LONDON, Sep 16 – Virtual City Ltd, a Kenyan company is this year’s winner of the global Growth Economy Venture Challenge offered by mobile phone solutions company Nokia. The award was won in recognition to the company’s Mobile Distributor Solution designed to improve the distribution efficiencies for small and micro enterprises in the fast moving consumer goods market.
A panel of experts judged their submission – Mobile Distributor Solution, which supports small and micro enterprises in emerging markets – to be the worthy winner. John Waibochi of Virtual City Ltd received Sh80 million in venture capital investment and a commitment of support from Nokia to help turn the idea into reality. Also present at the award ceremony was Dorothy Ooko, Communications Manager, Nokia, East and Southern Africa.
The announcement at the Nokia Developer Summit, the Mobile Distributor Solution aims to boost the profitability of small and micro-businesses by increasing the number of transactions as well as improving inventory management, the accuracy of records, and reporting from the field.
In the Growth Economy Venture Challenge, developers were required to submit their best idea for a new mobile product or solution designed to improve the lives of people in the developing world.
Judges looked for one idea that has risen above the rest, an idea that changes the way people use Nokia mobile devices, demonstrates how mobility can radically improve the lives of people who reside in areas where the average income is under USD5 per day, or an idea that recognises a good business opportunity that also contributes to "doing good" in the world.
Nokia\’s global developer program, Forum Nokia connects developers to tools, technical information, support, and distribution channels they can use to build and market applications around the globe. From offices in the U.S., Europe, India, Japan, China, and Singapore, Forum Nokia provides technical business development to support developers and operators to assist them in achieving their goal of successfully launching applications and services to consumers and enterprises. More information is available at www.forumnokia.com.
More information about Forum Nokia\’s Calling All Innovators and Growth Economy Venture Challenge, including video demonstrations of the applications, can be found online at www.callingallinnovators.com.
