Fractional CFO services in Nairobi

Nairobi is East Africa's unrivalled venture capital gateway, attracting over 60% of the region's deal flow and generating $984M in startup funding in 2025 - a 52% jump year-on-year and the largest single-year fundraising total in Kenyan tech history.

The city's ecosystem traces its identity to M-Pesa, launched by Safaricom in 2007, which gave Kenya the world's most advanced mobile payments infrastructure and seeded an agri-tech, fintech and logistics-tech cluster with no peer in sub-Saharan Africa. The Silicon Savannah moniker is earned: iHub, founded in 2010, remains the continent's most influential tech hub by portfolio company value.

We work with Nairobi-based startups from seed to Series B+, supporting them on unit economics, board packs, FP&A, fundraise prep and monthly close.

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Nairobi startup ecosystem

What makes Nairobi's startup ecosystem distinct - M-Pesa heritage, sector concentrations and the talent and investor infrastructure that make it East Africa's dominant venture hub.

M-Pesa heritage and mobile-first infrastructure

Safaricom's M-Pesa, launched in 2007, gave Kenya the world's most penetrated mobile money network - over 30M active users transacting roughly 50% of Kenyan GDP annually. This infrastructure seeded a uniquely deep fintech and agri-tech ecosystem: founders can build on top of M-Pesa's payment rails from day one, compressing the GTM cycle that fintech startups elsewhere spend years solving. No other African city has a comparable foundation.

Agri-tech, fintech and logistics dominate

Kenya raised $984M in 2025, with agri-tech, fintech and logistics-tech representing the majority of deal flow. M-KOPA (pay-as-you-go solar and electric mobility, $250M+ raised), Twiga Foods (B2B food distribution, $50M Series C), Apollo Agriculture (smallholder credit and inputs), Pula (crop insurance), Wasoko/Sokowatch (informal retail distribution) and Sun King (off-grid solar) are the landmark companies. TLcom Capital and Novastar Ventures are the most active local funds.

Westlands, Kilimani and Karen

Westlands is Nairobi's primary commercial and tech-company cluster, housing VC offices, co-working campuses (Nairobi Garage, iHub's Westlands location) and the Kenya operations of international tech companies. Kilimani is the residential-professional neighbourhood where most Series A+ founders and operators live and where informal investor networks meet. Karen and Langata anchor the slower-paced, campus-style research and deeptech operations.

University of Nairobi and Strathmore talent pipeline

The University of Nairobi produces the deepest engineering and computer science pipeline in East Africa. Strathmore University's @iLabAfrica is the city's most prominent technology research and incubation centre, feeding product and engineering talent into startups. A growing base of ex-Andela engineers and returning Kenyan diaspora from US and UK tech companies provides the senior technical and CFO-grade talent that Nairobi's Series A+ companies need.

Active venture investors in Nairobi

Nairobi's investor landscape is anchored by specialist Africa-focused funds with local partners and DFI co-investment channels. These are the most active institutional investors backing Nairobi-based founders at seed through Series B.

TLcom Capital

TLcom Capital is Nairobi's most established growth-stage VC, managing $71M TIDE Africa Fund targeting Series A and B rounds in Kenya, Nigeria and Ghana. Portfolio includes Twiga Foods, Andela and Kobo360. TLcom's investment team combines African market depth with international investor networks - its funds are backed by large DFIs including CDC and EIB.

Novastar Ventures

Novastar Ventures is a Nairobi-anchored early and growth-stage fund investing in companies that address fundamental development challenges in East Africa. Manages the $108M Africa People + Planet Fund, focusing on agri-tech, clean energy and financial inclusion. Portfolio includes Apollo Agriculture, Pula, M-KOPA (follow-on) and Wasoko - a benchmark East Africa impact-VC portfolio.

Catalyst Fund

Catalyst Fund is a Nairobi-based accelerator and funding programme for inclusive fintech startups, backed by JPMorgan Chase and UKAID. Provides $100K grants plus 18 months of embedded support to fintech founders building for underserved populations. Has supported 50+ companies across East Africa, with strong follow-on fundraising rates into TLcom, Novastar and international seed funds.

iHub

iHub is the continent's most influential innovation hub, founded in Nairobi in 2010. Over 15 years, iHub has supported 200+ ventures including M-KOPA, BRCK and Ushahidi, and has spawned the GrowthAfrica and Nailab programmes. Its Westlands campus is the meeting ground for founders, VCs and international tech visitors - still the defining address in East Africa's startup community.

GrowthAfrica

GrowthAfrica is a Nairobi-based accelerator and business advisory firm, operating since 2011 across East Africa. Provides structured growth-stage support to post-revenue startups preparing for Series A. Strong track record across agri-tech, health-tech and fintech, with corporate partner introductions and investor-readiness support for founder-led companies at the critical $1M–$5M ARR stage.

Partech Africa

Partech Africa is the pan-African fund of French VC Partech, with a Nairobi deal team and a $143M debut fund. Backs technology-enabled companies across Africa from seed through Series B. Kenya portfolio includes Wasoko (Sokowatch) and several other East Africa-headquartered logistics and fintech companies. One of the most active international institutional VCs with boots on the ground in Nairobi.

Nairobi startups that have set the benchmark

These Nairobi-founded or East Africa-headquartered companies define the city's venture depth - from agri-tech and energy infrastructure to B2B logistics and off-grid solar at continental scale.

M-KOPA

M-KOPA is East Africa's most-capitalised startup, having raised over $250M from investors including Generation Investment Management and CDC. Originally a pay-as-you-go solar company for off-grid households, M-KOPA has expanded into electric motorcycles, smartphones and consumer credit - serving 4M+ customers across Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria and Ghana.

Twiga Foods

Twiga Foods has raised $50M Series C from IFC, Creadev and TLcom to build B2B food distribution infrastructure connecting 100,000+ smallholder farmers to 100,000+ urban vendors. Twiga's logistics platform - combining mobile orders, cold-chain investment and working-capital credit - is the reference agri-tech logistics model for East Africa.

Wasoko (formerly Sokowatch)

Wasoko raised $125M Series B in 2022 from Tiger Global, Avenir Growth and Kingsway Capital to digitise informal retail distribution across East Africa. The platform provides same-day FMCG delivery to 50,000+ kiosks and dukas, with embedded credit and order-management tools. One of East Africa's best-funded Series B companies.

Apollo Agriculture

Apollo Agriculture uses satellite data and machine learning to underwrite smallholder farm credit, bundled with seeds, fertiliser and agronomic advice. Founded in Nairobi in 2016, raised $40M from Anthemis, Flourish Ventures and Novastar. Has served 700,000+ farmers across Kenya and Zambia - the most data-driven agri-credit model in East Africa.

Pula

Pula delivers agricultural insurance and digital advisory to smallholder farmers across 19 African and Asian markets. Raised $6M Series A from Omidyar Network and MercyCorps Ventures. Has insured 7M+ farmers, making it the continent's most-scaled index insurance platform - and a key proof point for Nairobi's insurtech-for-agriculture cluster.

Sun King

Sun King (formerly Greenlight Planet) is the world's largest off-grid solar provider by units sold, distributing solar home systems and solar appliances to 175M+ people across Africa and Asia. East Africa operations are headquartered in Nairobi. Raised $260M and has sold 20M+ solar systems - a landmark in pay-as-you-go energy finance.

Simple pricing

No hidden costs, no complicated long-term contracts. We understand how important flexibility is for Nairobi startups.

Core£4,000

Per month

Accounting / FP&A tech stack implementation
Monthly financial statements and reporting pack
Quarterly board pack with detailed financial analysis (with variance analysis vs. budget, relevant KPI observations etc.)
Investor-friendly output

Grow£8,000

Per month

Everything in Core, plus
Operating model (via an online platform like Runway or Excel-based)
Ongoing model maintenance, refining projections, burn/runway management
Customer cohorts modelling, churn and retention analysis
LTV / CAC, unit economics analysis
Cap table management

Pro£12,000

Per month

Everything in Grow, plus
M&A / fundraising support; review of business plan
Pitch deck preparation
Investor approach strategy / list building
Due diligence support and deal negotiation
Valuation as required and free access to Multiples Pro

Packages shown are illustrative, final pricing is tailored to client requirements.

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Got questions?

Schedule a call ordrop us an email to learn more about our CFO-as-a-service, capital raising and M&A advisory offering.

Unlike old-school financial advisory firms that are stuck in the past, we truly understand tech and challenges startups face. Decades of investment banking experience allow us to see bigger picture, strategically integrate into your workflows, and ultimately provide guidance towards an M&A exit or the next funding round.

Fractional CFO services in Nairobi

Nairobi startup ecosystem

M-Pesa heritage and mobile-first infrastructure