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Uncategorized

24Jun

Building Villgro Kenya: From Academia To Business Incubator And Impact Investor In 5 Years (With Learnings To Dial Up For The Post Covid-19 World)

June 24, 2020 Ordia News, Uncategorized 21

Over the last five years, it has been my great privilege to lead Villgro’s expansion effort in Kenya and East Africa. Villgro is one of the world’s leading business incubators, with 20 years of experience in supporting social entrepreneurs in India. Villgro’s definition of social entrepreneurship is a for-profit company that sustainably delivers value for the shareholders and social impact at the base of the economic pyramid through its products and/or value chain. A social enterprise should also be built for scaling up with venture capitalist (VC) backing. Prior to joining Villgro, I was a research scientist whose only claim to fame was a few initiatives that sought to commercialize research outputs. So, the terms “innovation, entrepreneurship, impact investment, VC” and other development-speak buzz words fueled my bold decision to go where no scientist had gone before (at least in my networks): to put these simple, common-sense concepts into practice in Kenya and East Africa.

Villgro Kenya opened its doors for business in April 2015. Armed with the Villgro incubation model (our “secret sauce”), a ready pipeline of Grand Challenges Canada-funded health innovations, key stakeholder partnerships, and backed by a young team that was full of energy and talent, we were ready to change the world!

The first lesson I learned working at Villgro was that “Plan A” never works. We set out as a business incubator to empower innovators through knowledge and business development services. We were met with veiled suspicion. We did not fit the “incubator” model. Villgro Kenya did not offer free space or wifi to innovators. Instead of “tech” or “youth”, the key buzz words that dominate Kenya’s innovation landscape, Villgro’s branding of “health”, “hardware” and “social entrepreneurship” seemed out-of-touch with the times and altogether not cool. Our target market, the entrepreneurs, did not mince words either. They wanted funding, not the rich menu of knowledge or incubation services that we offered.

The second lesson I learnt was grit and patience. This will be familiar to most entrepreneurs. It takes grit, perseverance and (in lieu of capital) partnerships to press on until the breakthrough! Slowly, the entrepreneurs started trickling in. It was not our impressive CVs or Villgro India’s enviable track record in supporting over 100 innovators to raise USD $25 million and create over 4,000 jobs. Rather, it was the introductions from friends and partners who vouched for us. We rolled up our sleeves and got to work. Our backers and partners, Villgro India and the Lemelson Foundation, were patient and accommodating as we struggled to find our feet. When we were hard on ourselves, they celebrated our little successes. More importantly, they reminded us that Rome was not built in a day. Through our partners, we were introduced to USAID’s Partnership to Accelerate Entrepreneurship (PACE) initiative that provided capacity building and grant seed capital to fund startups. With a stronger value proposition to entrepreneurs in place, we were finally in business, increasing the flow of quality startups applying for incubation!

My third lesson was about the importance of understanding the market. As we worked with startups, we learnt more about the health system and the market that it serves. In the health sector, need does not equate to demand. This is because Africa’s population lacks the purchasing power to reward private sector’s R&D investments with premium profits that drive the global pharmaceutical and medical device industry. Africa’s market – though not willing to bear the costs of “premium offerings” – is discerning and demands quality but cost-effective solutions. Imported solutions that are designed for the more affluent European and North American markets often fail due to high price points and expensive operational infrastructure requirements that further increase the costs of healthcare delivery. How can innovators employ frugal innovation in the design and development of solutions to achieve problem-solution fit? How can they employ social entrepreneurship business models in the production and delivery of health innovations to achieve product-market fit? We learnt quickly that the market is unforgiving, consisting of a donor-driven public health sector that lacks incentive for adopting innovations, as well as a private health sector that presents a fragmented market requiring considerable time and capital to gain traction.

The fourth and final lesson is that if “cash is king” it means the VC is the hidden customer! Realizing how much time and capital it takes to demonstrate a commercial proof of concept was humbling. The only way to reduce the time is to increase the capital. Enter the Argidius Foundation. They challenged us not to provide our services for free, but we didn’t want to charge cash-strapped entrepreneurs. Could we find a middle ground to make this partnership work? The short answer is yes, but we had to change our mindset from thinking like an entrepreneur (market focused) to thinking like an investor (ROI and investment cycle). We continued providing grant seed capital but also introduced equity investments as we de-risked the companies. We strengthened our due diligence and investment committee and noticed that our conversations with follow-on investors were beginning to yield fruit. Our incubation support also reflected a stronger commercial and investment mindset as we began to recalibrate our incubation goals to better align with the investors’ proof points. Before long, we were making our targets as our portfolio companies started to receive term sheets and successfully raise the necessary capital to start making significant inroads in the market.

Today, we celebrate five years of Villgro’s ongoing expansion in Kenya and the region. We are proud of the partnerships that have yielded the progress made so far. Villgro Kenya has proved that homegrown solutions and social enterprises in the health sector can rival the success of Fin Tech startups, if given a chance. Our portfolio companies have succeeded in generating more than USD 1 million in revenues and created 188 jobs in the formal economy, even as they sustainably delivered a health impact for the marginalized communities.

However, it is not all rosy. Clear disparities in the progress of African-founded startups still exist compared to expat-founded startups. The same disparity can be seen with startups offering services versus startups producing hardware or products, and academia or science-based startups versus tech or commercial-based startups. Moreover, even the hard-won gains now risk being wiped away by the COVID-19 pandemic as it threatens lives and upends the economy.

There is, therefore, a lot more work to do and even more at stake than before, which brings us to the fifth lesson: you can’t do it alone – it takes a village! This means looking beyond our own needs to building the ecosystem we operate in so as to create a more enabling environment for more innovators to succeed. “It takes a village” also means scaling Villgro’s replication across the continent by partnering with like-minded incubators and accelerators and sharing our “secret sauce”, the Villgro model of supporting and investing in social entrepreneurs across Africa.

Leading us into this new phase of growth is one of my co-founders, Wilfred Njagi, who will be taking over the helm as CEO as we begin the expansion of Villgro across Africa. Wilfred has been instrumental in the setting up of Villgro from the very start and graciously invited me to steer the boat in the early formative stages of our journey. Wilfred is a naturally gifted entrepreneur and leader, whose contributions to Villgro’s transformative story over the last six years cannot be gainsaid. I cannot think of a better person to lead the organization during this critical time in history as we address the COVID-19 threat. I am very thankful for the amazing friendship, partnership, and support that we have developed along the way and I invite you to join me in welcoming and supporting Wilfred in his new role as CEO as he drives us to greater heights. Thank you!

Sincerely,

Robert Karanja
Co-Founder & Director, Villgro Kenya

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31Oct

Hello world!

October 31, 2019 Benedict Uncategorized 17

Welcome to WordPress. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start writing!

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Dr. Beatrice Murage

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Dr. Beatrice Murage is an experienced, results-oriented leader in systems strengthening, healthcare management, entrepreneurship, intrapreneurship, digital innovation and exploration/ventures. She has successfully built teams and led strategy, policy formulation, and project implementation in emerging and established markets.

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Ordia Akelo holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Linguistics Media and Communication from Moi University. She was awarded a Climate Tracker Fellowship as a Climate journalist in 2016 & 2017. She has worked as a writer, editor and managed websites & social media sites for Standard Media Group and the African Network for Internationalization of Education.

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Immanuel is a Senior Portfolio Associate on Villgro Kenya’s team. Prior to Villgro Kenya, Immanuel gained multi-sectoral experience working firsthand with businesses throughout Sub-Saharan Africa to develop new business strategies, raise capital, and pioneer innovative products and services. He is an alumni of Zamara Actuaries, Administrators and Consultants and holds a Bachelors in Actuarial Science from Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology. Immanuel likes everything related to nature, cars, and believes gaming is cool.

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Rescue by Flare, an emergency response platform in Kenya is using their robust dispatch system to manage all intake and triage at Kenya’s main COVID-19 isolation, testing, and treatment facilities.

As part of the Wheels For Life consortium, they have also partnered with the Ministry of Health Kenya, AMREF, Bolt, Pharmaccess Foundation, Kenya Healthcare Federation, and Telesky to get expectant mothers to the hospital during curfew hours.

Through their network of first responders, the team has fielded 3,714  calls, dispatched 198 taxis, and 60 ambulances. Their fast response rates have helped save the lives of an average of 8 mothers every night, since the initiative began.

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Telemedicine platform enables patients to get treatment from any part of the country without having to visit a hospital physically and exposing themselves to COVID-19.

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Artificial Intelligence based solutions and data analytics for diagnosis of Covid-19 from Xray images. Have developed a system that detects COVID-19 using AI in real time.
Images can be uploaded to the system via a website portal and diagnosis is returned in real time

VentilateAfrica

Ventilate Africa have developed a ventilator locally for the treatment of COVID 19. This is in line with the impending global shortage of ventilators due to the high number of cases in countries with low healthcare infrastructure.

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A functional prototype of a locally manufactured ventilator developed using a wind screen motor. Currently working closely with the Kenya Industrial Research and Development Institute to develop the second prototype that meets global standards.

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Simbona Africa, an Ethiopian healthcare research and development company developed a fully automated UVC room sterilizer for use in hospitals and public spaces.

The  UVC apparatus is fitted with UVC lamps (8 watts) that emit high-intensity ultraviolet light that is able to kill microorganisms and pathogens found on surfaces in the room including COVID-19. It has the ability to disinfect up to 40 square meters of a room at any given time.

They have manufactured 14 units and are in the process of delivering 30 orders requested from the Ministry of Health Ethiopia. Villgro Kenya will help scale their production and unlock regional partnerships so that their devices can serve other countries within the region.

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Medixus is a case management platform for medical practitioners which also has a tele-medicine interface for patients. In response to COVID-19 they have incorporated daily fact based updates on COVID-19 for clinicians.

Using the platform, clinicians can share case studies of patients securely, professionally discuss, debate, ask questions and share their insights.

The platform has helped improve case management and clinical practice.

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Lishe Living is offering chronic disease management via an online platform to reduce risk of COVID-19 mortality and morbidity from pre-existing conditions. With social distancing requirements in place reduced hospital visits have been recorded leading to a burden on patients with non-communicable diseases to manage their conditions. With Lishe Living they are able to reduce the risk of infection as they can manage their conditions from the comfort of their homes. Villgro Kenya’s support will help net the right partnerships with key stakeholders while giving them appropriate mentorship from our pool of mentors well versed in the sector.

neopanda

Neopenda, a remote vital signs monitor for low resource settings is modifying the Neoguard device so that it can measure vital signs in adults and children, with potential to help with the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. With adequate technical support, the device will help medics respond faster to medical emergencies related to COVID-19  It can also help in identifying suspected cases who are being monitored.

The remote vital signs monitor which helps reduce the burden of a high patient to doctor ratio in rural Uganda will also help lower their risk of contracting the virus as it reduces the frequency of physical monitoring.

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Kijenzi uses 3D technology to manufacture spare parts of broken down medical equipment locally and at a fraction of the cost of buying new equipment. Kijenzi’s manufacturing hub in Kisumu is responding to the COVID-19 pandemic by producing PPE’s like touchless door handles and face shields for hospital staff and other essential workers. With the technical support from Villgro Kenya, the team has delivered over 2100 face shields to 24 medical facilities.

New Team Images_Dr Kevin

Ms. Snider Mugese is a BSc. Financial Engineering graduate from Jomo Kenyatta university of Agriculture and technology (JKUAT). She is also a certified Public accountant (CPA K) currently pursuing a certification in Finance and Investment analysis. She previously worked as an accountant at NewQuest Consulting Limited, an accounting firm where she handled various companies in Bookkeeping and Tax and held a team supervisory role.

John Masanda

John Masanda is an astute entrepreneur and business executive with experience and expertise to lead diverse teams with multiple skills and multicultural background.

John has successful participated in various enterprises start-up and growth, diversifications, new products launch, new markets entry, business consolidation, mergers and acquisitions, funding and investment decisions.

John is Founder & CEO of Malfini Capital Ltd (MCL) which is investment and stockholder in Malfini Gas Ltd a distributor of BOC GASES; a leading global brand of gases and process engineering services, Malfini Energy Ltd a distributor of petroleum products Fuels & CALTEX LUBRICANTS; a leading global brand and Malfini Logistics Ltd a 3PL logistics service provider, commodity trading and FMCG distributor. MCL is an investor in Malfini Gas DRC Sarl a joint venture company participating in development of the Lake Kivu Methane Gas Project to produce methane gas for both domestic use, industrial use and power generation. John does provides advisory services to; FasterCapital LLC a virtual incubator co-founding and cofounding start-ups with innovative app-based or online based solutions, Villgro Kenya an incubator of innovative ideas on healthcare and biosciences and Capital One Group a corporate communications agency with East Africa operations and Ugavilla Development Co. Ltd a developer of affordable housing.

John has been CEO of Kenlloyd Logistics Ltd; which grew to be regional network partner and franchisee of DB Schenker of Germany; a leading global logistics service provider, negotiated and performed Fuel Supply Agreement with Jacobsen Elektro AS of Norway supporting seamlessly their 50Mw power plant in Uganda for 7 years, negotiated and signed a PPP concession with Government Of Uganda through City Authority and a subsidiary; Pioneer Easy Bus Ltd to operate public transport passenger services for 5 years. John has been instrumental in negotiating and introducing into East Africa innovative construction technologies and alternative building technologies; Probase Road System (‘’PRS’’) for roads and Lightweight Concrete Methodology (‘’LCM’’) for housing.

Daniel Ohonde-01

Daniel Ohonde is a dynamic, strategic and visionary leader with more than 25 years of exceptional leadership experience in CEO / COO and investment stewardship roles managing high performance teams. He has a combination of international development experience and broad commercial experience gained from diverse markets. His experience in the provision of patient capital to small and growing businesses (SGBs) is extensive across Africa and, as a member of the Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE) Global Executive Committee, he also brings on board a deep understanding of the SGB landscape in other developing and emerging markets globally. He is former CEO at the Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund (AECF). His passion is in supporting and catalyzing early stage (and scaling) innovative enterprises and business models that can sustainably deliver social change.
He has a rich mix of human resources, operations, strategy, finance, investment, governance, resource mobilization and portfolio management experience having previously worked (across various locations internationally) with African Development Bank, Real People Financial Services, African Management Services Company (AMSCO), USAID, Plus Consultants, ExxonMobil, Coca-Cola Africa, and WestConsult.
Daniel has a BSc in Mechanical Engineering from University of Nairobi, MBA in Strategic Management from USIU-A and an MSc in Finance from the University of London. He is an avid tennis and cricket supporter, is married and blessed with two sons

Dr. Abdi Mohamed-01

Dr. Abdi Mohamed is an award winning serial entrepreneur who was voted as one of the Top 40 under 40 men in Kenya. He is the co-founder and CEO of Ladnan Hospital which has been acquired by a PE Fund. Dr. Abdi has been elected into leadership positions by his medical professional colleagues. Dr. Abdi has strong entrepreneurial acumen with a leaning towards social enterprises.

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Wesley Ronoh is a seasoned Pharmaceutical Sector Development Expert having worked and consulted for leading International Development Agencies within East Africa and beyond. He has a deep understanding of the health technologies landscape in the developing world having been involved in developing regional and national policies and other strategic interventions aimed at improving access. He has core competencies in Life Science Product Development including technology transfer management, commercialization, manufacture and delivery to market. Wesley is a Registered Pharmacist with postgraduate degrees in Medicinal Chemistry and MBA.

Paul Basil

Mr. Basil is Founder and CEO of Villgro Innovations Foundation. Over the last decade, Mr. Basil has incubated over 130 innovative enterprises, creating over 4000 jobs, touching around 5 million lives in villages across India.

Mr. Basil also co-founded Menterra Venture Advisors, a seed stage, impact fund that makes venture investments in for-profit, impactful enterprises.

Apart from the core of his mission, which is incubating early stage, innovative businesses, Paul also has contributed to building the social enterprise eco-system in India. Unconvention, India’s leading conference on innovation and social entrepreneurship is organized in 15 cities across India, a Centre for Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship at IIT-Madras that focuses on research and education, the ANDE India Chapter (Aspen Network for Development Entrepreneurs) a network of intermediaries that support small and growing businesses etc., are some of his achievements in building the eco-system in India.

Mr. Basil was awarded the Ashoka Fellowship in 2002 for his outstanding social entrepreneurship in setting up Villgro. He has also been conferred the Samaj Seva Bhushan Award and the Star Entrepreneur Award

Paul

Paul Belknap is COO, Villgro Kenya. Paul has diverse experience in both product development and social business incubation. He spent three and a half years building the Villgro India health portfolio by sourcing pipeline, leading diligence and portfolio management for multiple companies.

Rob

Rob brings a unique combination of seasoned experience in business and social entrepreneurship, education and technology. Rob is a visionary leader who has lived in Kenya for the past 11 years and is fully aware of the unique challenges that Kenyans face seeking sustainable livelihoods within the East African context.

Robert

Robert serves as the CEO, Villgro Kenya where he is spearheading the replication of the Villgro incubation model of social entrepreneurship and impact investment in the healthcare and life sciences industry. He has over 10 years of experience in global health R&D as a biomedical scientist at the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) where he discovered his passion for impacting peoples’ lives through science and innovation.

Wilfred

Wilfred brings in diverse experience having lived and worked in Middle East, Asia and Africa and travelled to 8 countries. His first immersion into startup and incubation world came while pitching his idea to a Jordanian based incubator, OASIS500. He went on to do a one year Villgro fellowship in India after which he took up the challenge of scaling Villgro to Africa.

Dr Kevin

Dr. Kevin Muite is an Investment Manager with Villgro Kenya. Kevin holds a PhD in Immunology from the University of Chicago and a former consultant for large pharmaceutical clients. He began his scientific career in Durban South Africa researching HIV at the Doris Duke Medical Center at the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal during his undergraduate years. He spent a year conducting research at Virginia Tech as an NIH post baccalaureate fellow researching mucosal immunology. ​

Gibson

Gibson holds a Bachelor’s degree in Arts (Economics) from the University of Nairobi. He is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA K) . He previously worked as a freelancing Accounts and Tax Consultant for SMEs and a junior financial analyst at Fledge-Africa, a financial consulting company providing investment readiness and fund raising support for Villgro Kenya’s portfolio, where he discovered his passion for due diligence and financial modeling

Moses

Moses holds an MSc. in Global Health from the University of Manchester and a Bachelor of Business Administration specializing in entrepreneurship from the Kenya Methodist University. He has diverse experience in managing health research and intervention programs covering areas such as substance abuse, mental health, HIV/AIDS, health promotion and behavior change programs. He has held senior roles in several non-profits including the Private Sector Development Trust, The Institute of Quantity Surveyors of Kenya and SCAD.