A Kenyan Startup Nim$, won the 2015 edition of Startup Istanbul. Startup Istanbul is a global event that attracts startup sign ups and investors. Generally, it’s a gathering of the leading startups, internet companies, business angels and venture capitalists from Asia and Europe. Nim$ enables fast and secure payments to employees using mobile money.

The event attracted startups from 40 countries. Nim$ got a chance to compete with over 100 startups in the 5 days event. Startup Istanbul gives founders a great experience. Day 1 and 2 involves Pitching, Training and mentorship of the startups. The selected 100 startups had the opportunity to meet the best mentors from mainly US and Europe and pitched to them and received feedback on how to improve their pitch for the ultimate pitch to the investors.

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At the end of the second day, the startups had an opportunity to have a one on one chat with investors and mentors. Day 3 was set aside for the 50 selected startups to pitch to the judging panel, which had included renowned figures from Silicon Valley. At the end of the day, the top 15 startups were selected for the finals to pitch on the Startup Istanbul stage.

Day 4 was the Semi Finals where the finalists got to pitch for a chance to make it for the finals with only three startups, Nim$, igrow and taskulu, making it to the finals. Day 5 – was the D day. The three startups had to pitch in order to obtain the top position. Nim$ a startup from Kenya emerged the winner of the Startup Istanbul Challenge 2015 with igrow and taskulu taking second and third positions respectively.

The Kenyan Startup made Africa proud after the win. Other African startups that made it to the finals of the event include Mytoddlr from Nigeria and Expensya from Tunisia. This is a sign that Kenya has great potential in Tech and any other field. Kenyans need to come out and support Startups that can make the country proud. On the other hand, founders need to sharpen their skills and come up with the best models that can attract investors.

The event had distinguished guests who mentored the startup founders. The guests included; Erhan Erkut a Professor at MEF University, Dave McClure a founding Partner of 500 Startups and Morten Lund the Chairman of the Board of Directors at CapitalAid Ltd. Investors from Microsoft, Intel, Samsung and other companies were also represented.