Thursday, March 28, 2024
Meet the Founder

A Glimpse into the Life and Impact of Hilda Moraa, A Versatile Kenyan Entrepreneur

Hilda Moraa is a Kenyan entrepreneur with a B.Sc in Business Information Technology from Strathmore University. She obtained a Masters in Entrepreneurship from Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) in Kenya. She is an award-winning innovator, author and founder of Pezesha , a peer-to-peer micro-lending marketplace for Africa that provides access to affordable financial services and credit scores to low-income borrowers.

In 18 months of operation, the company experienced a 50% customer growth, and this made it clear that the company’s mission to empower micro, small and medium enterprises in Africa with affordable financial services that they can use in a responsible and purposeful way was a successful one.

Hilda is focused on making an impact and bringing sanity and security to the lending space and staying true to the reasons she started the business. She once said in an interview, “A data driven approach is the key to nurturing this focus. It is imperative for maintaining a consistent direction. As we continue to grow, the data we assimilate helps us to guide our strategy, ensuring it is aligned with our milestones” and at every point in her career, this has been her watchword.

From May 2009 to September 2010, she worked as a Master Data Analyst for Coca-Cola. She dedicated her time to training and mentoring the Keri Residents, who were students from Strathmore University looking for advice in IT and programming skills. In 2012, she founded AfriHive, a content hub and one stop shop for co-working spaces across Africa to access useful resources, services and lessons, so as to remain sustainable in the long run.

Hilda has published and written numerous research papers and journals on the thematic focus of ICT, development and entrepreneurship. She is the author of “A Kenyan Startup Journey” and with the knowledge she has garnered, she became a millionaire at age 26. In recognition of her societal impact, Hilda has received countless awards: In 2011, her project; M-order won the best application in the Mobile Boot Competition. In 2015, she was profiled as one of the successful young female entrepreneurs in the Tech and Innovation space under the prestigious award of Top 40 under 40 by Business Daily and in 2016, she was listed by Forbes Africa as one of Kenya’s Most Promising Young African Entrepreneurs of 2016.

She previously founded Weza Tele a Kenyan fintech startup that provides a number of value added mobility solutions in commerce, supply chain, distribution and mobile payment integration. The company provides a range of financial products, including mobile loans and retail credit cards. It became one of the first African tech startups to be acquired by another business as in May 2015, Afb, a Ghanaian financial services group acquired the company for $1.7 million.

Hilda Moraa’s entrepreneurial passion and drive is ignited everyday due to the failures and successes she has encountered. She is a problem solver and an avid believer in the fact that the present is an incredible time for young people to venture into great things to impact our society.

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