Soooo we got into Techstars ! No big deal right? 

We hope we won’t encourage any startups to apply, who wants global recognition anyway? 

We hope we will not give any one hope that they can be accepted within one year of launching their start-up. Afterall they only accept 1-2% of applicants worldwide. That’s easy peasy, right? 

Jokes aside though, we were all very excited at Duhqa after the news that we had made the cut to join the prestigious Techstars - we still are!  We are joining the Techstars Toronto October 2021 intake. Techstars receives thousands of applications a year! With an acceptance rate near 1 to 2 percent, Techstars is not easy to get into. 

Techstars has 15 unicorns under its umbrella. Some of the notable ones include; SalesLoft, SendGrid, ZipLine, Chainalysis, DataRobot. Duhqa is keen to deliver their first pure African Unicorn but most importantly, we are keen to deliver value for the customers, investors and many partners that have been working with us. 

So, why exactly did Duhqa choose to join Techstars? Besides being the best accelerator in the world? Participating in an accelerator provides valuable access to funding, industry mentors, potential venture capital investors, and +400 perks worth more than $1M. Plus, we will join a powerful lifetime network of +10,000 founders, mentors, and investors—all committed to helping each other by “giving first”. At Duhqa, we believe that the African challenges we seek to address are not going to be done by one single organisation, we will accept any collaboration that comes our way, especially the best! 

Why did we start Duhqa? In Kenya there are over 250,000 fragmented retailers whose businesses encounter challenges with sourcing, logistics and financing . Duhqa provides these retailers with a tech based marketplace that addresses their pain points by providing financing, logistics  and convenient shopping through the Duhqa App. Our focus is on the small retailers because we believe when these retailers are adequately served then low income communities will benefit from lower cost of goods which in turn will improve the livelihood of Wanjiku (a term used to refer to the ordinary citizen in Kenya).By helping the retailers become competitive we drive toward the attainment of SDG 8 on decent work and economic growth.

Duhqa also partners with manufacturers, financial institutions and 3PLs. Using our technology platform we are able to provide our partners with data that enhances their planning and decision making by giving them better visibility of micro supply chains, data on the credit worthiness of the retailers and supports efficient lower cost logistics.

‍Duhqa works toward the attainment of SDG 5 by driving towards women empowerment,  more specifically women in the tech space which is male dominated. We support gender equality by focusing on the retail space and informal sector in Africa which is female dominated with about 60% of shops being female owned.We believe that when you support a woman you support a nation.

As a business, we work toward the achievement of SDG 1: No poverty through the financial services we offer retailers, providing skills training and financing options to disadvantaged businesses and those  in underprivileged communities. Skills training through our partners helps them acquire the abilities to qualify for quality financing and jobs with us. This helps them to have what it takes to lift them out of poverty.

The Duhqa executive is an all African led team with a combined experience in 31 African markets working in the sectors of logistics, payment gateways, Fintech, commerce and the Public Sector. This team has been part of four African start-ups that are quite successful, and have been able to contribute to the growth of companies including but not limited to multinationals at board level or executive level. Their key focus is to drive solutions of African problems by Africans! 

Joining Techstars is a step towards the mission Duhqa has of enabling manufacturers, retailers and individuals to buy and sell easily through innovation, imagination and ingenuity. 

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All we can say is; lights, camera, action!

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