Nairobi’s iHub relocates to Hurlingham

Nairobi-based innovation space iHub is relocating from its long-time home on Ngong Road to new premises on Hurlingham in a bid to find more room to aid its development.

The iHub, launched in 2010, provides a home for Kenya’s tech community and allows developers and entrepreneurs to connect and work on ideas. It currently has more than 16,000 members, and also includes the m:lab incubator, iHub Research and Gearbox.

Disrupt Africa reported in September the hub was to relocate from its Ngong Road home by the end of the year as it sought more space. This came on the back of the iHub raising funding in March in order to help it scale operations, tighten up its service offerings and reach sustainability, with co-founder Erik Hersman declaring the “next chapter” for the space.

A new home has now been found, with the iHub relocating to Senteu Plaza, located on the corner of Lenana and Galana Roads in Hurlingham.

The relocation is part of a long-term plan for the iHub to become sustainable. Interim chief executive officer (CEO) Kamal Bhattacharya had previously outlined the strategy for what is being referred to as “iHub 2.0”, along the lines of “Connect, Build, Invent”.

“Connect is about connecting people and organisations to drive value in the ecosystem. Build is about helping our clients to develop solutions. Invent is about taking the lead in creating solutions that solve regional problems in novel ways,” he said.

“We are currently working with corporates, NGOs, development organisations, government, entrepreneurs, and members, who are mostly using space and events. We will consolidate this further, but this remains our core.”

For each product developed by iHub, it will create dedicated business models to allow it to generate income.

“Ultimately, we want to be profitable and be able to reinvest into the team and the community alike,” Bhattacharya said.

“We will create a business development and sales organisation. This organisation will understand both the need of our paying customers, our community, and have a clear insight on what we are offering across our verticals.”

Source Disrupt Africa