Known worldwide for its historical significance, beaches, and beautiful weather, Mombasa is slowly rising into a start-up destination in Kenya, a domain currently dominated by Nairobi.
The term ‘start-up’ refers to a company in the first stages of operations. Founded by one or more entrepreneurs, these companies generally start with high costs and limited revenue, thus looking for funding from various sources, such as venture capitalists.
Steered by the set up of new digital companies, Mombasa emerged as the second most preferred destination for start-ups after Nairobi, according to StartupBlink’s (a Swiss-based online platform that provides matchmaking services allowing entrepreneurs to find cofounders) most recent report.
Mombasa is Kenya’s second city to appear on their start-upstart-up list and was ranked at position 2 in Kenya, 7 in Eastern Africa, and 756 globally among other global cities like Francisco, London, and Nigeria. This is a big achievement for Kenya’s coastal region which currently has 11 start-ups on its list, as opposed to Nairobi which is home to 100 plus start-ups.
According to the report, Lagos which is currently sitting at position 122 globally, climbed to the 5th position becoming the highest-ranking African city, at the expense of Nairobi, which is now ranked 136th worldwide, 6th in the Middle East and Africa region, and second in Africa.
Some of the firms operating from Mombasa include HydraTech (software and data), Appettea (food tech), Tekizo Africa Limited (energy and environment), Clikham IT Solutions (software and data), and MicroDam Telecomm (Hardware and IoT), Osta Tech Ltd (software and data), AAA Platforms Ltd (software and data), Triplescreen.tv (marketing and sales), Studia Labs (software and data), Brance Technologies (software and data), and M-Tiba (healthcare).
While the city of Nairobi decreased 20 spots to 136th globally, Kenya improved one spot this year to rank 61st globally, 1st in Eastern Africa, and 2nd in Africa.
San Francisco, New York, Beijing, Los Angeles, London, and Boston are said to offer the best hub for start-ups. In terms of countries, the United States (one), the UK (two), Israel (three), and Canada (four) were ranked as the most favourable countries for start-up companies.
