Local startup, Kitech, has scooped an international accolade through a competition by Global Startup Ecosystem, which supports corporate innovations and helps tech companies transform in the digital space.
Started 2016, Kitech was rewarded a cash price of $150,000 ($150,000).
With the award, Kitech, which develops websites and mobile applications, will now have access to IBM Cloud, DigitalOceans, AWS, Google Cloud, SendGrid infrastructure to host our projects.
“I now have space for free, and I can now host as many projects as I can, which will help me expand my business but also serve my clients with better products,” said Fridolin Niyonsaba, the proprietor of Kitech.
Niyonsaba, 32, studied Agriculture Engineering at the University of Rwanda, but due to his fascination with technology, he taught himself coding skills through videos and reading articles.
These skills helped him to land an IT job in a hotel just shortly before graduation.
“I realised I can do more with my skills, and provide more solutions to the market,” Niyonsaba said, “So, I quit my job and started my company Kitech.”
Kitech has forged successful partnerships with various organisations such as YEAN which helps over 8,000 farmers with basic things like how to plant, harvest and ask questions on the platform which gives them instant feedback.
After starting his company, Niyonsaba discovered his other inefficiencies including in areas such as marketing and leadership.
“As technicians we tend to focus on things like coding and product development but ignore the needs of the clients and how to endear the product to their interests,” he said.
He then took some short professional courses at Andela where he honed his marketing skill among others.
“My company now focuses on customer needs before developing a product for them. We teach them how the product works and follow-up on how they are adapting to it.”
Kitech now has 12 permanent employees including engineers, visionaries and developers.
It outcompeted firms from big economies such as Nigeria, India, Ghana, and emerged as the startup lab pitch winner in the Global Startup Ecosystem competition.
Niyonsaba has now set his eyes on expanding Kitech into a global tech ecosystem.
“Winning this competition showed me that we not only have the local support, but we also have global support, and by working hard we can take Rwandan technology to an international level.”