Victory for Anza Village

Anza Village, a Kenyan firm dedicated to supporting innovation organizations, emerged triumphant in the highly competitive Garage48’s ISO Bootcamp Kenya, securing a prize of €5,000. The win came after intense competition, with several innovation support organizations from Machakos County participating, including Startinev, Circular Innovation Hub, Somo Africa, Nakuru Box, Fie Consult, Wise Hub, Fablab Winam, Swahilipot, Made Ke, Eldohub, HiiL Innovation EA, House of Genius Kenya, Holby Training Solutions, and AK Advisory.

The Winning Idea

Shirley Kandabu, representing Team Anza Village, explained the essence of their winning idea, stating, “Our idea was to build a one-stop platform that provides tools, resources, and professional services to host players within the ecosystem.” The team, in a remarkable display of collaborative effort, conceptualized, built, and refined the product in less than 48 hours before the judging panel.

An Ecosystem Platform for Sub-Saharan Africa

The strength of Anza Village's winning product lies in its comprehensive coverage of the entire ecosystem. Kandabu emphasized that their platform is not limited to Kenya; it extends its reach across sub-Saharan Africa. Expressing her thoughts on the victory, she said, “I believe we won because our product covered the entire ecosystem. It was really about a collaborative effort to support the entire ecosystem in Kenya and also our platform goes beyond just Kenya; it also moves across sub-Saharan Africa.”

Validation and Future Growth

The victory serves as a validation of the team's dedicated efforts and long hours invested. Kandabu sees it as an indication of continuous support for young innovators committed to building and growing. Post-win, she shared the team’s plans: “So, we're going to now build and refine the platform.”

ESTDEV Support and Global Reach

The program received support from the Estonian Centre for International Development (ESTDEV). Mari Hanikat, CEO of Garage48, highlighted that this event is not exclusive to Kenya; it has also been conducted in Zambia, Uganda, and Namibia. She noted the high quality of prototypes presented this year, underscoring Garage48's focus on tangible prototypes that go beyond mere presentations.