It is a great time to be an entrepreneur in Kenya right now, as we are constantly surrounded by opportunities. One of those opportunities is Sinapis.
Sinapis is a business accelerator program that provides early stage entrepreneurs with advanced business training, intensive mentorship and the opportunity to compete for seed capital.
It is an intensive entrepreneurship program for entrepreneurs who wish to take their business to the next step. The training program takes 16 weeks and the curriculum covers relevant subjects that ensures an entrepreneur gains tools and resources to enable them run a successful business.
After the program entrepreneurs are invited to submit their business plan for a chance to win Ksh 1,000,000 in grant-based seed capital
Last week, Sinapis had their annual graduation ceremony and business plan competition. It brought together entrepreneurs, mentors, investors as well as successful business owners.
The judges for the businesses plan competition were Mark Kaigwa, an Entrepreneur and a professional speaker, Sally Gitonga, the Country Manager for Business Partners International Kenya Limited, Eva Muraya, the CEO of Brand Strategy and Design and Duncan Onyango, the Director of Acumen Fund.
This year, Grace Murugi emerged the winner of the business plan competition. She is the Managing Director of Cakes-online, a cake baking company that runs on the tag #WeBakeLove . For her, she wants to sell more than just cakes and her company ensures that every customer who purchases her cakes gets the best customer experience. Her company’s growth strategy is, “To be Africa’s leading premier cake brand becoming Kenya’s cake boss that will later transform itself into a franchise.”
Other entrepreneurs that participated in the business plan competition will get into a 6 month program known as the Fast Track Fellows . In this program, entrepreneurs will benefit from key resources such as customized mentorship from successful business owners and professional advise from experts in law, branding, accounting Fellows in the program also gain access to additional funds in the form of early stage and growth stage investment capital.
The impact of Sinapis and their entrepreneurs can be seen in their numbers. The entrepreneurs have generated US$ 13.2M so far. They have also raised US$7.2M in investment capital. The entrepreneurs experience a 150% growth in revenue and 300% average growth in investment capital just a year after the program.
For an entrepreneur, the future is bright. There are programs that can teach you and help you grow your business. Sinapis is one of them. Apply to be in their programs and get access to world class training and mentorship.