9 startups were competing to be crowned the winners of the Seedstars Nairobi hosted at the Ihub. Illuminum Greenhouse Kenya led by their CEO Taita Ng'etich were named Kenya's best startup. The runners up was Lynk -a company using technology to connect informal sector professionals and artisans to customers- and 2nd runner up was Totohealth - a company saving children's lives using mobile technology. Lipacard , a next generation fintech for teenagers and students, won the pubic vote category with it $1000 cloud credits per month for 12 months provided by IBM.
Illuminum Greenhouses constructs modern greenhouses and install automated drip irrigation kits for small holder farmers by using locally available materials and solar powered sensors. The company also won 2nd place during the Global Innovation through Science and Technology (GIST) competition held during the Global Entrepreneurs Summit (GES) in Kenya. They were also named as one of Africa’s most innovative startups this year during the New York Forum Africa held in Gabon.
The winners will travel to Lausanne, Switzerland to compete with other winners from other 50+ countries from across the world courtesy of CfC Stanbic Kenya at the Seedstars World Finals. The top 3 also got other inkind prizes such as 3 months of technical advice by Founders Hive, 1 hour consultation with Intellecap, a documentary to be shot by Take 2 Afrika and incubation for one of them at the Nailab.
Next stop for Seedstars World is Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.