In 2009, then 23-year-old Richard Matoke and 22-year-old Glausen Wamalwa decided to invest in a software. They had just completed their computer Science degrees at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology.
This is the story of how the software ended up netting millions with the team eying the greater East Africa region.
Developing the software and getting help
The two developed a library administration software and thought of making money by selling it to schools and public libraries.
However, this proved difficult until a friend from university introduced them to an electrical engineer employed at Kenya Technical Teachers College (KTTTC) named Jesse Muiru.
He was knowledgeable about softwares and thought theirs was not ready for the market.
“The programme was simple and could not attract the kind of customers they wanted. However, I was confident that we could harness their expertise and come up with quality software programmes that could attract a huge market,” Mr. Muiru was quoted by Bizna Kenya.
Teaming up and forming Grinta East Africa
The three teamed up in order to re-design the software. They also took a huge risk and partnered to establish a software development company.
Getting seed capital for their startup was very challenging. They had an initial capital target of Ksh1 million but all their savings could not add up to the full amount. They needed more investors who were ready to buy into their ideas.
Luckily, they were joined by Virgian Boiyo, a company administrator and Kihara Nguyai, a business development manager. They took bank loans and pooled their resources and in 2010, Grinta East Africa, a software company was birthed.
Mr. Muiru became the Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Matoke, the Chief software engineer and Mr. Wamalwa a systems administrator.
The team came up with an integrated school management system that includes: accounts, examination, laboratories, registry, stores, library, games and administration modules. They also offer other software products, such as: Point of Sales, bulk sms systems, and intergrated management systems for banks, schools, and data registration systems.
Today, according to gust.cok, the company has about twenty employees and offers clients both generic and custom made software. They have clients across East Africa and are continually developing softwares to help make life easier.
Challenges
The business broke even after three years with the operating capital increasing from Ksh1.2 million to Ksh6 million and the annual profit growing to ksh3 million.
The business growth had its challenges. One of them was the fact that the market was not knowledgeable about computers making it hard for them to work with their software. There was also insufficient software operating systems like network environment and high capacity computers
