011: Erik Hersman on the iHub's Secret Sauce

Young African Entrepreneur

Technologist. Blogger. TED fellow. Serial Entrepreneur. Passionate advocate and patron of Africa’s tech startups. Erik Hersman is a well-known elder of Kenya’s tech scene, having helped to found some of Kenya’s leading tech companies and ecosystem institutions. In response to the outbreak of post electoral violence in Kenya in 2008, he set up with three other co-founders Ushahidi, a crowdsourcing mapping tool deployed in crisis situations. In 2010, he founded the iHub, Nairobi’s innovation hub, which is the nexus for Kenya’s entrepreneurs, hackers, designers, researchers and investors. In 2014, he helped to set up BRCK, a manufacturer of a rugged Internet router for Africa and a provider of free Internet via its Moja service. He spends most of his time at BRCK these days where he’s CEO. He also helped to found Gearbox, a hub for hardware development, and is a principal at Savannah Fund, an African venture capital fund. He is the founder of the influential Africa technology blogs, The White African, and Afrigadget. Erik is also a Senior Ted Fellow and Pop!Tech Social Innovation Fellow. You can connect with Erik at @White_African on Twitter.