Kenyan artists are now crowdfunding using Thundafund platform
Mombasa-based artist Jane Nkatha heard about crowdfunding through an artists’ group on social media. ‘I didn’t even know if I qualified’, she says, ‘but I just thought, “why not?” I applied to crowdfunding platform Thundafund, and a few days later I got a call.’
As an up-and-coming artist who had just held her first exhibition, crowdfunding was especially important to her. ‘I really embraced crowdfunding because I did my first exhibition last month, which was quite mind-blowing for me,’ she explains. ‘That exhibition really made me go for Thundafund, because I knew I needed the money, and I needed a platform that could help propel me closer to my dream.’
In the days since her campaign launched, Jane has raised over Ksh. 167,000 , enough to buy paints, canvases and a camera to continue creating artwork depicting her home city of Mombasa.
Jane is one of several Kenyan creatives, innovators and entrepreneurs turning to crowdfunding to launch their creative projects. As of 2016, the African crowdfunding market was worth $182 million, according to the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance. However, forecasts now show that that figure could reach $2.25 billion by 2025. ‘When most Kenyans talk about raising funds, they talk about getting a loan’, explains Matt Roberts Davies, CEO of crowdfunding platform Thundafund. ‘The costs of these can be prohibitive for most creatives and start-ups. Crowdfunding allows businesses to raise funds that don’t need to be repaid.’
“The Crowdfunding Awards”
To encourage creatives to start fundraising, Thundafund recently launched an innovative crowdfunding program: “The Crowdfunding Awards”. This competition featured cash prizes totalling 600,000 Kenyan Shillings for the best campaigns. ‘Early momentum is extremely important in crowdfunding,’ says Matt Roberts Davies, explaining the rationale for the competition. ‘Without it, project creators tend to procrastinate until the end and raise less funds. Every campaign actually follows a U shape whereby their most active times for fundraising happen at the beginning and end.’
Twenty-six campaigns were involved, including artists, filmmakers, software developers and law firms, and collectively they raised over 3.8 million Kenyan shillings in 3 days from 400 contributors. The winning campaigns were announced at a special award ceremony at Jenga Leo, Westlands on the 7th of October, the evening also providing an opportunity to network, and build a sense of community amongst creatives and entrepreneurs in Kenya.
‘The idea of a physical launch was to help create a community of entrepreneurs and creatives here in Nairobi’, adds Matt Roberts-Davies. ‘We want to create a platform for businesses to tell their stories, reach a wider audience and raise funds – all towards the growth and sustainability of the business.’
E-sheria – improving access to justice in Rural Kenya
The winners of the competition were legal firm Esheria, who produce software that helps legal firms to manage their casework more effectively.
‘Our cloud-based systems are designed to improve efficiency in the management of law firms in Kenya’, says E-Sheria business lead Ekesa Austin.
‘At E-sheria, we believe that efficiency in the management of the law firm will translate to enhanced access to justice more so in rural Kenya. For this reason, we have partnered with law firms in marginalized regions and with firms that advocate for women’s rights, children’s rights, and climate change by offering then our service for free.’
E-sheria conducted a smart and effective crowdfunding campaign that has so far raised 1,548,429 Kenyan Shillings. ‘We had already begun conversations with a lot of people [before the campaign launch]’, explains E-sheria co-founder Franklin Oshiri. ‘So, we were able to produce a ‘sticky campaign’ and share it widely.’ Franklin hopes that E-sheria’s success will encourage other Kenyan entrepreneurs to try crowdfunding. ‘Crowdfunding is a new concept for most start-ups. Mostly, we try and pitch to individual investors. Hopefully we can also encourage people who have ignored crowdfunding.’
Crowdfunding – an established tradition in Eastern Africa
Crowdfunding has a long and rich history in Eastern Africa. The tradition known as ‘Harambee’ (meaning “all pull together” in Swahili) involves fundraising for events such as medical bills, weddings and funerals. The donation-based crowdfunding platform M-Changa has had considerable success moving this process online, attracting over 1.3 million users since its inception in 2012, now Thundafund wants to use the model to help creatives and entrepreneurs kickstart their business projects. ‘We believe there’s a massive opportunity to raise funds from the local community. We’ve seen from platforms such as M-Changa how generous Kenyan’s can be, and we want to channel that generosity towards the growth of the economy.’
Javan Ofula, a musician crowdfunding a concert to launch his debut album, agrees. ‘We have something of value to share’, he says. ‘I’m asking for support for anyone who sees the beauty of our content to do something to support us, to offer a platform to the many talents that have not been seen before.’
Retelling the African Story as one of success and creativity
Following the success of the first crowdfunding awards, Thundafund will soon be launching a range of initiatives to help Kenyan creatives fulfil their crowdfunding potential. Some of these include networking events, mentorship and brand building. ‘Kenya is full of creativity and entrepreneurship and many businesses are finding crowdfunding as a way to fund their projects and raise support’, states Matt Roberts Davies, explaining his hopes for Kenyan crowdfunding in the future. We want to demonstrate to Kenyan businesses that they can crowdfund for themselves.’ There’s so much creativity out there, and there’s a real need to retell the African story as one of inspiration, hope and success. There are so many untold stories in Kenya that we can’t wait for the rest of the world to hear.’
To find out more about the campaigns featured on Thundafund, or become a supporter, visit Thundafund’s website.
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