Enterprise

Kenyan innovators in global competition for Sh51.6m funding

bett

Brian Bett tests their wireless greenhouse system. PHOTO | FILE

A Kenyan firm which produces wirelessly controlled greenhouses has been picked as one of the finalists in a global competition seeking to discover promising startups across 53 countries.

Illuminum Greenhouses, which is owned and run by Brian Bett and Taita Ngetich, has emerged the local winner in the competition organised by Geneva-based Seedstars World.

The two will now travel to Switzerland in February where they will compete for a portion of the Sh155 million ($1.5 million) in equity funding which will be shared equally among three category winners. That means they stand a chance of winning Sh51.6m.

“We are excited about this award as it shows our commitment to improving farming not only in Kenya but in sub-Saharan Africa as a whole,” said Mr Ngetich, a co-founder of Synnefa Green Limited which owns Illuminum Greenhouse.

“This recognition continues to encourage us to forge forward and impact the lives of the African farmer.”

Mr Bett and Mr Ngetich developed a concept for a wireless sensor that can measure the temperature, soil moisture and humidity of a greenhouse and transmit the same to the farmer via a text message.

The device sends two SMS alerts to a farmer, and automatically dials him if he does not make the required changes in the greenhouse. Thirty minutes after this prompt, the system automatically switches the drip irrigation system on or off, depending on the desired conditions.

The two have in the past made it to the semi-finals of the US State Department’s of Global Innovation through Science and Technology competition.

They were selected from 792 applications sent in from 74 countries. Their success gave them an opportunity to participate and make pitches during the Global Entrepreneurship Summit held in July and walked away with $15,000 (Sh1.5 million) in venture capital.