Kenyan Start-ups Shortlisted for Justice Fund

Six Kenyans have been selected from a total of over 600 hundred applicants from across the world for a chance to win up to 20,000 Euro each in acceleration funding.

The six: M-Haki, Tambua, Usalama, Msheria, Mulika Uhalifu and Smart Shamba will battle it out with 36 others from across the world to secure a position among the best 10.

The Hague Institute for the Innovation of Law (HiiL) and Ford Foundation will fund the best 10 innovations to a tune of up to 20,000 Euros per innovation and provide acceleration support for up to six months.

Making the announcement, Head of Kenya’s HiiL Innovating Justice programme, Ahmed Farah observed the expansion of the local start-up sector. “The fact that the technology innovation scene can now accommodate justice innovations is a clear signal that application of technology solutions is coming of age. Technology intervention will ensure that justice is accessible to many people even in very remote areas.”

Final submission

The shortlisted candidates will make a final submission on the 22^nd of September at the iHub during the 2017 Innovating Justice BoostCamp. The Kenyan teams will be joined by two Rwanda based start-ups: Gerayo and SocialWell. A jury composed of key personalities from the legal and entrepreneurship arena will pick out the best justice innovations based on expected impact on access to justice and the sustainability of the business model.

m-Haki is an application aimed at better management of legal records; case files for safety and accessibility anytime and anywhere. Tambua will grant consumers access to factual and verifiable product information. It is an easy to use portable smart phone scanner that will verify product information from Barcodes or QRcodes. Usalama Is a platform that connects users and emergency service providers (ambulance, security, police, road-side assistance) in a quick and efficient manner.

Virtual Police

Msheria is a mobile based application that bails out petty traffic offenders and gives them access to lawyers with the convenience of a mobile phone. Mulika Uhalifu platform is a text and web based platform configured to act as a virtual police report desk; enabling any mobile phone users to report incidents of insecurity anonymously without fear of reprisals.

Smart Shamba provides legal support for farmers on SMS and App for land ownership.

HiiL has been running the Innovating Justice Awards since 2011 and building a global community of justice entrepreneurs. Justice entrepreneurs introduce innovative solutions that serve a cross section of justice needs including:

Crime and Law Enforcement — innovations improving relations between people and police or improving crime reporting
Family Justice — innovations helping families solve disputes or injustices around, for example, divorce, birth, child rights
Neighbor Disputes — innovations creating efficient, effective, and fair ways to solve disputes between neighbors
Employment Justice — innovations addressing employment disputes, business formalization, work conditions or job security
Migration and Human Trafficking — innovations tackling injustices felt by migrants including rights enforcement, safe travel, and basic security needs
Land Disputes — innovations solving land disputes over title/ownership or improving protection of property rights