In 2023, the lights went out at Gearbox Pan African Network (GPAN), once Nairobi’s hub for eletronics hardware innovation. A funding shortfall had crippled the non-profit’s operations. Staff were let go, dreams were shelved, and the tech startups ecosystem held its breath in disbelief.
For Dr Kamau Gachigi, the GPAN founder, it was a bitter reckoning. After nearly a decade of mentoring young engineers, startups, and hobbyists, he found himself staring down the same dilemma that haunts many Kenyan tech ventures—when the funding dries up, so can the future.
