Glovo has announced winners of the Tech Start-Up Competition the launched in March. The competition was done in partnership with Ease Business School, Ashoka Africa and Boston Consulting Group. The aim of the competition was to help accelerate the progress and enable success of viable SME focused start-up businesses thereby improving the operating and business environment, efficiency levels and chances of success of SMEs.

The idea for the competition was initiated by both Esade and Glovo, and the vision was backed by Ashoka Africa and Boston Consulting Group who came together as collaborators. The organizations believe that SMEs are a key driver of a successful business environment and given that we are living in a period of growth and change driven by technology, they believe that supporting tech businesses that create value for SMEs will help accelerate the growth and successes of countless SMEs.

The competition was made up of two stages. The first stage was through an online submission of written applications which closed on March 31st 2022. Numerous interesting applications across various sectors of the economy were received by Glovo and Esade out of which 8 finalists were shortlisted to move on to the next phase – the live pitch in front of a panel of judges.

The panel of judges were:

Anthony Mburu, General Manager Strategy, Britam Plc
Joseph Irungu, Assistant Director Ministry of ICT
Ilya Yacevich, MA, LMFT, founding director of Global Trauma Project
Takeshi Oikawa, Managing Director of BCG Kenya
Priscilla Muhiu, General Manager, Glovo Kenya

Bernard Njathi, CEO and Patrick Ndeda, Co-founder of Lofte Kesho were the 1st prize winners, Lofte Kesho is an Agritech and fintech start up empowering smallholder livestock farmers to unlock capital against their livestock will receive a Mini Business Accelerator package through an all-expenses paid trip to visit Barcelona, Southern Europe’s leading tech hub.

This will include meeting with top Glovo executives to receive feedback and tips on their business as well as discuss any business opportunities and challenges.
- Sessions at the Esade Business School Campus with experts from the ESADE Entrepreneurship Institute and the eWorks Accelerator program to have a review of the business plan and discuss with them the roadmap and go-to-market plan.
- Fast-Track Access to the Summer 2022 edition of the eWorks Accelerator program, which provides access to mentors, exclusive perks and tools and a final demo day with international investors (fully remote program).
- Pro bono consulting session with BCG Kenya to help develop their business idea.

The 2nd and 3rd place winners will receive:

Virtual sessions with Glovo top executives to hear about Glovo’s journey and to help brainstorm on opportunities and challenges.
- Fast-Track Access to the Summer 2022 edition of the eWorks Accelerator program, which provides access to mentors, exclusive perks and tools and a final demo day with international investors (fully remote program).
- Pro bono consulting session with BCG Kenya to help develop their business idea.

The live pitch was held at the Capital Club Nairobi where the opening remarks were given by the Spanish Ambassador to Kenya, her excellency Dona Cristina Dias Fernandez-Gil. Ms. Agatha Juma who specializes in story coaching provided a complimentary masterclass to help the finalists prepare for their live pitch, drawing on her experience as a Certified Executive coach with experience with a continental accelerator and a global innovations bootcamp.

Speaking during the event, Priscilla Muhiu, General Manager at Glovo said: “We are excited to be part of helping accelerate SMEs in the country on their digitalization journey. We at Glovo recognise the needs of SMEs as a critical part of the community and are committed to helping build the Kenyan ecosystem for digital services.”

The competition was in line with Glovo’s values and its continued commitment to support SMEs as Glovo has assisted in the digitization of various verticals of commerce for SMEs, such as restaurants, supermarkets, bookstores, flower shops, clothing stores, among others through helping them grow their customer-base by reaching more users online and learning about their experiences and improving their business offerings by accessing our data regarding operations and orders trends. Glovo currently supports over 4000 SMEs in Kenya alone.