Africa’s First Tech-Incubator, iHub, Celebrates 14 Years with Regional Expansion Plans

iHub, Africa’s pioneering tech incubator, celebrates 14 years of fostering innovation as it sets sights on regional growth.

Nairobi, Kenya – iHub, Africa’s first-ever tech incubator, has celebrated 14 years of making a profound impact on the continent’s technology, creative, and entrepreneurial sectors. The incubator, which was initially founded in 2010, continues to push forward its mission of promoting Pan-African collaboration, and has recently unveiled its new hub in Nairobi.

Founded by the Nigerian parent company Co-Creation Hub (CcHub), which acquired iHub Nairobi in 2019, iHub has expanded its presence to four countries: Rwanda, Namibia, Nigeria, and Kenya. This expansion is part of CcHub’s broader vision to drive innovation and entrepreneurial growth across Africa.

Ojoma Ochai, Managing Director of CcHub, emphasized the organization’s commitment to supporting the continent’s entrepreneurs. “Since the very beginning, iHub has been a place where ideas come to life and communities are built,” she said. “Through the years, we have seen innovators, technologists, creatives, and entrepreneurs thrive here. As we move forward, our goal at CcHub Group remains the same: to be Africa’s leading support system for creative and technology entrepreneurs, helping them create solutions to enhance African prosperity, while nurturing the community.”

The company’s flagship initiative, elimu, is a gamified ed-tech platform aimed at improving learning outcomes for students and other stakeholders in the education sector. Through this and other projects, iHub has invested over $10 million in startups across Africa, providing funding from seed to Series A stages and collaborating with partners to further the growth of innovative solutions.

Locally, iHub works closely with The Mastercard Foundation to support 36 startups through an acceleration and post-acceleration program. As part of this partnership, iHub invests $100,000 in non-dilutive capital to the firms. One of the recent collaborations includes working with Safaricom to support startups like Chaptr and Chumz via the Spark Accelerator program.

Beryl Oywer, the Country Lead for NABU and a beneficiary of iHub’s fellowship, reflected on her experience: “Direct linkages with strategic partners, increased visibility through participation in industry events and panel discussions have all been very vital to our success.”

Beyond Kenya, iHub also manages a Sub-Saharan ed-tech fund, providing up to $250,000 in funding to ed-tech startups while supporting them in product development and scaling across the continent.

Looking ahead, iHub’s parent company is expanding its footprint with plans to launch Janta TechHub in Togo. The new venture will be a joint initiative between the Togolese government and CcHub, where CcHub will manage the hub’s operations while the government owns the space. This move underscores CcHub’s dedication to boosting innovation and entrepreneurship throughout Africa.

“We are excited about our expansion across the continent, and the launch of Janta TechHub is another bold step in our journey to support Africa’s growing startup ecosystem,” said Ochai.

As iHub marks over a decade of success, the organization continues to provide invaluable resources, collaborations, and connections to help startups thrive. With plans to expand further and deepen its impact, iHub’s next phase promises to accelerate innovation across industries such as fintech, education, health, and the creative economy. The continued growth of the tech incubator offers a promising future for Africa’s entrepreneurs.