A new report by Google for Entrepreneurs (GFE) Partner Network has indicated that a total of 41 new jobs were created by Startups at Ugandan based technology and incubation hub, Outbox in 2016.
GFE partners with startup communities and builds Campuses where entrepreneurs can learn, connect, and create companies that will change the world.
In 2016, the network partnered with 50 startup communities around the world among which Uganda’s Outbox hub was included.
According to the report, Entrepreneurs and startups in the GFE community raised over $1.4 billion and created more than 7,800 jobs over the whole year.
Outstanding from Outbox hub was Ensibuuko, a Fintech startup which raised $500,000 in equity seed funding, and now works with over 100 savings and credit cooperatives.
Ensibuuko is working to increase farmer’s access to saving opportunities leveraging mobile and web technologies and offers a cloud based management information system (Mobis) for savings and credit cooperative societies (SACCOS), embedded with mobile money capabilities to improve financial record keeping, build operational efficiency and cut costs.
It currently reaches over 100 SACCOs, has processed transactions over 1bn Uganda Shillings (USD 296,000) and employs up-to 10 individuals.
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Commenting about the milestone, Outbox lead, Richard Zulu says it’s a good thing that more jobs are being created and many startups coming up.
“This is evidence that startups which partner with tech hubs perform better than those that do not. All emerging companies need to strike such partnerships in order for them to be able to tap into the resources that incubation hubs present,” Zulu told PC Tech on phone.
He called upon the private sector players and innovators to pull resources together to support innovation in the country saying the fruits have already been seen.
“My call goes beyond government. Let us tell our stories from a point of impact created rather than the normal ways. Government learns a lot from its citizens,” he said.
Mr. Zulu highlighted that the technology sector has better opportunities even as 2017 goes since “more money has come into the sector and other entities have expressed interest in technology.”
“With funding from NSSF, European Union, Up Accelerate and the government’s innovation fund, we shall see more entrepreneurs coming up and new solutions emerging.”
He cited that the collaboration between the ICT sector and other sectors will go a long way in creating opportunities for innovations and startups in the country.
In 2016, 11 new startup communities joined the GFE ranks and more than 135,000 entrepreneurs participated in different programs across the GFE network.
