The world is fast moving into the digital space and Kenya has not been left behind. Entrepreneurs are fully embracing technology and are making a tidy sum in the process. In this article, WoK brings you the story of one such businessman who has established an online restaurant portal guide that provides a platform where individuals can book a table in their favorite restaurants across the country.
Here is the story of Mikul Shah – the founder and CEO of EatOut Kenya.
Mikul Shah Background
Mikul Shah was born and raised in Mombasa where he spent the better part of his childhood and teenage life. He attended Mombasa Academy from 1984 to 1997 before joining the University of Manchester in the United Kingdom where he graduated in 2000 with a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Systems Engineering. He would later join the prestigious Stanford University Graduate School of Business in 2017 under the Stanford Institute for Innovation in Developing Economies (SEED) Transformation Program.
Also Read: Anna Qabale Duba: Moving Story Of Kenyan Nurse Who Bagged Ksh 29 Million Award In Dubai
Career Journey
He began his career in London, United Kingdom in December 2007 where he worked as a Chief Marketing officer for an ecommerce platform– JuteBag.co.uk. He worked there for one year and one month before relocating to Nairobi in 2010 where he began his entrepreneurial journey. While he was still finding his footing in the business world, he worked with big corporate entities in different capacities.
In July 2011 he joined 88mph.avc alias Nairobi Garage where he was a Mentor and Investor for three years and six months. In March 2012 he was appointed as a board member at Naked Pizza now Pizza Hut, a position he held for four years and six months. In September 2016 he was appointed as an ISP panelist for Endeavor and in the same year as an advisor for the SPARK Fund under Safaricom Limited. In November 2017, he became a startup mentor at Seedstars Africa Ventures and later a director at eGiftAfrica. In January 2018 he was appointed as senior advisor of Africa Tech Ventures. In November 2019, he was appointed to the advisory board of UAP Old Mutual Group and in 2020 as an advisory board member of GoodTimes Entertainment Limited, positions he still holds to date.
Establishing EatOut Kenya
In 2010 immediately after returning to Kenya from London, Mikul Shah established the award winning restaurant discovery portal, EatOut Kenya. EatOut is a Kenyan hospitality media firm that focuses on food and beverage and uses technology to work with companies and restaurants to create awareness for their premises. The company is divided into three segments including the print media – Yummy magazine, Digital content – EatOut.co.ke and Event Productions where the company hosts some of the largest and popular food and drinks festivals in Kenya such as the Nairobi Restaurant Week, Nairobi Gin Week and Nairobi Wine Festival.
Also Read: Kenyans In Their 30s Running Successful Multi-Million Businesses
Success and other activities
Currently, EatOut is Kenya’s most popular online restaurant guide that sits over 100,000 dinners at hundreds of different restaurants across Kenya. The company has an active customer base of over 60,000 monthly diners who use their services to discover and book restaurants. Their events have been able to get sponsorship from multinational corporate companies such as Safaricom, Visa, Coca-Cola and East African Breweries Limited (EABL) among many others.
Apart from developing EatOut, Mikul is the founder of Nomads Magazine – East Africa’s premier travel magazine that brings readers diverse and exciting content on destinations, road trips and weekend escapes places from around the region. He is also the founder of SleepOut – a platform that connects travellers with accommodation hosts in Africa. Launched in 2012, the platform has grown to list over 11,000 accommodation options across over 70 countries in East and Southern Africa. Following his activities in the travel and food industries, Mikul has received several awards including the Kenya Tourism Award for ICT, the Vision 2030 Award for Tourism in Kenya and the Business Daily Top 40 under 40 Award.
