Hackathon

Building what matters through youth-led innovation

Most hackathons focus on filling speculative gaps; a theme is announced, strangers form developing teams, they spark ideas on how to tackle aspects of the theme, and build within their creativity and imagination. After a prototype has been developed, the teams either publish their code as open source, move on with their day jobs, or, in a rare case, go the startup way to operationalise their idea.

Recently, an award-winning incubation hub in Mombasa, Westerwelle Startup Haus, changed this narrative by using an operational problem-solving way. From their business ecosystem, they identified industry players from various fields, such as edtech, financial institutions, and media, who had been facing challenges that required solutions. At their core, Westerwelle empowers individuals to develop skills and supports businesses to scale their operations. They have trained businesses on expansion to new markets, with some successfully being operational beyond Kenya. Expansion, however, comes with hurdles that may be costly and time-consuming to tackle without intervention. This urge to unblock technical bottlenecks led to the coining of the Ubunifu hackathon.

The three-day intense hackathon, supported by the Friedrich Naumann Foundation, had clear goals: to innovate local solutions, build an ecosystem, and provide a platform for creativity. A group of 40 strangers believed in themselves to kick off day one with problem framing and team formation. Before any code was developed, they were trained on design thinking by Wayne Gakuo, a Google Developer Expert. This was a strategic necessity for the teams to build with empathy and an understanding that the industry player is the expert on the problem.

Beyond the code is the ability to operationalise a business in which the solutions can thrive once scaled beyond the initial industry players. Participants had vivid depictions of how to run a typical business month through the Start and Improve Your Business entrepreneurship game. Here, the teams that understood the fine balance between managing expenses, setting achievable goals, and being prepared for life's eventualities remained afloat.

On the second day, the teams hit the ground running with zeal to get feasible solutions. The present nature of the business owners and their eagerness eased the feedback loops, resulting in user-oriented solutions. With loads of caffeine and ice cream, the six teams burnt the midnight oil with little to no sleep. Throughout, constant iteration and consultation took place. “Being nosy and moving around to other groups has helped me a lot in brainstorming and bouncing ideas off each other,” a participant recalls.

Pitches were not just about being the winning team, but the ability to solve a problem with economic impact. Storytelling played a significant role in painting a picture of the problems, a skill that most participants gained as it was their first hackathon. The hackathon presented an opportunity for university students to package market-ready skills through the practical application of solutions. “Collaborations like these help us to implement what we otherwise are unable to with limited resources,” said Mathew Egessa, a lecturer at Technical University Mombasa.

As with every competition, a winner was crowned. The Blue Finance team built Quick Score, a digital application for automated credit scoring and loan appraisal for young entrepreneurs, an aspect that hinders businesses from scaling. This aimed to support a challenge presented by Nyali Capital, a microfinance institution that offers short-term credit facilities and training programs for individuals and businesses. “We saw the Hackathon as a strong starting point and appreciate the support that made it possible.” Wanjiku Wambugu, CEO of Nyali Capital.

Industry players did not just cheer; they adopted the solutions. “Tracking below the line advertising sales credibility is an issue I have had for a long time, and this can save me up to KES 300,000 monthly. I am 100% taking up the solution”, Kelvin Kariithi, CEO of Klenses Images. This was an indication of local businesses being willing to adopt local solutions, a move that shifts developers from being vendors to partners. Additionally, teams will have the opportunity to iterate and build solutions that fully meet initial challenges through incubation space support at Westerwelle.

Successful businesses are those that solve real-life problems while operating in an ecosystem. They benefit from faster growth, less expensive failure, and solving problems as a result of collaboration. Ubunifu hackathon proves that innovation does not just happen in a vacuum; supporting the ecosystem approach delivers immediate pilot adoptions.