The High Commission of India has announced its support for the "Pamoja Hackathon and Innovation Challenge".
The challenge is an initiative by an India-headquartered global startup accelerator Hindsight Ventures, which the High Commission said is towards building a robust bilateral start-up and innovation corridor between India and Kenya.
"This is by bringing together young innovators from Kenya with the expertise of Indian start-ups and IT companies,” the High Commission said in a statement.
Hindsight Ventures, which is Africa-focused, works with partners from industry, academia and governments.
Announced in April 2023, the challenge invited applications from enterprising Kenyan youth (as individuals or teams) to use technology, and design solutions for mass challenges across financial services, agriculture, education, manufacturing, logistics and the environment.
The overarching theme is environmental, social and governance, sustainability, and net zero.
The submission deadline will be May 31, and 10 participants will go for a boot camp will from June 5-9, from which the winners will be announced on June 15.
"With over 120+ unique submissions, we are now gearing up for the finale to be held on Thursday, 15th June 2023 at Hotel Sarova Panafric, Valley Road, Nairobi which will see top-10 shortlisted ideas/entrepreneurs pitching to an audience comprising government representatives, industry leaders, successful entrepreneurs and investors,” the statement said.
The top two winners will be awarded an all-expenses-paid week-long innovation ecosystem tour to India to "enable them to build linkages and further establish their ventures".
In attendance will be Ajay Ramasubramaniam, co-Founder and CEO, Hindsight Ventures and High Commissioner of India to Kenya Namgya Khampa, among other guests.
As per Volza’s Kenya import data, technology import shipments from India stood at 645, imported by 194 Kenya importers from 184 India suppliers.
India has in the past also partnered with Kenyan institutions in using technology and innovation to solve various challenges.
Such example the United States Agency for International Development partnered with India’s Society for Research and Initiatives for Sustainable Technologies and Institutions and JKUAT to promote food security in Kenya through the transfer of affordable, innovative Indian farm and food processing machinery.
In the project, three types of low-cost mechanization and processing equipment were transferred to Kenya, including a motorcycle-driven ploughing machine (also termed “Bullet Santi”), a manual seed cum fertilizer dibbler and a multi-purpose food processing machine.
