Kenya’s Bitsoko, a provider of digital currency services, has started to promote a series of educational events in Nairobi, Kenya, on the blockchain for start-ups. The events will focus on Blockchain education, networking, and opportunities for local startups to pitch. The goal is to further develop the community on the opportunities presented by the Blockchain and encourage entrepreneurs in Nairobi to innovate the industry.
The event will include speakers from the international and local bitcoin community. Educational literature will be provided at each event for those who want to learn more about Blockchain and Bitcoin. Each attendee will also receive a small amount of Bitcoin at the start of each event.
This comes after the company received a Grand Challenges Explorations research grant worth $100,000 funded by Bill & Melinda Gates foundation. Bitsoko has an opportunity to receive an add-grant of $1,000,000 if the project is successful.
Bitsoko is currently launched in its Beta version in Nairobi, Kenya. With the support of the Grand Challenges Explorations funds Bitsoko will expand its services to Ghana, Zimbabwe, and Sierra Leone the following year to further enable simple merchant payments at low costs.
According to Allan Juma, co-founder and lead developer at Bitsoko, “The financial structure in Kenya and throughout Africa has changed rapidly since the birth of mobile money by MPesa. We believe that this will only continue to grow and tools such as Bitsoko that leverage Blockchain technology to lower transaction costs will be at the forefront of this boom. ”
