, Co Founder, and CEO at Transwap
TranSwap is a Cross-Border B2B Fintech Platform, which allows you to move money better, faster and cheaper. The technology empowers businesses to seamlessly manage and execute global financial transactions, from any local connection. Its products include e-banking, FX-services, cross-border payments, payments through debit cards (Mastercard, Visa, Union Pay and Ali Pay) and wallets; the TranSwap platform also features corresponding reporting and full administrative support for 180 currencies in 120 countries. TranSwap’s integrated services are powered by a proprietary AI portal that allows you to plug-and-play anywhere with instantaneous service execution, resulting in significant savings on transaction fees and administration costs for your operations.
Benjamin and I talk about:
- His background and journey to founding TranSwap
- Problems the company is solving now and how his business model works
- Who are the competitors? And How to differentiate its services against others in the markets?
- How he finds smart people and how to transition new employees to the company culture.
- The potential market and target clients,
- What are the biggest challenges in scaling the business and taking it to the next level, e.g skilled talents, money or sales and marketing
- What have been the biggest mistakes while running a startup so far, how did he deal with that situation. what is the lesson learned from that?
- The next step and his vision for Transwap
In this episode, I speak to Samuel Hui, Co-Founder, and CEO at Automation for Humanity
Automation for Humanity creates all sorts of Caregiving automation devices to give seniors a realistic chance of Aging in Place. Sit & Shower was created to find new solutions to the potential problems that the elderly and those with limited mobility encounter during bathing. Its goal is to create products that ensure safety and increase independence for our users.
Samuel and I talk about:
- His background and journey to founding Automation for Humanity
- Problems the company is solving now and the business model
- How he came up with a business idea
- How he differentiates his products against other competitors in the market.
- About the potential markets and target clients,
- How he and his cofounders met
- What is the biggest challenges in scaling the business
- The long-term vision for Automation for Humanity
In this episode, I speak to Joseph Rehmann, Founder, and CEO at Victory Farms based in Kenya
Victory Farms is a tilapia fish farm established in 2015. VF is building its operation on the Kenyan side of Lake Victoria and distribution capacity throughout Kenya. VF is rapidly expanding its farm operation, fish processing, and sales & marketing capabilities. By the end of 2017, VF is on track to be the largest aquaculture farm in East Africa. VF is employing world-class technologies, people and processes to build the leading tilapia farm globally. The Company has the highest standards for performance, execution, culture, and integrity.
Joseph and I talk about:
- His background and journey to founding Victory Farms
- Feed Conversion Ratio (FCR) of farmed fish vs Chicken, pork, and beef
- Problems the company is solving now and the business model
- How the supply chain of VF works
- How he and his cofounders met
- Fundraising of the company
- The long-term vision for Victory Farms and his African dream
In this episode, I speak to Diego Meneses -Co Founder and Head of Design at Diego Meneses
Diego says that good ideas are just the beginning, we help you to tailor and develop those ideas into great consumer products.
Diego Meneses Design LTD was stablished in 2018 and has been providing industrial design services to American, European and Chinese companies who want to develop products in China and South East Asia. We offer a range of services from product design, packaging and design strategy in industries such as consumer electronics, mobile accessories, bags and luggage, IOT and transportation.
Diego and I talk about:
- His background and journey to China and founding Diego Meneses
- His business model to help his clients (manufacturing co) to succeed.
- His company is offering more than design, working as a partner from the beginning
- Shenzhen is a perfect strategic location to offer comprehensive solution to international clients
- A couple of his interesting success story and designs with his clients.
- Flexible and creative collaboration structure to work with his clients.
- His long term vision for Diego Meneses
I had an interesting and fantastic conversation with a partner lawyer at TNP. On behalf of entrepreneurs, I asked (and successfully interrogated) her many important and practical questions that entrepreneurs should know in negotiating with VC or investors. You will find a lot of takeaways relevant to startup thanks to the full cooperation of Bukola EP34 What founders should know in negotiating VC term sheet In this episode, I speak to Bukola Bankole, Partner, TNP law firm in Nigeria
Bukola and I talk about: 1. Her background and journey to TNP 2. A couple of terms that founders and investors usually go back and forth on · Pro-rata rights · Vesting and revesting imposed on founders and key members. · Redemption Rights with Exit price · Cap for conversion 3. How she would advise entrepreneurs if an investor says this is a standard term sheet and they have never changed it before. 4. Jurisdiction; Are foreign investors /VC comfortable with African judication, or African domicile entity. If not, which country do they usually prefer? 5. And what is the process of doing a flip into a foreign country 6. Long Term plans and Vision for the firm 7. If TNP is interested in working with entrepreneurs with creative structures
In this episode, I speak to Greg Murray, Co-Founder, and CEO of KOKO Networks based in Kenya
KOKO Networks is a venture-backed technology company operating in East Africa and India. KOKO networks build and deploy dense networks of cloud-connected "KOKO points" inside local corner stores, which serve as consumer access points for goods and services delivered in partnership with major suppliers. The first consumer solution is a liquid ethanol cooking fuel, which delivers significant cost savings and quality of life improvements in the multi-billion dollar market for urban cooking fuel.
Greg and I talk about:
- His background and journey to founding Koko networks
- Problems the company is solving now and the business model
- How he and his cofounders met and interesting backstory
- How he find smart people to hire and transform them into his company culture
- What he would do if he raised additional $10 million
- The long-term vision for KoKo networks.
- Who is the nicest person you have ever met?
In this episode, I speak to Jake Muhleman, Co-Founder, and President of VooDoo Spirits, Inc. in Benin Sodabi, a palm spirit that is made from the fermented sap of palm trees, plays a central part in voodoo ceremonies in Benin. As part of the ritual, it is poured over celebrants to flush out bad spirits and offered to ancestors to keep them comfortably tipsy in the afterlife. Jake Muhleman and his partners are hoping to bring that superior spirit of Benin to a larger audience by producing, marketing, selling and exporting Tambour Original, a small-batch, premium palm liquor. Jake talks about: 1) His journey to co-founding VooDoo Spirits. 2) How he came up with the business idea when one of his now-business partners, who was serving as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Benin 3) What is Sodabi, traditional liquor in Benin and his brand, Tambour Original 4) How he makes Tambour adding African flavor 5) What is the biggest challenges in scaling his business. 6) His long term vision for Tambour
In this episode, I speak to Dr. Jan-Marc Lischka, Founder, and CEO of Manuyoo, E Commerce platform for African products in Europe.
Manuyoo brings exciting African brands to Europe and present them in an attractive marketplace. Manuyoo tells the stories of the people behind the products. Trade not aid, that‘s our motto.
Jan and I talk about 1) His journey to founding Manuyoo, social venture.
2) What problems he is solving now
3) How he found his co-founders
4) About six African products he introduced and is selling on Manuyoo platform
5) How his supply chain works.
6) The expansion and growth plan
7) His long term vision for Manuyoo
In this episode, I speak to Larry Birnbaum, Founder, and CEO of ShopWorn.
ShopWorn’s authentic accessories are never pre-owned, only gently handled in-store, without compromising quality, condition, or style. This unique concept grants insider access to an online trunk show of fine Swiss watches, jewelry, writing instruments, and other luxury accessories at a discounted price. ShopWorn unlocks a box of rare treasures and lets its guests curate their own luxury style.
Larry talks about: 1) His journey to founding and introducing the ShopWorn concept to the market.
2) How he compares the value propositioning of ShopWorn goods to Pre-owned, 2nd hand or brand-new luxury goods.
3) Price competitiveness of ShopWorn to pre-owned
4) His online distribution channel and supply chain
5) The expansion and growth plan in Asia
6) His long term vision for ShopWorn
In this episode, I speak to Riccardo Ridolfi, Founder, and CEO of Equatorial Power. Riccardo also serves on the board of Umeme Ltd., a leading electricity Corp in Uganda.
Its areas of focus are 1. Beyond the grid holistic rural service delivery starting from productive power 2. Grid-connected renewable energy 3. Industrial captive power.
Riccardo talks about:
1) What is the biggest challenges and barriers in building renewable energy infrastructure in Uganda and Africa
2) Challenges in fundraising and scaling the business.
3) Equatorial Power's business model
4) How he dealt with mistakes and pivot the business
5) His long term vision for Equatorial Power
In this episode, I speak to Gerry McCollum, Founder, and CEO of Chicoa Fish Farm & Aquafeeds.
Chicoa Fish Farm offers a vertically integrated solution to kick-start the freshwater aquaculture industry.
Chicoa Fish Farm was founded by Gerard McCollum and Damien Legros in 2015 with the vision to provide a blueprint for a sustainable aquaculture industry across Africa. Since its inception, Chicoa has focused on securing its supply chain through primary production of tilapia, establishing a breeding program, and developing sales and distribution channels in Mozambique, Malawi, South Africa, and Zambia.
Gerry talks about: 1) What is the biggest challenges and barriers in aquaculture in Africa
2) Protein supply deficit in Africa. Chicken and fish can be a good solution in terms of cost-efficiency
3) Chicoá's business model (value chain in vertical) and how its supply chain work?
4) Annual production and sales
5) His priorities in the expansion and growth with new investment
6) His long term vision for Chicoa
In this episode, I speak to Samir Ibrahim, Founder and CEO of SunCulture. SunCulture wants to turn Africa into the world’s next bread basket, one solar water pump at a time. SunCulture's vision is to build a world where people take control of their environment in rewarding, sustainable ways. SunCulture does this by developing and commercializing life-changing technology that solves the biggest daily challenges for the world’s 570 million smallholder farming households. Samir talks about: 1) His solar pump and other solar-based products 2) Business model; pay as grow/ rent to own 3) What problems he is solving now. 4) How he came up with an idea to start a business 5) How he found co-founders in the beginning and the backstory 6) What is the biggest challenge in taking the business to the next level. 7) His fundraising experience and challenges 8) His long term vision and African dream with SunCulture
In this episode, I speak to Abisola Oladapo, Founder and CEO of Mumspring. Mumspring provides baby and maternity products. Mumspring uses technology to enable antenatal, postnatal, and infant health. By newly launching the app "The Agnes App", Mumspring also provides every mother and child with Telemedicine with a mission to end preventable newborn death in Africa and minority communities around the world. Abisola talks about: 1) What Mumspring means to her 2) How she came up with an idea to start a business 3) Corporate life vs startup, a journey from Working at an international large co to founding Mumspring. 4) What problems she is solving; providing every mother and child with Telemedicine with a mission to end preventable newborn death in Africa 5) Her experience of transforming employees into the culture of a startup and Mumspring. 6) What is the biggest challenge in taking the business to the next level. 7) Her long term vision and goals with Mumspring
In this episode, I speak to Shereen Makhanye, Founder and CEO of Nubian Nature Nubian Nature is a South African Black Female-run manufacturer of handcrafted Conscious, mindful hair, skin, and body care products. The products are created using ingredients from exotic African indigenous crops rich in beautifying nutrients. Shereen talks about: 1) What Nubian and "clean beauty" means to her 2) How she came up with an idea to start a business; solve her own issues with hair care products in the market 3) She wants to take advantage of rich bio-diversity of Africa for the natural and healthy ingredients of her products 4) What she loves about her entrepreneurial journey. 5) She does not consider outsourcing manufacturing only for financial scalability to avoid the compromised quality of the mass production. 5) Her long term vision and goals with Nubian Nature
In this episode, I spoke to Dr. Choi, a Korean gentleman, volunteer, and philanthropist with Ph.D. in solar energy at The University of Arizona in Tucson who lives in Tanzania and has been teaching young people in Tanzanian rural areas how to make a solar lamp of appropriate technology for the last 10 years.
Dr. Choi talked about
- Why he gave up his US passport to leave his family in the US and moved to Tanzania 10 years ago.
- What is appropriate technology and why it is important to teach local people in rural areas how to make a solar lamp of appropriate technology?
- Difference between his Kuku solar lamp and Kuku solar phone charger and commercial solar lamp
- Why the name of his solar lamp is KuKu and how he set the price of his solar lamp at the price of one chicken (=the price of his solar lamp)
- His family believes that his decision to give up a US passport and find an opportunity to help and serve people in Tanzanian rural areas with a solar lamp came as a calling from God.
- His plan to work together with KOICA to launch more systematic and large-scale projects to help people in Tanzania.
- His African dream to distribute to African rural areas more various solutions of appropriate technology
Today's guest is ABISAI NANDI, founder/CEO at Farmways Kenya ltd (Chicken Basket)
Chicken Basket is a social enterprise empowering women and youths through the chicken business.
Its unique value chain One-Stop-Shop model addresses the farmer’s needs by providing all products and services under one roof. We sell high-quality chicks (DOC: Day one Chicken) , feeds, and medication; offer training and capacity building on poultry management, and provide 24-hour veterinary extension services.
Once the chickens are mature, the Chicken basket buys them back from the farmer, processes and sells the meat and eggs in our butcheries and restaurants that specialize in various tasty chicken meals.
As a comprehensive poultry farmer’s solution provider, Chicken basket advocate for the commercialization of poultry to increase incomes and improve the livelihoods of farmers.
Today's guest is Mubarack Muyika, founder and President at Zagace
Muyika was orphaned at the age of 10, thrived at school and turned down a scholarship to Harvard to become an entrepreneur. When he was 16, he founded Hypecentury Technologies, a web hosting company. He sold the company two years later to Wemps Telecoms in a six-figure deal. Muyika’s new venture, Zagace, which has raised funding from local investors, is a cloud enterprise software that helps companies manage inventory such as accounting, payroll, stock management, marketing and many more all bundled in a simple and easy to use format called Zag apps.
Founded in 2013, Zagace's mission is to empower small and medium-size businesses by making enterprise software basic and accessible to all. By use of Zagace ingenuity in custom-built proprietary software, permissioned blockchain and custom business intelligence and analytics tools, Zagace aims to make its business customers sustainable, scalable, manageable and adaptable to business process changes Zagace Inc. is an American multinational conglomerate founded in June 2015 by Mubarak Muyika. It is the parent company of Zagace Limited and several other companies trading under the name Zagace and related products. The Company is based in San Jose, California. It has an app store where businesses can access custom & proprietary built software as a service that enables businesses to manage accounting, human resources, finances, marketing, and other business functions bundled in a simple and easy-to-use format called Zag Apps. The Zag Apps are relayed as a cloud solution with a focus of small and medium-sized enterprises. Its core product Zagace Web Platform has continued to grow as an application store, digital distribution platform and development platform encompassing use of Hyper-ledger permissioned blockchain and use of AI tools for business data analytics, customer metrics, data search with thousands of customers drawn from over 30 countries. The company started out operations as Zagace Limited in 2013 in Nairobi, led by its founder Mubarak Muyika when he was 19, with proceeds from sale of a previous company, Hypecentury Technologies & Investments. The web app was launched in December 2014 and has since expanded its product offering across 4 continents
Today's guest is Erickson Mvezi, Founder & CEO at Tupuca, LDA
Erickson is a mechanical engineer with a master degree in social entrepreneurship with a specialization in Project management from Hult International Business School at San Francisco. My entrepreneurship journey started in 2015 in Hult where my desire to make a positive difference in Angola was coupled with different business cases and people from various backgrounds. Ever since, he started seeing every problem as an untapped opportunity to make a difference. Between Luanda and San Francisco, Tupuca was born.
Tupuca is a food delivery service that enables its users to order food through an interactive mobile application that connects its user to multiple restaurants with dozens of food choices and to share a meal with a nonprofit through donating.
The Tupuca app offers a seamless, easy-to-navigate interface that makes ordering food a simple, fast process. To get started, users download the Tupuca app and find the food they want. Then, users order their food and can choose to pick it up or have their meal delivered. Payment is made upon delivery. Tupuca has forged relationships with some of the area’s best restaurants and is excited to bring these on-site for users of the app. Tupuca is available for Android and iOS. More information can be found at tupuca.com
Today's guest is Zulé Vuuren, founder and Chief Energy Officer of LocumBase.com
LocumBase connects freelance medical professionals with medical practices ensuring continuous quality care when and where needed most.
A frictionless online solution that secures the right medical locum when needed most. Creating a supportive ecosystem for freelance medical practitioners and the practices and hospitals that make use of their valued services. - Founders Factory Africa Start-up Accelerator Alumni - 2020 Grindstone Accelerator program participant
Today's guest is Elohor Thomas, CEO and Cofounder at Codeln.com
Codeln is an end-to-end Technical Recruitment platform. CodeLNn offer the best approach to recruiting Software Developers by automating the entire process thereby cutting down technical recruitment time by 70%. CodeLNn understands that the process of recruiting Software Developers is a hectic and time-consuming process and if not properly conducted, the Company risks having a bad hire. Finding and identifying skilled talents is quite a process and employing a wrong fit slows down the technical productivity rate. CodeLNn thereby makes recruiting Software Developers a fast and easy process for Companies.
Key services:
Talent Sourcing: we help Companies find skilled Software Developers through our Online Marketplace of pre-vetted Software Developers.
To ensure quality, CodeLn verify the coding skills of all candidates before we place them on our Platform by testing them using a project-based approach. CodeLn also source from Certified Tech Training Institutions. Screening: validating the skills of potential employees cannot be overemphasized.
Using our Testing Platform, CodeLn help verify the coding skills of Software Developers by giving them projects (workplace sample tests) to build on our online Integrated Development Environment (IDE). We check for code quality (vulnerability, maintainability etc) based on standards and best practices.
Today's guest is Ignatus Rogers Lema, founder and CEO of Rogathe Dairy Farm Products in Tanzania
Ignatus graduated from National University of Singapore. He mentioned that based on what he learned in Asia, he is transforming the organizational culture of Rogathe into an Asian style of storng Work ethic based on the ideals of discipline and hard work to quickly scale his business and to become the #1 dairy company in East Africa someday.
Rogathe Dairy Farm Products processes and distributes 3,500 liters of raw milk daily (up from 350 liters thanks to the investment from the Fledge accelerator), collected directly from smallholder dairy farmers, fortified with vitamins and minerals, and supplied to the most vulnerable groups affected with malnutrition diseases: children in school and patients in hospitals.
- We collect raw milk from 30 smallholder livestock farmers outskirts Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
- We process the raw milk into quality, organic, fortified dairy milk then supply in bulk quantity to customers.
- We ensure that small-scale farmers get a reliable market for their raw milk produced while we also provide them with extension services which include veterinary care for their livestock.
- We train all our smallholder farmers on sustainable animal keeping while adhering to animal welfare
Ragathe says "Our primary customers are schools and hospitals, plus some bakeries and restaurants. Combined those customers serve more than five million individuals every day. By 2022 we expect to increase our supply to over 10 million consumers daily across Dar es Salaam and the coastal region of Tanzania."
Today's guest is Karanvir Singh, founder and CEO of Yego Innovision also known as Yegomoto and Yego Global.
Prior to launching Yegomoto in Africa, Karanvir was engaged in Counter-Terrorism and Homeland Security solutions and keynote speaker on communication technology and security in India.
"Yegomoto" - a revolutionary platform for Motorcycle Taxis in Africa that provides metered rides, cashless payments, creates jobs, and grows small businesses.
Yego is a technology company that has designed a Just launched "Yegomoto" - a revolutionary platform for Motorcycle Taxis in Africa that provides metered rides, cashless payments, creates jobs and grows small businesses to make transportation services in Africa efficient, safe and secure. Though taxis are a major avenue of youth employment, the prospects for drivers are uncertain and inadequate. Yego aims to redeem the work of drivers by bringing transparency, accountability, and fairness to an informal industry.
Today's guest is Henri Nyakarundi, founder and CEO of A.R.E.D in Rwanda
Henri is a tech startup entrepreneur, author of "My African Dream and Vlogger
ARED is a deep tech micro-infrastructure company to help bridge the digital gap in developing countries. To Achieve that goal ARED developed 3 pieces of technology.
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A mini-server solution that can store multiple types of digital applications such as distributed storage solution, android app system, surveys etc.. on the edge and distribute them via WIFI.
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A solar kiosk platform to power the technology but also provide phone charging solutions to address the energy gaps in low-income areas.
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A WIFI mobile app for users to interact with the edge applications. This app directly connects with the mini-server and also provides a closer mini-server location if needed.
ARED is a B2B company that currently provides its technology to mostly NGO's, telecom companies, and other social impact enterprises. Our goal is simple, help organizations bridge the digital and social gap across the continent. ARED technology is the recipient of over 10 international awards. Seif.org Award, Energyglobe Award, Ishow Asme Award, Microsoft Affordable Access, Siemens Foundation, Greenchallenge, Fire Africa Award, ICT for social good Award, Africa50 innovation challenge
Today's guest is Suzie Wokabi, the Founder of SuzieBeauty, Kenya' 1st beauty brand, Kenya's beauty mogul, and also podcaster of The Suzie Wokabi Podcast
Put a dark-skinned woman and the African sun together, throw in some grossly overpriced, often counterfeit make-up brands into the equation and what do you get a recipe for disaster! Multiply that and you have a population of fashion police’s most wanted, not to mention a host of unsightly skin reactions. This was the inspiration that led Suzie Wokabi, International Relations degree holder, to pursue her passion and create her authentic, affordable, high-quality African make-up brand. This revolutionary line is Kenya’s first make-up/ beauty brand and a global trailblazer in creating a bespoke product for the African woman, by an African woman. Soon after graduating from University in the U.5, Suzie dove right into the fashion industry. She was trained by MAC Cosmetics and completed an intensive Media Make-up certificate course at the Award Studio Make-up School in Los Angeles. She worked in New York within the fashion and beauty industries from 2001 until 200 7, when she returned to her hometown of Nairobi, Kenya.
Suzie is now one of the top local make-up artists whose extensive industry experience runs the full gamut from Print Media to Television, Film, Video, Commercials, Runway, and Bridal. She began creating her make-up/ beauty brand in early 2009 and officially launched it in December 2011. The hallmark of SuzieBeauty products is affordable, great quality, tailor• made for the unique needs of women living in the African climate.
Today's guest is Soumobroto Ganguly, CEO of Cars 45, Africa's No 1 used car trading platform.
Cars45 buys, sells, prices, and rates the condition of pre-owned autos.
The Cars45 brand provides consumers with the opportunity to buy cars online and offline.
Car dealers and end-users can now have access to a rich variety of cars that have been properly verified and checked, accompanied by a standard inspection report. What Cars 45 is bringing to the market isn't just availability but access to cars with the right information such that consumers can make the right decision.
Today's guest is Khaled Bouchoucha, founder and CEO of Beekeeper Tech and IRIS Technologies LLC, better known as "SmartBee" in Tunisia
SmartBee is an Agtech startup developing and integrating cutting edge Hw/Sw solutions to provide beehive' tracking and monitoring technologies for better profitability, efficiency, and security.
SmartBee team are simplifying beekeepers' mission, promoting bee’s welfare by revitalizing and preventing them from a variety of risks.
SmartBee team are building our Beekeeping Support Decision System to link the beekeeper's behavior and habits, bees internal parameters, weather, and location impact. Using the Smartbee app, beekeepers are notified early of any problems for faster treatment, digital journals, and updates, to monitor hive conditions around the clock, and immediate alerts in case of theft. All in a non-invasive manner.
Why are we doing this? First, because beehives management hasn’t changed since 1900!! Second, around 35% of 2 million “Pro” beekeepers (90M hives) worldwide (FAO), are struggling more than ever to: Grow sustainable profits, scale-up, maintain, manage their hives and remain profitable following a number of uncontrollable constraints that have a huge impact on productivity and profitability.
And third because, bees are effective pollinators affecting 35% of the global agricultural land, the volume of pollinator-dependent production has increased by 300% over the last 50 years, which makes it an economic, ecological and social challenge. Eventually, we believe in building Beekeeping Prediction Models based on Data Science and machine learning features because higher productivity, profitability, and a healthy colony are the result of limited human intervention and efficient decision making in a real-time process.
Today's guest is Meghan McCormick, Co-Founder & CEO at OZÉ & Dare to Innovate in Ghana, Africa.
OZÉ is a platform that equips small business owners in Africa to make data-driven decisions to improve their performance, tap into networks, and access capital.
OZÉ’s platform is comprised of two components. On one side is a mobile app for small business owners that aggregates and analyzes transaction data to push context-specific recommendations and reports. On the other side is a portal for financial institutions that combines the app’s crowdsourced data with alternative data sources to assign a credit risk score to each OZÉ user. Through the portal, banks can source and support a small-business loan portfolio.
Today's guest is Jonathan Shaw , Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Nuru, a private utility in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Jonathan says, "We deploy renewable energy to people with 9% electrification in conflict-affected zones next to the world's "second lung" -- the Congo Basin forest. We believe energy technology can help fight climate change, deforestation, and pollution in Congo." Nuru's vision is to become the largest private utility company in Africa.
Nuru (Swahili for "light") is a company dedicated to enhancing connectivity in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Nuru deployed Congo's first solar-based mini-grid in 2017 and is currently constructing a 1.3MW solar hybrid site in Goma, the largest off-grid mini-grid in sub-Saharan Africa.
Nuru was first established under the name Kivu Green Energy in August 2015. We changed our name in September 2019 to reflect our expansion beyond the Kivu regions into other parts of DRC.
Today's guest is Etop Ikpe, founder and CEO of Autochek Africa Ex founder and CEO of Car 45. the #1 leader of African used car trading platform
Autochek Africa is an Automotive Technology development company that builds solutions aimed at enabling and enhancing commerce within the automotive sector. We focus on solutions that improve access to Auto loans, quality maintenance / aftersales services, warranty solutions, and transactional marketplaces. We are operational in West and East Africa and we also have developed a partner-led retail footprint with over 150 service centers.
THE CLOTHING BANK GROUP OPERATES FOUR PROGRAMMES:
The Clothing Bank's mission is to empower unemployed mothers through enterprise development. It has four projects that support our vision to inspire, skill and support unemployed South Africans to eradicate poverty in their lives.
- THE CLOTHING BANK The Clothing Bank skills and supports unemployed mothers to start retail trading micro–enterprises. The Clothing Bank uses clothing ‘waste’ from the fast fashion retail supply chain, as the tool to teach unemployed women how to earn an income, manage their finances and make healthy life choices. South Africa’s major retailers donate their excess stock to The Clothing Bank in return for Enterprise Development or Socio-Economic Development points for their Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment Score Cards.
The donated clothing is sold to the women in our programme at greatly discounted prices and they then sell the product on for a profit through their micro-enterprises. This income builds individual wealth through the accumulation of assets, both tangible and intangible, and builds our organisational sustainability. Local township businesses also benefit from the ripple effects of a stimulated local township economy. Our beneficiaries go through a two-year programme where they are nurtured and taught business, financial and life skills. We address the need for more business-focused education and support the women through coaching and mentoring as they grow their sustainable micro-enterprises.
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THE APPLIANCE BANK The Appliance Bank skills and supports unemployed fathers to repair and sell donated appliances.The Appliance Bank provides an opportunity for unemployed men to establish micro-enterprises, using small home appliances as the catalyst for change. We assist men on their journey towards economic stability by teaching them how to fix broken appliances and develop their business acumen so that they can run a business selling the repaired appliances. We also support the men through a comprehensive life-skills programme.
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GROW EDUCARE CENTRES The GROW Educare Centres social franchise model invests in, trains and mentors women to run high–quality early learning centres for preschool children aged between 2 and 5 years, that are also sustainable businesses.The GROW Educare Centres project empowers women who are currently running community-based early learning centres in disadvantaged communities. These centres are often under-resourced with unskilled teachers. GROW converts these centres, using a social-franchise-scaling model, into highquality centres that are financially sustainable. Our aim is to change the status quo of education in these communities by offering quality and professionalism that has never been seen before.
Luni is a 25+ year serial entrepreneur, most recently founder of Fledge, a global network of conscious company accelerators; Africa Eats, a pan-African holding company focused on feeding Africa; Realize Impact, a public charity making it easy for anyone to make an impact investment; and investorflow.org, an online network connecting impact investors.
Luni is an Entrepreneur in Residence Emeritus at the University of Washington’s CoMotion, the author of The Next Step series of series of guidebooks and podcasts on entrepreneurship, and with The Pinchot Impact Index, he solved the question on how to measure impact across a collection of companies.
Africa Eats begins with 27 fledglings from Fledge, wraps them in a holding company, and with that creates a diversified, fast-growing, institutional-scale investment that aim to be public by 2024. A company with aggregate revenues across its 27 subsidiaries of over $7 million in 2019, growing 51% CAGR since 2014, all while growing the revenues of tens of thousands of smallholder African farmers and feeding millions of Africans.
Today's guest is Chibuzo Opara, founder and CEO of DrugStoc in Nigeria.
DrugStoc is a secure and interactive procurement platform (Online/Offline) that empowers healthcare providers by giving access to safe and quality pharmaceutical products through our consolidated supply chain system.
Drugstoc is changing the way health providers interact with pharmaceutical supply chains at the last mile in Africa for the better! Its cloud based, easy to use and internationally accredited pharmaceutical procurment platform provides access to quality pharmaceutical products for healthcare providers, hospitals,pharmacies, doctors and pharmacists at the touch of a button. They believe no patient or healthcare provider should lack access to good quality pharmaceuticals. Through technology enabled distribution they are leap frogging the infrastructure, access, supply chain fragmentation, financing and counterfeit drug challenges within the Sub-Saharan pharmaceutical space to improve on the quality of healthcare delivery.
Today's guest is Onyeka Akumah, founder and CEO of Farmcrowdy.
Farmcrowdy is Nigeria’s First Digital Agriculture Platform that empowers rural farmers by providing them with improved seeds, farm inputs, training on modern farming techniques and provides a market for the sale of their farm produce. This gives the farmers the capacity to farm more acres and by extension leads to increased food production and security in Africa.
Since launching in 2016, Farmcrowdy has empowered over 200,000 small-scale farmers across Nigeria. We are committed to expanding our reach in order to continue to empower local farmers, positively impact their lives and their families while boosting food production and sustainability in Nigeria.
Roundtable discussion: David Kim, Founder of Northhead Capital, lived and worked as an expat in Korea, HK, China, Vietnam, Thailand, and Malaysia, speaks Japanese, Korean, English and Thai. Keishin Yamashita, CEO of Lib Commerce, Inc. based in Osaka, Japan (Japanese of Korean origin), speaks Japanese, Korean, and English Jocelyn Clark, Assistant Professor at Pai Chai University (Korea), studied in Japan, China and and US incl Ph.D. in East Asian Languages and Civilizations at Harvard. speaks Chinese, English, German, Japanese, and Korean Ryuichiro Abe: Partner at Northhead Capital, lived and worked in Japan, US, Australia and Singapore. speaks Japanese and English Giang Lam, Managing Director at RDA VIETNAM Fund, lived and worked in US and Vietnam, speaks English and Vietnamese.
Do you know how many people in the world speak English as their first language in their countries? Do you know how many people actually learn English at all whether they are able to speak English or not. . According to the UN, About 360 million people speak English as their first language 1.5 billion are learning to speak English — that's just 5% and 20% of the global population, respectively Hi Everyone and welcome to the podcast, CEO roundtable bridging Asia. My name is David Kim, your host. Today we are going to talk about an interesting topic, “language barriers in international business.” I am very pleased to be joined by fabulous guests who have very diverse backgrounds culturally and linguistically As the main theme of my podcast, we plan to feature a lot of interesting and passionate young entrepreneurs around the world to introduce them to Asian markets and investors. To that end, we are supporting a multilingual communication environment, no matter where they are from, what kind of language they speak. Simply I don’t want to exclude anyone or put them into backstage, given 80 to 90% of non-English speaking entrepreneurs in Asia still may have great ideas, stories, technology and business models even with a great social purpose. So, we will use English as the main language as usual, however, this podcast will support multilingual communication. Basically, every guest will speak any language they feel comfortable with and then we plan to add English subtitles into our YouTube channel to bridge the gap. That is the plan.
What if a poorer community created its own currency to foster social exchange? That’s what happened in the informal settlement, or slum, known as Bangladesh in the town of Mombasa on the Kenyan coast.
People use these currencies to pay for food, education and health care. "We operate under the fundamental assumption that the goods, resources and human capacity exist in these communities—the only thing that's missing is money," Grassroots co-founder Will Ruddick says.
Today’s guest is Will Ruddick, the founder of Grassroots Economics Foundation, a non-profit foundation in Kenya that seeks to empower marginalized communities to take charge of their own livelihoods and economic future. Will has implemented community currencies using blockchain technology in over 40 locations across Kenya to enable more than 40,000 small businesses to take an active role in their own economy and development. Will is currently working to educate and scale these solutions together with humanitarian and technology partners worldwide including the Red cross.
People usually don’t realize that money is an invention that works only because a community stands behind it, willing to use it in exchanges for goods and services. Most currencies are creatures of national governments that manage and back them.
But what if a poorer community created its own currency to foster social exchange? That’s what happened in the informal settlement, or slum, known as Bangladesh in the town of Mombasa on the Kenyan coast.
People use these currencies to pay for food, education and health care. "We operate under the fundamental assumption that the goods, resources and human capacity exist in these communities—the only thing that's missing is money," Grassroots co-founder Will Ruddick says.
Today’s guest is Will Ruddick, the founder of Grassroots Economics Foundation, a non-profit foundation in Kenya that seeks to empower marginalized communities to take charge of their own livelihoods and economic future. Will has implemented community currencies using blockchain technology in over 40 locations across Kenya to enable more than 40,000 small businesses to take an active role in their own economy and development. Will is currently working to educate and scale these solutions together with humanitarian and technology partners worldwide including the Red cross.
Sonia Kabra is the Co-founder and Director of BuuPass Kenya Limited. BuuPass is an offline and online ticketing company that has developed ticketing solution for Standard Gauge Railways (Madaraka Express) and several bus companies such as Easy Coach Limited and Modern Coast Express. BuuPass won the USD 1 million Hult Prize Challenge which is supported by President Bill Clinton. Hult Prize is a social entrepreneurship competition that brings together 25,000 + teams around the world. She leads the product and marketing functions of the business .
BuuPass is driven by young entrepreneurs who are passionate about solving real everyday problems by making simple and powerful solutions. Their idea was born in response to the 2016 Hult Prize Challenge (www.hultprize.com) a global student competition for social entrepreneurship, which launches students into developing scalable business models in order to solve global challenges. The challenge for 2016 was to better connect people to goods, services, and resources. After a year long process, the diverse team went on to win the prestigious competition with President Bill Clinton, under their former name Magic Bus Ticketing. The BuuPass team is motivated by the idea of transforming inefficient transport systems into a catalyst for growth and impact, in order to connect people to opportunities.
Today’s guest is Alan Chanda. He is the founder and CEO of Dytech, better known as a Zambian Honey company in Africa.
Alan, calling himself an accidental Honeyman, designed a new eco-friendly beehive, what he calls, ZamHive®, an innovative double-decker made from unwanted wood waste.
The eco-friendly design boosts productivity, increasing honey production per beehive from 15 kilograms to 75 kilograms per season. Higher productivity means higher incomes for thousands of rural out-growers and small-scale farmers who work with Alan’s Zambia-based honey business.
The producers, many of them women, benefit from having a guaranteed market. They also earn much more money than they did before as maize farmers.
In this way, honey has become the main source of income for these producers, enabling them to provide for their families, invest in their children’s education, and even start side businesses.
We have been hearing similar stories for many years about how we can solve the problems and end the poverty in African rural areas. But the ideas oftentimes have been quite theoretical. Alan thinks he has found a solution with his business model which helps to solve the problems in rural communities and is also good for the environment.
Today’s guest is Tomoko Yakushigawa in Kenya. She is the founder and chief executive of Alphajiri.
Now, we all know that the agricultural supply chain is problematic in Africa. Despite endless unforeseen obstacles everywhere. Alphajiri has been developing a social infrastructure called Alpha-Ecosystem, whereby rural communities in Africa can combat poverty and stand on their own feet. She spent the first 3 years in Migori County, the border county of Kenya and Tanzania, to organize rural small scale farmers into what they call as "Alpha-Chama," a kind of private farmer’s co-op equipped with rotating savings and credit club, a form of combined P2P banking and P2P lending.
Since the establishment, Tomoko has put so much emphasis on the education of farmers, development of Alpha chama, farm training, and the concept of contract farming business.
Tomoko has introduced many different business models to establish the supply chain, such as wholesale to food processing companies selling in open-air markets, delivery of over 100 farm produce to restaurants and hotels, and finally, retail grocery "Alphajiri Greengrocer, she recently launched to deal with the impact from the current global economic crisis.
Today’s guest is Tomoko Yakushigawa in Kenya. She is the founder and chief executive of Alphajiri.
Now, we all know that the agricultural supply chain is problematic in Africa. Despite endless unforeseen obstacles everywhere. Alphajiri has been developing a social infrastructure called Alpha-Ecosystem, whereby rural communities in Africa can combat poverty and stand on their own feet. She spent the first 3 years in Migori County, the border county of Kenya and Tanzania, to organize rural small scale farmers into what they call as "Alpha-Chama," a kind of private farmer’s co-op equipped with rotating savings and credit club, a form of combined P2P banking and P2P lending.
Since the establishment, Tomoko has put so much emphasis on the education of farmers, development of Alpha chama, farm training, and the concept of contract farming business.
Tomoko has introduced many different business models to establish the supply chain, such as wholesale to food processing companies selling in open-air markets, delivery of over 100 farm produce to restaurants and hotels, and finally, retail grocery "Alphajiri Greengrocer, she recently launched to deal with the impact from the current global economic crisis.
Vula Mobile is a mobile healthcare application that connects primary healthcare workers in remote rural areas directly in touch with on-call specialists in hospitals.
Today’s guest is Dr. William Mapham. He is the founder and Chief Executive of South African startup, Vula Mobile, the app that links primary healthcare workers in remote rural areas in Africa with medical and surgical specialists in hospitals, is eyeing what it describes as the “huge potential” of the global m-healthcare market.
Vula Mobile allows healthcare workers to capture basic patient information, take photographs, do a basic test and capture a brief medical history before sending it directly to a specialist. They can ask for advice over a dedicated messaging platform, and decide on the best course of care for the patient.
Jehiel Oliver is the founder and CEO of Hello Tractor, an agricultural technology company, better known as "AFRICAN UBER for TRACTORS and FARMS" that connects tractor owners with smallholder farmers in need of tractor services. At Hello Tractor, Jehiel is responsible for overall management and strategy. He has been honored with numerous awards for his work in social entrepreneurship including being recognized by Foreign Policy Magazine as a Top 100 Global Thinker for 2016. He was appointed under the Obama Administration to serve two years as a member of the President’s Advisory Council on Doing Business in Africa, where he most recently chaired the technology subcommittee. Prior to Hello Tractor, Jehiel worked in consulting and investment banking. He lives with his wife and daughter in Nairobi, Kenya.
Jehiel Oliver: Across sub-Saharan Africa, 220 million farmers live on less than $2 a day. Many of them struggle to produce enough food to feed their families and sustain their livelihoods. My experience working in global finance and agriculture brought me to frontier markets where I saw this firsthand.
Smallholder farmers don’t have the machinery they need to fully cultivate their land. Tractors and farm equipment are expensive, and financing is virtually nonexistent. But I realized, if farmers have access to a tractor, that’s as good as owning one. That’s why I started Hello Tractor. Our platform connects tractor owners to farmers through a digital app. Most buyers of compact tractors purchase these assets as an income-generating business opportunity. Our technology makes it easier and less risky for tractor owners to run these businesses while connecting smallholder farmers to machinery that lets them plant 40 times faster at one-third the cost.
Hi everyone and welcome to the podcast, CEO roundtable bridging Asia. My name is David Kim, your host.
In this episode, my guest is Sandra Locoh Donou from Kenya. Sandra is the founder and CEO of Finlo, trade financing company for SMEs in agriculture sector in Africa. Prior to founding Finlo, Sandra worked as the Head of Originations for Lendable, a wholesale lendtech company. Before Lendable, she led business development in efforts in Southern Africa at the African Guarantee Fund where she structured financial guarantees to increase lending in regional SMEs. Sandra has 12 years of experience in finance, having worked as a Senior Investment Officer for responsibility Investments and in the real estate investment department at BNP Paribas in Paris. A graduate of EDHEC Business School, Sandra is passionate about finding solutions for unlocking capital for small businesses in Emerging Markets. When not fighting for small businesses in frontier markets, Sandra spends time with her twin boys and her free time reading and playing tennis.
David Kim dives into the interesting stories and great social impact behind entrepreneurs of rising startups and SMEs around the world. CEO roundtable bridging Asia weaves a narrative journey about innovators, entrepreneurs, and idealists. CEO roundtable was created for you, the Entrepreneur, business owner of SMEs, and solopreneur. Our journey will start in Africa and travel to Latin America, Asia, America, and Europe.