Raring to Grow, Embakasi Youth Pitch Business Ideas
“I bought my brother a pair of sweatpants for campus, and when his friends began asking where he had got them, I realised there was a business opportunity,” Catherine Muthoka explains the origins of her Scaling Beyond the Bag vintage clothes retail business she runs in Embakasi, Nairobi County.
Catherine, who sells ten sweatpants at a time, was making a pitch seeking to raise KShs 300,000 funding to establish a physical shop and to transition to buying bulk bales of the sweatpants. “My ability to convince people to buy my products is growing”, Catherine pointed as she emphasized that her business idea is worthy investing in.
Catherine was one 8 young persons who pitched their businesses during a Pitching Thursday for Embakasi East and South constituencies held at ABC Imara Daima Church. The forum was organized by the Vijana2Thrive project, an initiative of the Mastercard Found in partnership with the NCCK, Swahilipot Foundation, and E4Impact Foundation. 36 young people, most of them female, participated in the event.
With a goal of priming young entrepreneurs for success, Pitching Thursdays are being organized in different constituencies to equip the youth to transform ideas into convincing investment cases. By opening their ventures to scrutiny by judges, the young entrepreneurs get to identify options for expanding their businesses.
Other pitchers at ABC Imara Daima included Brian Ogoro, who has a farming business that supplies fresh produce and fruits to households, small food vendors and hotels. He is seeking KShs 400,000 to acquire more land and farming equipment and buy a motorcycle.
Carolyne Kongo sought to raise KShs 200,000 to kitchen equipment and utensils for the hotel business she runs at Mukuru Kwa Njenga, while Peter Kimani is asking for KShs 60,000 to relocate his phone repair business from Imara Daima to Pipeline to get a wider customer base.
Winnie sought support to expand the Glow Salon, Juliet Anindo wishes to raise KShs 94,000 to buy more stock for Kwa Julie Mitumba Safi Collection, and Linet Likania is asking for KShs 250,000 to expand a kerosene supply business at Mukuru Kwa Njenga.
On his part, Felix Mukonesi impressed the Pitching judges as he sought KShs 60,000 to buy equipment to expand his Portable Barber Shop.
“I learnt from the Covid-19 pandemic period when barber shops closed but people still needed their hair cut”, Felix pointed out. He receives bookings from customers via WhatsApp and traves to their homes, offices, hotels or events with sanitized equipment and delivers the service.
At the culmination of the Pitching Thursdays, the Vijana2Thrive project is linking the youth to the Challenge Fund that is administered by E4Impact.
