Emerging Markets Business Summer 2017 | Page 82

42 LOCAL MEETS GLOBAL

DREAM LITTLE

BY KAMAL BUDHABHATTI

Kenya ’ s capital Nairobi has , for years , taken pride in calling herself Africa ’ s Silicon Valley . Numerous technology startups , a high smart phone usage and impressive internet penetration numbers have led to the growth of a thriving IT sector . And , for Craft Silicon — the country ’ s largest software maker and the company I lead — a chance intrusion into urban trends could only result in one outcome : the development of the e-hailing innovation : Little — a product that is revolutionizing how Kenyans move from A to B .

In August 2016 , 41-year-old Gad Omboyi was a gas station attendant in a Nairobi suburb . Through conversations with taxi drivers who used to park their cars at the service station as they waited for clients , Omboyi came to understand a bit about the transport business . He once described the conundrum he faced : “ I could see that at the end of the day they would go home with at least US $ 40 which at the time was an unimaginable figure to me . I toyed with the idea of getting into the business but I would always hit a roadblock . Most of the drivers I interacted with seemed to have their own repeat customers . How would I get clients ?” Little did he know that two months prior to his interest in the taxi business , we at Craft Silicon had started an ambitious journey , almost by chance , to influence how Kenyans and particularly city residents , travel . It took the form of a taxi hailing application tailored to local needs . It was not planned . We did not have hundreds of pages of market research to rely on .
WITH THE RIGHT PARTNERSHIP THINGS CAN MOVE FAST
One thing I didn ’ t count on was how fast things would move . Our first step was to engage with Safaricom . Arguably Kenya ’ s largest corporate company , the communications giant commands brand loyalty from over 25 million subscribers that use one of its numerous platforms — including global mobile money transfer service , M-Pesa — on a daily basis . Getting them onboard would be critical to our success .
There were clear synergies between myself and Safaricom ’ s Chief Executive Bob Collymore . Under his leadership , Safaricom has always had a reputation for being the most innovative service brand in the market and they are constantly looking to improve people ’ s lives . For my part , as a renowned ‘ techie ’ I am constantly seeking to use technology to bring African solutions to Africans . So , when we sat down for a meeting , it was pure gold . Little was seen as a great innovative way to travel and Safaricom was happy to be part of it .
We met on a Tuesday and had a team ready that following Friday . Five months later , Little was live .
Today , after investing US $ 5 million in the startup , the Little app is connecting riders with taxi drivers , with a total of 140,000 downloads across all platforms to date . Crucially , Little is not only available on iOS , Android and Windows phones , but also through USSD , a protocol used by GSM cell phones to communicate
EMERGING MARKETS BUSINESS SUMMER 2017 ISSUE NO . 3