MY HUSTLE: Challenges people face drive me to innovate

Mburu Njunge, 23, speaks at a past event. He has come up with two apps; one to help farmers access agricultural information and another to easily transfer contact information from a business card to a mobile phone. PHOTO | COURTESY

What you need to know:

  • Mburu used to watch agricultural shows like Shamba Shape Up and Seeds of Gold but he realised the reach was limited to only those who had television sets.
  • After attending some classes on mobile programming, he came up with an app that sought to provide solutions to farmers using a mobile phone through USSD -- even those with the most basic handset could access the app. Together with a friend, we launched ConviFarm.
  • Later, he realised many people lose business cards and came up with the microchip business card, which one taps on a person’s mobile phone and all the details are saved in the phone.

Growing up in a well-to-do family in Karen would have been enough to cement 23-year-old Mburu Njunge’s future. But he chose not to settle for his father’s wealth and instead build his own empire.

“I want to be a home-grown dollar billionaire providing global solutions” says the exuberant Mburu.

INNOVATION

Mburu is the last born in a family of seven and has been exposed to situations that most of his peers were not. For instance, clad in full suits, the young Mburu would accompany his father to board meetings from as early as when he was five years old.

While his time at Alliance High School was uneventful, it was during his first year in campus that his first innovation came to life. He had enrolled for the Bachelor of Science (Dryland Agriculture and Enterprise Development) degree programme at Kenyatta University.

“I used to watch agricultural shows like Shamba Shape Up and Seeds of Gold that were at the time just gaining popularity. While the idea was noble, the reach was limited to only those who had television sets. After attending some classes on mobile programming, I was able to come up with an app that sought to provide solutions to farmers using a mobile phone through USSD, meaning even those with the most basic handset could access the app. Together with a friend, we launched ConviFarm.”

Mburu Njunge (right) receives his prize after winning the mobile tech challenge in 2016. PHOTO | COURTESY

SUSTAINABLE SOLUTIONS

ConviFarm seeks to provide sustainable solutions for increasing food security and providing better methods of agriculture through the mobile phone. Farmers in remote areas would get information on crop protection and veterinary services via the application.

The app became a huge success after it won an agribusiness mobile tech challenge from the University of Waterloo, Canada, providing the young entrepreneur a chance to visit Canada for a week where he met other entrepreneurs and was exposed to more ideas.

“It was also at the time that the Global Entrepreneur’s Summit was happening in the country and we were given the opportunity to showcase our product. That was big for us,” he says.

Mburu Njunge (left) explains how his ConviFarm app works. It is meant to bring farmers close to products and services. PHOTO | COURTESY

The stars seemed to have aligned for Mburu, only that he didn’t stop there. Mid-last year, he came up with microchip fitted business cards that would help people save a great deal compared to printing business cards.

“As a professional, I’ll only be required to print one business card. When I want to share my contact, I’ll tap the card on a person’s mobile phone and all my details will be automatically saved in the phone. The catch, however, is that the mobile phone has to be NFC (Near Field Communication) enabled.”

Out of the many printed business cards that Mburu shared during various conferences he attended, only a handful of people would call back. He realised that many people could have misplaced the cards – and the idea of a microchip fitted card was born.

“It was also expensive for me to print cards, seeing that I was still in campus,” Mburu says.

Mburu Njunge shows a farmer how the ConviFarm app works. PHOTO | COURTESY

CHALLENGES

His biggest challenge however has been people’s attitudes.

“You approach prospective partners and they refuse to partner with you because there’s the perception that you have to be over 50 years of age to have been thinking in that line.

“Many people also pretend to be interested in your idea. When you make a follow-up phone call, they don’t [answer their phones]. Companies too would rather copy your idea than work with you. And in these companies are foreigners whose solutions don’t really fit the local market,” he laments.

This, coupled with challenges in funding his ideas, almost saw him quit numerous times.

“There’s high highs and really low lows in entrepreneurship,” Mburu says as he laughs.

His advice to fellow youth is: “Find out where the world is headed and get there first. You never lose in entrepreneurship, you just learn. Also, use YouTube wisely.”