IBM Expands Reach to African Entrepreneurs with Innovation Space @ iHub

NAIROBI, Kenya, July 25, 2015 /PRNewswire/ At the Global Entrepreneurship Summit co-hosted by U.S. President Barack Obama in Kenya this weekend, IBM (NYSE: IBM) announced a new innovation and collaboration space at iHub – the heart of Nairobi's tech community.
NAIROBI, Kenya, July 25, 2015 /PRNewswire/ At the Global Entrepreneurship Summit co-hosted by U.S. President Barack Obama in Kenya this weekend, IBM (NYSE: IBM) announced a new innovation and collaboration space at iHub – the heart of Nairobi's tech community.Tapping expertise from IBM's existing Innovation Centre and Research Lab in Kenya, the new IBM Innovation Space @ iHub will be an open working environment for software developers and start-ups designed to foster entrepreneurial business growth and provide open access to IBM's years of global expertise in technology-based innovation.
"Africa has millions of entrepreneurs who are experts in their own markets and who are now looking to technology to differentiate and compete on the global stage," said Nick Nesbitt, Country General Manager, IBM East Africa. "With the IBM Innovation Space @ iHub, we are extending our presence right into the heart of the local technical community so that entrepreneurs and start-ups have access to the tools and expertise to succeed in this exciting new era of Africa's economic development."
The space will provide early-stage entrepreneurs and start-ups with access to IBM expertise, education and technology tools – especially in the areas of cloud, Big Data analytics, mobile and security. The IBM Innovation Space @ iHub – the first of its kind in Africa - is set to give a boost to the fast growing tech entrepreneur ecosystem in Kenya and beyond.
"iHub and IBM are passionate about supporting and empowering the success of African entrepreneurs," said Erik Hersman, Co-Founder of iHub. "By setting up an IBM Innovation Space within the iHub community, we are giving local developers and start-ups unique access to IBM's expertise, business connections and resources which wil help propel them to the next level."
Located inside the iHub building in downtown Nairobi, the Innovation Space will be open to any of iHub's 17,000 members allowing them to drop in and get insight, advice and training from IBM experts in business and technology including scientists from IBM's Africa research lab. IBM will also conduct monthly workshops and events for developers who will also be able to join the IBM Global Entrepreneur program through which they can qualify for free access to IBM Cloud services and get credits for Bluemix, IBM's Platform-as-a-Service, as well as SoftLayer infrastructure.