For the past couple of years, Kenya’s Sote Hub has been cultivating a creative atmosphere of innovation amongst the younger community in the rural county of Taita Taveta. Specifically targeting high school students and recent graduates who’ve yet to enter the white collar workforce, Sote Hub is working to encourage younger generations to take more creative, entrepreneurial routes in their careers. According to a recent profile on the new company, “the Swahili word ‘sote’ means ‘everybody’ in English, and [David Ogiga, executive director of Sote Hub] said this describes the hub’s philosophy of inclusion and its search for high social returns.” Additionally, according to the Sote Hub website, they eventually plan to expand to multiple countries in Africa in an effort to foster more innovation in the future:
“Our unique approach is to work with high school graduates, majority cohorts and beneficiaries of our project in the last five years but also the wider public engaged in SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) or in the idea stage. Our aim is to be the best innovative Hub across Africa through consistent growing of successful young innovators and entrepreneurs.”
Watch the video below to see Sote Hub’s 2016 launch of their incubator platform for tech startups last month. The launch included a competition in which 16 startups developed and pitched ideas to Sote Hub, with four winning companies receiving:
- $2,200 in seed capital
- access to the hub’s workspace and internet
- business mentoring
- networking opportunities
- accounting services
- intellectual property management
- coaching in presentation skills
In the video we see three young women from Re-Decor, one of the winning start-ups, reveling in their achievements:
With Sote Hub’s latest investment, Re-Decor is sure to continue to develop innovative products and grow as a creative company. By taking an interest in these companies from the start, Sote Hub is ensuring growth within their local area, as opposed to outsourcing resources and creative talent. We certainly look forward to seeing more from this company, as they take advance of their latest winnings.
