The making of Kamcent Technologies

Kamcent Technologies, a firm that provides bulk short message services to businesses was an idea birthed out of sheer hard work, tenacity and resilience.

And just like most empires are built, Kamcent Technologies has over the years become since its inception, become a huge local business enterprise, guaranteeing massive profile, that it is hardly surprising that a mix of commercial interests within the region is fast emerging.

A stunt like this had never been done before, which is why The African Business Fortune took a kin interest in the man behind the firm’s making, Joseph Waweru, founder and director of Kamcent Technologies.

Not surprisingly, the idea was initially met with skepticism from observers who held that the business would not see light of the day.

“I am a computer engineering graduate from Horizon International College, I graduated in 2002,” opens up Waweru in an interview.

His first job after college was at a micro-finance firm where he was a system administrator. This was between 2003 and 2009.

The pay was low but the job sharpened his entrepreneurship skills and fired up his appetite for self-employment.

He was always broke but determined, eventually saving Sh100, 000, he said. In 2009, Mr Waweru used part of his savings to register Kamcent Technologies Ltd which specialised in Internet services distribution to schools and computer repairs.

“It was a part time business that involved working during weekends,’’ he said. After a few months he quit his job and set out on a journey in the private sector.

He set up a small office along Moi Avenue in Nairobi and got down to work. A year later, his business collapsed. Waweru closed shop and relocated to Kisumu in 2010 where he worked for Kenya Medical Research Institute and Kindu Adventist Hospital as a part time IT consultant.

“I operated from Kisumu till 2012. Creating contacts was a big challenge and I had to relocate to Nairobi in pursuit of success which seemed far from reality,’’ recounts Waweru now 32 years.

In 2013 general election, the soft-spoken IT expert came up with a concept which relies on a computer aided system to send bulky short messages to people at the click of a button.

“We upload contacts from an excel format, transfer it to a system where content is sent with a unique sender identity and one can brand the name of his company to the message,” he said.

Kamcent Technologies developed the concept after realizing that politicians needed to reach masses and did not have a convenient way to do so.

Print and electronic media was expensive and not as convenient as the messaging system, he said. ‘‘Almost every Kenya has a cellphone which played a big role when we were establishing ourselves,’’ he said.

“The response was overwhelming, we got referrals and endorsements that came as a surprise.’’ Mr Waweru said that he worked with over 50 parliamentary aspirants, five potential governors, senators, and county representative.

Some of his initial clients were Nairobi County governor Evans Kidero, Nyeri County governor Nderitu Gacagua, and Nyeri County senator Mutahi Kagwe. The deal with Mr Kidero was worth Sh1 million, he said. But he was guarded on how much he made during the period.

“We delivered on our part but some aspirants lost the race,’’ he said. One of his clients who failed to clinch a seat was former Finance minister Njeru Githae who unsuccessfully ran for a political seat.

Mr Waweru worked on the project with Roots Company of India which offered technical support and content while mobile services provider Safaricom distributed messages on behalf of Kamcent Technologies.

Mr Waweru would send over 400,000 text messages per day during the electioneering period, earning Sh1 per message and paying Safaricom Sh2.

The company had for instance a data base of 352,000 contacts in Nyeri and used to send them messages three times in a week, with more numbers in Nairobi and in Murang’a. The firm can send over one million messages per day with mode of payment being upfront.

The messages had a call-back number to enable recipients to get back to the sender. After the General Election, he re-packaged the business and took the bulky messages delivery service to corporate clients.

His clientele base has grown since then, with Lukenya Getaway Hotels, Flame Tech Technologies and Double Eclipse Company being some of first clients.

The firm has also devised a concept dubbed Interactive Voice Response (IVR) where they send a pre-recorded sound to cellphones which enable receivers to select songs as ring-back tones as well as business outsourcing centre.

 

 

 

 

 

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