We are proud to announce our partnership with the IPO48 Kenyan edition. On the 29th to the 31st of October a 48 hour boot-camp event for web and mobile application development will be held at Strathmore University Nairobi. The idea is for the up to 100 participants to create a working demo, from an idea to operating service in just 48 hours. The best team stands to win 10000 Euros which is equivalent to 1 000 000 Ksh. Registration has been pushed to the 17th of October.
IPO48 Nairobi is organized by HumanIPO and Garage48.org. HumanIPO is a startup platform founded in 2009 and focuses on bringing together small investors with entrepreneurs and startups by collaborating and networking via a social media platform.
 IPO48 Boot-Camp Event |
Considering that is not unusual for a start up to wait 6-9 months for funding, the event is a one of a kind opportunity for developers of innovative and creative mobile and web solutions. According to Kresten Buch, Founder of HumanIPO, “The investors would like to follow the startup to see how it develops and also to have time to check out the team.”
Buch goes on to ad that “IPO48.com has a 14-day pre-stage, where ideas will be posted to humanipo.com. A crowdsourcing process from a number of advisors will challenge the entrepreneur and push him to look into business models and other aspects of turning the idea into a business. This transparent approach will quickly show whether the entrepreneur has the ability to sell his idea, debate it, and pick out relevant information from the process. By October 26th the advisory group will choose up to 20 most promising business ideas. The authors will pitch their ideas on the opening night of IPO48 on Friday, October 29th. After the pitch, all IPO48 participants can choose their favourite idea and form teams. The teams will have to build the service over the weekend and present the results on Sunday evening 6pm for the jury. Again, the entrepreneur who is good at selling his idea and evaluating people will end up with the best team – stars attract stars. This is all about social skills – selling yourself and the idea is an absolute key competence for the vast majority of successful entrepreneurs.”
Obviously at the event the teams are under pressure and need to make very quick decisions about the specifications of the software. This requires strong teamwork and someone who can cut through and quickly get things moving. Real leaders with the ability to perform and energize the team will stand out in this process and this should be a good indication of their capability to lead and execute.
Goals of IPO48
• Demonstrate with real-life examples, that teams can turn an idea into a working prototype or service within one weekend
• Show that startup companies can be started with really lean budget and with low costs (no need for big investments)
• Promote entrepreneurship and startup culture in Kenya and Africa
• Get to know new people and participate in a fun event
Registration process for IPO48
• Sign-up for HumanIPO platform and fill-in your profile
• Submit your application to participate in IPO48 on HumanIPO
• Submit business or project ideas for mentor’s feedback on HumanIPO
Expected participants
• Visionary entrepreneurs and project managers – people with ability to start new business ideas, run teams and deliver results
• Designers – mavericks creating visual identity and user interfaces
• Web Developers – HTML/CSS/AJAX/JS wizards making the design work smoothly in all web browsers
• Programmers – planning technical architecture, writing functional code and testing the outcome
• Mobile Developers – building apps for mobile platforms
• Marketers and business developers – evangelists and sales wizards making the products fly and reach the audience
Participation fee
Ticket: 1500 Khs (€14, covers costs for venue, food, drinks and snacks).