Justice Entrepreneurship School- Kenya and Rwanda
By 2030, HiiL Innovation Hub East Africa’s mission is to have 50 million East Africans gain easy access to user-friendly justice. The journey to achieve this so far is promising,and as a hub we’ve been committed to achieve this goal through supporting justice startups across the region. This year alone, 28 startups have passed through our different programmes, as we anticipate for even more within the course of the year.
The Justice Entrepreneurship School
The Justice Entrepreneurship School 2022, is HiiL Innovation Hub East Africa’s 6 week incubation programme, that seeks to train entrepreneurs with a functioning innovative solution to a pressing justice problem. With support from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the Netherlands,the Embassy of the Kingdom of Netherlands in Rwanda and in Somalia, the programme this year has been able to support 23 startups; 10 from Kenya, 10 from Rwanda and 3 from Somalia, with mentorship and training sessions, and an opportunity to test and validate their minimum viable product to their different target markets. Additionally, the Justice Entrepreneurship School has provided an opportunity for startups to network and partner with one another across the East African region. During the 6 weeks of the programme, the JES kicked off with a 5 day bootcamp, followed by continuous testing and validating of their innovative solutions. Aside from this, three startups from Kenya and Rwanda are awarded 1000 euros in support of their startups while the team in Somalia receives $5000 each.
Kenya:
The JES Kenya selection was quite rigorous. Out of the 27 applications submitted, we had 10 selected to join the programme from across Nairobi and Kisumu counties. Their functioning solutions ranged from civic participation, legal aid services to online escrow services to curb digital fraud. The startups that made it to the programme were:
Lipa Safe- Headed by Nelson Ameyo, Lip Safe is an online escrow service that reduces the fraud risk of holding payments and executing them once the transaction has been verified.
Ace Litigator- An online service that enables individuals to access litigation documents with step by step explanatory notes that can enable anyone to self represent in court.
The Dispute Resolution Hub- A platform that offers arbitration and dispute resolution services to clients instead of going through the expensive and complex process of settling in court.
Fine Print- A platform that seeks to incorporate public participation in policy formulation. Fine Print was represented by Janet Ocholla, who is the co-founder.
Instruct- An online platform where lawyers can get access to clients easily. Instruct was represented at the bootcamp by Victoria Kang’ethe, who is the co-founder.
NetSheria International- A company that provides commercial documentation and legal guidance to start ups.
Kenyan Legal- This innovation was represented by Michael Opondo who is the Co-Founder and CEO. Kenyan Legal is a legal marketplace connecting lawyers with clients, as well as enabling self-serve on routine legal documents, at scale, through browser-based contract automation.
Civic Voices-is a collaborative mobile platform that informs, involves and engages common citizens in policy and law making processes.
Vibranium ID- A platform that offers end to end identity verification solutions for Fintechs, Mobile Money providers and Loan Companies. This startup is headed by Eddie Kago.
Alatpres- A digital solution that seeks to link users to public safety operators in the event of an emergency. Alatpres is headed by Benedict Njue.
The Bootcamp
Finally, the day arrived. We met the entrepreneurs early Monday morning on the 25th as the team gathered at the KenCom bus stage, nervous about meeting each other for the first time but excited for what lay ahead. The JES Kenya bootcamp was held from 25th to 29th July, at Lukenya Getaway in Machakos County. From the day of arrival, entrepreneurs were engaged in different learning activities like the Maze, theory of change and the Lean Impact analysis of their startups.
Photo: Entrepreneurs getting ready to go to the Maze
In the beginning a lot of the innovators were confident of their solutions but halfway through the bootcamp, they struggled trying to discover who their customers were, and the kind of problem that they were trying to solve. However, the HiiL team was present in order to support them throughout. “I thought I had a solid approach to my startup, but that thought quickly diminished once we broke our solutions down,” one of the innovators jokingly mentioned.
The innovators also participated in the first ever pitch. A 3 minute presentation of what their innovation was all about, their clientele, team and their vision. At first they made numerous mistakes but corrected them before their final pitch, which occurred on Thursday 28th of July. Various components were looked upon during the evaluation like team composition and general motivation to solve the particular problem their customers were facing. Their fellow team members reviewed each pitch and 3 startups emerged as winners.
For Michael, this exercise helped his vision for his startup become razor-sharp. “ Talking about my startup to other people in an elevator pitch made me realise that marketing your startup all starts in the why. By helping people realise why your startup exists, helps them connect with your vision better,” he mentioned.
The Dispute Resolution Hub
Photo: HiiL Innovation Hub Head Eric Kariuki congratulating Josephine Kairo of the Dispute Resolution Hub on emerging winner
Headed by Assumpta Ndami, The Dispute Resolution Hub impressed the team due to their wealth of knowledge and experience in dispute resolution matters and emerged overall winner of the JES bootcamp. The Hub was represented by Josephine Kairo, who is a Case Development Officer.
Ace Litigator
Julius Muriuki, Programme Associate at HiiL Innovation Hub- East Africa congratulating Stella Orengo of Ace Litigator on emerging 1st Runners up
Stella Orengo has played an active role in different legal sectors over the years and it’s no surprise that Ace Litigator emerged runners up at the Pitch Deck during the Bootcamp. Despite the fact that the startup officially started in July 2022, the solutions that they’re providing will have remarkable results in the next year.
NetSheria International
Sharlene Muthuri, Marketing Associate at HiiL Innovation Hub East Africa congratulating Gillian Neky of NetSheria International, on emerging 2nd runners up
This startup was founded in January 2022 and has continued to maintain an active role in East Africa’s legal tech ecosystem by providing legal aid services digitally to startups, entrepreneurs and creatives. The startup was represented by Gillian Neky at the Bootcamp, and emerged 1st runners up.
Overall, the JES bootcamp was inspiring and imposed a challenge to all entrepreneurs to do better. It was quite eye-opening for others as they got to understand the strategies they would need to set in place for their solution to work. Collins Ouma, who is the founder of Civic Voices particularly found it deeply insightful. This is what he had to say about his experience at the bootcamp: “What stood out for me most was the order of lessons and the continuous and open reviews of our own startups as we moved along, through the lenses of what has been taught and understood from those particular lessons. For me, learning while implementing was crucial and beneficial for one primary reason-clarity. I was able to reconsider many of my beliefs and communicate about my startup, and now I can plan, communicate and implement with clarity, courage and more intentionality.”
Rwanda
“The bootcamp is my essential guide to maximising the social impact of my work, time and money. The Lean Impact canvas gave me bold ideas to reach audacious goals through customer insight, rapid experimentation, and a relentless pursuit of impact.” Jean bosco- CEO and Founder of ETITE limited.
On Monday, The 1st of August at 6.30 am, we arrived at St. Famille Parking lot in the centre of Kigali to meet the Rwanda JES cohort. We then crossed various districts in Rwanda, from the warm and sunny Kigali to the cold and wet Musanze to participate in their bootcamp at The Fatima Hotel. Although they were all meeting for the very first time, the innovators were welcoming to the HiiL facilitators. Some of the expectations that they stated were to learn more on how to expand their businesses, as well as create networks with other innovators present.
Here’s a profile of the JES Rwanda innovations selected to join the Justice Entrepreneurship School:
- Ihugure Chatbot- Using both website and USSD code, Ihugure Chatbot helps ordinary citizens access legal information on their mobile phones by using voice or text in local language and get information.This startup was represented by Arnauld Kayonga who is the founder.
Wiceceka Christian Support Organisation- This organisation works with local mediators in Gichumbi district, to help people solve their land disputes.
Stand for Them- Stand for Them helps citizens get user-friendly justice by enabling ordinary citizens to access information by using a hardware device that enables direct reporting of crimes, especially gender based violence cases, without involving any third party, it is targeting people in rural areas that have no access to mobile phones.
Kumira- Kumira is a startup that has also incorporated the use of a USSD Code and a website to report crimes and any other suspicious activities in the community. Their system allows you to alert your family and local leaders in case of emergencies, hence improving the safety of the citizens.
Citizen Justice System- Developed by Kelly Ikuzwe, the Citizen Justice System is an online platform that enables citizens to record as well as track the progress of their cases digitally
Etite Limited- Etite Limited provides a platform that allows clients to rate a particular service, and can connect customers directly with the service provider who can either give better services or a refund in case a customer is not happy with the delivered service.
BIT Support- BIT Support is an online software that is helping SMEs to manage their businesses, generate invoices for employees, and can generate payment history, in case an employer needs it. This has helped greatly in managing employer-employee relations, as well as curbing fraud.
igiTREE- A solution that is using Technology to reunite families through matching their DNA. It targets families of people that were displaced after the genocide in Rwanda, and moved abroad without being aware of the whereabouts of their loved ones.
Santech- Santech uses technology to protect people’s information, misuse of personal data and their belongings, especially in companies. Additionally, it helps daily workers to sign in digitally and prevent issues like loss of payments, which is likely to happen when it is done manually.
Vuga Ukire Initiative- Founded by Ismael Kubwubuntu, Vuga Ukire is a unique solution that is using psychotherapy to resolve disputes between family members and neighbours.
Despite being in existence for over 3 years, some of the bootcampers had generated little to no revenue and hoped that they would tackle some of these challenges in the bootcamp. It did prove to be of incredible value to the entrepreneurs as they worked on creating services for evidence-based problems, in order to get traction.
Over the course of 5 days in Musanze,the Fatima hotel was bustling with activity with the innovators working through the prevailing issues in their businesses and getting an understanding on enabling their innovations to scale. For some entrepreneurs, there were concepts that made them question the existence of their startups. Others were able to discover the root cause of the problems their startups were suffering from.
The innovators also had their chance to pitch their ideas to their peers. This time, the Rwanda team outdid the Kenyan one because of their thoroughness, well researched statistics and clear metrics for their startups. The trainings, and networking went on throughout the week, culminating to Friday where three startups emerged winners: Santech by Claudine Niyonzima, igiTREE by Deexon Muhizi and Kumira by Fulgence Maniraho.
Claudine, who is the Founder and CEO of Santech mentioned just how insightful the bootcamp was. “It prepared me to make more changes in my team and changed my approach to the customers in our market.I learned that asking for help as an entrepreneur can take my team from a point of helplessness to success,”she said.
“The bootcamp served as an eye-opener and a challenge to create solutions for the most prevalent justice problems, where scalability and impact can be rightly measured,” said Arnaud Kayonga, who is the founder of Ihugura Chatbot. We’d like to thank all the JES participants for making the Kenya and Rwanda boot camp a success! Becoming a justice change maker does not just happen. It required a holistic approach to data, evidence-based research on the problem and a will to solve the pressing need. It is the consistent effort and commitment put in that results begin to show, to ensure the solutions created are able to serve millions of people around the world.