Making a Comeback

Phares Kariuki: A Tale of Trials, Challenges & Making a Comeback

The story of Phares Kariuki teaches that every time you fall, you need to rise, dust yourself off, and give that dream yet another go. It’s okay to make mistakes, don’t brood over them, but learn from them and move on.

Following boardroom brawls with venture capital investors at his initial startup, Angani, which he co-founded

with his friend, Brian Muita, who was the CTO, Phares decided to quit the startup.

A power tussle for the soul of the startup led to a board meeting where Phares was to be relieved of his role as CEO but to retain his co-founder, Brian Muita, as CTO.

However, they both rather offered to resign from their positions, but the board wanted them to transfer all control, and the issues surrounding passwords and login details were the next nut they had to crack.

They asked for written documentation to absolve them of any liability once they released the same, but it appeared the board members were unwilling to commit. They were promptly sued, but Phares and his co-founder won and later counter-sued members of the board.

Following a long-drawn legal tussle, they both left the startup in October 2015, but this would later cause a shutdown of systems during which customers’ infrastructures were thrown offline.

However, this didn’t deter Phares or his co-founder and colleague.

Angani was a budding cloud infrastructure sensation. It was the first fully automated public cloud provider in Sub-Saharan Africa. It was also able to have the first television station that was fully cloud-based without physical infrastructure.

Before he left, Phares was able to grow the Angani business from scratch to become a company with over tens of thousands of dollars in recurring revenue.

He had to quit the startup despite his ambitious plan of growth to scale the company and its services to become a market leader both locally and in the region in the area of cloud service provisioning.

He, along with Brian Muita, subsequently went ahead to launch yet another startup called Node Africa, a data management company that provides Kenyan enterprises with tailored-made cloud infrastructure solutions.

His action of pulling out of Angani sent several lawsuits his way, but he was apparently undeterred. He rode through the waters and subsequently went on to found another startup in the same industry.

Speaking of the experience, he said “We can dwell on what happened, or we can move on with our lives.”

His new startup Node Africa which was subsequently launched in January 2016 has since gone on to make a name for itself.

Node’s approach to cloud service provisioning is that of bespoke tailor-made solutions for each and every enterprise it works for. According to the company, its approach is neither public, private, nor hybrid but rather of cloud solutions built in response to the enterprise’s needs regardless of the provider.

Node Africa has since gone on to become a leading player in the cloud infrastructure space and it has already received several industry recognitions.

While speaking during its launch, Phares said, “Our team has years of experience running critical systems in Kenya and Africa as a whole. We know what it means to design highly available systems with nominal or no downtime. Our expertise also lies in building highly secure systems to safeguard from any types of breeches, both within and without the organisation.”

Node Africa helps its customers, who are usually enterprise users from startups, SMEs, and large corporations, design and implement solutions for them to ensure they derive maximum value from their cloud infrastructure.

Phares has over 10 years of experience in the cloud and enterprise technology space within Kenya and Africa. Between 2009 and 2011, he went through courses and certifications for VMware, technical and sales. This gave him knowledge of both technical and commercial applications of virtualization technology.

He is currently the CEO of Pure Infrastructure Limited, which he founded in January 2021. Before launching Angani, he was Project Manager at the African Media Initiative. He had also served as EA Product Manager for VMware at Westcon Africa.

Phares attended Strathmore School and Kenyatta University between 2005 and 2009.

He says he is passionate about technology in Africa and cloud infrastructure in particular. According to him, he believes Africa is the “cloud first” continent.

How Kahenya Kamunyu Disrupted Kenya’s Pay TV Industry with Able Wireless

Kenya’s Kahenya Kamunya is a techpreneur who has successfully carved a niche for himself in the PAY TV sector in his home country of Kenya.

In 2014, he was listed as one of Africa’s 15 tech entrepreneurs to watch by CNN for his internet-based content streaming startup, Able Wireless.

Kahenya’s innovation, Able Wireless, is a game changer which is challenging the big names within the Kenyan media streaming industry by offering the service for a fraction of the price the big names like DSTV, Ruku, Star Times, and Safaricom, which is the largest telecom company in East Africa, are charging.

Able Wireless provides entertainment content to Kenyans through streaming via the internet, which is done through a wireless network-based set-up box. Essentially, Able Wireless, which is a home-grown Netflix kind of service, is a low-cost video-on-demand (VOD) streaming service that uses a combination of a wireless router and an internet subscription to provide its service to Kenyans.

According to Kahenya, the innovation is a 100% locally built solution, with the only thing foreign being the equipment. Its ownership and management are all local.

The solution includes a Raspberry Pi-powered TV box and an internet connection. Set up for this is Kshs 2500 and monthly payments are Kshs 800 for an internet connection and media content streaming.

Initially scheduled to launch in 2014, the startup experienced several delays in securing approval and eventually launched in 2016 with a pilot for home internet in Ruaraka, Nairobi.

The monthly subscription-based streaming platform signed up more than 20,000 subscribers even before it launched. This obviously stemmed from its low cost and mass appeal.

Kahenya’s innovation, Able Wireless, is a game changer which is challenging the big names within the Kenyan media streaming industry by offering the service for a fraction of the price the big names like DSTV, Ruku, Star Times, and Safaricom.

It has been tagged as a disruptive business model within Kenya’s Pay TV services industry as it was seen as a service targeted at the masses. It cost KES. 800.00 ($6.80) a month and allowed virtually anyone, be it students or young home owners, to be able to afford unlimited video streaming over the internet as well as general internet access.

According to the founder, the diversity of the service and delivery mechanism, which is cheaper, stands it out from the pack of other providers, who interestingly have deep pockets. The Able Wireless solution is affordable by as much as 83 percent of Kenyans and this basically gives the startup leverage and advantage over the big guys.

Kahenya started off Able Wireless following his experience in technical and media companies in South Africa, the United Kingdom, and Kenya.

Speaking on what inspired the product, he revealed that he realised that there was no appropriate infrastructure to deliver both connectivity and content and that this essentially was why everything else had failed.

According to him, as against the government’s claim that there were 16 million internet users in Kenya, in reality, there were just about four, five, or six million. Even with the numbers, the country did not have any independent infrastructure to deliver content.

From his research, they found a way to go about it, and they went ahead to do it. He noted that there was a need for indigenous hands to get on board and do things rather than wait for foreign companies to come in and do things for them.

At the company’s inception, it was the very first indigenously owned company to deliver connectivity and media content for as low as 500 shillings a month.

The company has been able to build its own structure, which is independent of existing platforms in the country.

How Neil Du Preez Has Changed the Face of Transportation in South Africa

Climate change is an everpresent threat to the world’s economy, and it is estimated that as much as 18 percent of the global Gross Domestic Product could be wiped out by 2050 if the global temperature rises by 3.2°C.

But while the scourge of climate change is a global phenomenon, the African continent feels much of the impact; that is why some African entrepreneurs are

very much involved in efforts to find sustainable solutions to the regressive weather pattern that endangers the continued survival.

One African entrepreneur at the forefront of this noble quest is South African genius Neil du Preez.

Preez, an automobile expert, is the founder of the light automobile utility company MellowCan. They are the manufacturers of The revolutionary eco-friendly vehicle popularly called MellowVan.

The auto concept was developed in mid-2015 as Preez sought new ways to change the urban transport landscape in South Africa to reduce its carbon footprint and make it more affordable.

Who is Neil Du Preez

The South African once described himself as someone passionate about urban transport and the development of last-mile delivery solutions.

His contribution to creating eco-friendly solutions in automobiles has earned him global accolades, including Global Gifted Citizen Award, African Entrepreneurship Award, and Siemens Foundation’s Empowering People Award.

He is also regarded as a thought leader in the global fight against climate change. And has been invited to speak at major climate change conferences like World Bank’s South African Sustainability Conference, Microsoft’s BizSpark program, and the Durban Innovation Summit.

How Neil Du Preez Founded MellowCab

The concept of MellowCab started in 2015 when Preez began to worry about the carbon implications of using a traditional taxi for transportation. According to him, 80% of urban trips take less than 4 kilometres. He insisted that it is inefficient to use taxis for such a short journey, and Preez thought it would make better sense to come up with a smaller and more economical alternative. So he came up with the concept of building locally-produced electric vehicles, which he called MellowCab.

Mellowcabs is an electric three-wheeled vehicle designed for eco-friendly and efficient transportation in urban areas.

The entrepreneur started by building eight MellowCab prototypes, which he subjected to many tests.

As soon as the prototypes hit the roads, demands began to roll in. First, the advertisers showed interest; then, the company started to grow steadily until it became a part of the transport system in South Africa.

Commenting on the vehicle, Perez said, “We have developed ultra-rigid roll cage, safety belts and proximity sensors for the vehicles, and some will be fitted with doors.

I also recognize there are some security issues in South Africa. In very slow-moving traffic, there is a risk of bag-snatching. Passengers will be able to use lockable baggage areas underneath the seat to keep the property safe.”

From MellowCab to MellowVan

Over the years, the business environment changed rapidly, forcing Perez to tweak its business model as the company diverted from moving passengers to moving cargo. This gave birth to what is now called MellowVan, which is more of an electric delivery van.

MellowVans provide low-cost, efficient and emission-free delivery services in cities. The company also noted that MellowVan has less maintenance cost and downtime and higher operating efficiency. Each of the MellowVans makes use of lithium-ion battery cells that come from Asia. The batteries are then assembled in a plant in Western Cape by MellowCabs.

However, the company has stressed that it is on the way to attaining complete production in South Africa. Perez reveals that the manufacturing plant is almost completed, and the ISO has been secured.

Meanwhile, the EV batteries which power MellowVans are seen as more environmentally friendly than gas emissions. More so, they can be recycled.

According to its website, MellowVans has enough cargo space to deliver almost anything and can offer cold chain solutions. MellowVans cater to almost every e-commerce player.

Other important features of the van include:

• More than enough room for parcels • Affordable enough to deliver food • Lockable cargo area • 4 Cubic metres of cargo space • Custom racking

MellowVan’s business evolution

As a result of its evolution from transporting passengers to delivering cargoes, MellowVan, now handles deliveries for top multinational e-commerce companies like DHL, Mr Delivery, and TakeaLot, among others.

Perez says he sees a future where daily consumables like milk, bread etc. can be delivered daily.

He reveals that his company could also explore the possibilities of a contactless delivery system like self-driving technologies. But he is not a fan of drone deliveries.