Collins Kathuli, a software development student at KCA University won the first place in Kenya’s 2023-2024 Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO) Global Student Entrepreneur Awards (GSEA) competition.
The founder of Kyanda Africa will now represent Kenya at the GSEA Global quarter-finals taking place in Oman next month.
This year, over 1,200 student entrepreneurs applied to take part in GSEA from over 40 countries across the world.
The Global Finals are scheduled to take place in Singapore in April 2024 with a total prize package of $100,000 (Sh16.1 million)
As the winner of the Kenya competition, Collins, will receive prize money of Sh100,000 for his business in addition to mentorship and business coaching from leading entrepreneurs.
“This has been my dream after four years and four attempts, I have finally managed to win. You need to keep trying and never give up – when you do something persistently, at the end of the day it pays off. I’m really looking forward to the Global quarter-finals in Oman!” said Kathuli.
This year’s second place and third place winners in Kenya were Charles Oyamo, a student at The University of Nairobi and founder of Rethread Africa, a start-up transforming waste into textile.
Rediet Kassahun, a medical student at The University of Nairobi, and founder of Quick Cart Africa, an e-commerce delivery platform for fresh produce, emerged third in the country.
“I believe we have an amazing platform and I can only see it growing to another level, where GSEA is recognised as a premier event for student entrepreneurs. The year’s finals have been the best, we had high calibre participants with style, presence and confidence. We look forward to seeing a Kenyan winning the Global Finals!” said EO Kenya’s Chapter President, Amar Shah.