After a rigorous sifting process and a Kick-Off event to announce winners of the 2022 Innovators-In-Residence programme, the Media Innovation Centre (MiC) held its onboarding programme for the nine winning teams.

The three-day event held simultaneously in Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania was crucial in taking the winning teams through the necessary dos and don’ts and introducing their coaches and trainers and walking them through the curriculum. During her welcoming address, MiC’s Director, Dr Njoki Chege, noted the importance of the exercise as it will kick start a smooth residency. She reiterated the support her team and coaches will offer to ensure the residents achieve their set goals.

A new journey begins

“I would like to officially welcome you to the start of your 12-month residency in the Innovators-In-Residence programme. I am excited to get things started and walk with you in your journey to growing your start-ups,” Dr Chege said. “The next three days will be crucial as the onboarding sessions will provide you with the necessary context and information on the activities you will undertake with the coaches, trainers, and our team members.”

She also urged the residents to “feel free to ask where you do not understand, for the team is here to help you succeed.”

Laying the foundation

Lead coach and trainer Ann Gitari pointed to the strides the sessions will provide as they plan to carry out one or two trainings between the three days.

“I am glad we will have three days to onboard the new residents. This provides my team and I the opportunity to tick off some trainings such as Human Centred Design (HCD) and Lean Canvas Training (LCM) that are crucial in building foundations,” said Anne.

Some of the residents, whom we spoke to at the end, shared their gratitude and described the sessions as insightful, knowledgeable and will go a long way in ensuring success.

Excitement in the air

Others were excited about the programme’s start as they were eager to actualise their plans and dreams of running a media start-up. Each team will receive $20,000 in grant funding towards their start-up and an extra $1000 monthly stipend to facilitate month to month activities. Coupled with this, they will also receive free consultations from various experts, mentors, training, coaching, and access to facilities such as fully furnished offices, tech equipment, and supporting amenities.



About the Author


Author ProfileCaleb Chuma
Caleb Chuma is the Communications Officer

Similar articles


Millennials And Gen Z Media Consumption Study Launched

Report by Aga Khan University’s Media Innovation Centre analyses the country’s millennials and digital natives’ media consumption habits.


EAST Festival 2022: Building an informed and thriving community through journalism

That’s why I think today is such a great space for us to sit back and reflect on the questions that could help us shape the kind of journalism that we want to see in our local and global community.


Media Innovation Centre launches report on media innovation and media viability in East Africa

The report specifically analysed eight major variables which include: newsroom structure and resources, media ownership and business models, organisational capacity, innovation culture, journalism culture, financial trends and results, content quality and COVID-19.


Media Innovation Centre hosts demo day for graduating cohort

Three media startups have graduated from the Innovators-in-Residence program when they pitched their ideas in a ‘demo day’ at the Media Challenge Initiative Hub in Uganda


Media Innovation Centre partners with Mozilla to launch Pocket

The partnership will also ensure that local content is curated and distributed to better optimize the product and meet the needs of Kenyan online users.


Hamasa Media Group: Tanzanian innovators with a solution to organisation management

A team of young, Tanzanian tech-savvy communication professionals is dreaming big. It seeks to usher a new dawn in media business management in Tanzania by optimising employee output 


Enact policies that guarantee education for all

As Form One students settle into a new life in secondary school, this has also been a period of reflection. We have read tear-jerking and heart-warming stories of determined students who overcame many odds to get an education and how well-wishers came together in their aid.


Good journalism does not come cheap

A free and independent press is the cornerstone of any democracy and the foundation of economic success, mostly because through our free press, we’re able to hold the leadership to account.


HIGHLIGHTS: MiC meets Tanzania’s media innovators

Started in 2019, the MiC plays a significant role in mainly supporting the next generation of media entrepreneurs in Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda through trainings, mentorships and start-up grants to bring about media viability.


How to build and sustain a startup community

Our new talk series, #ConversationsAtMiC, seeks to explore and tackle issues, challenges, and opportunities within the media startup industry. The series aims to invite guests who would empower media startups to grow and develop further.


How to make journalism love us back

It is time for those in Kenyan media leadership to declare journalists’ mental health an industry-wide crisis. It is a fact that we like to sweep under the rag, but Kenyan journalists need a lot of psychosocial support. 


An analysis of Cohort Two Innovators-In-Residence call for applications

The Media Innovation Centre analyzed the applications to demonstrate the need for Media Innovation support in the region and a call to organisations, governments, and philanthropists to fund media start-ups in East Africa through grants.


AKU Study: News inequalities makes a case for county centric public-funded broadcast media

Put in context, it is safe to argue that the plural media in Kenya could be in the business of reaching the audience and not necessarily serving this audience with public interest, local news.


Media Challenge Initiative launches a Media Innovation Hub

The Hub intends to provide high-quality media support services such as co-working space, hosting events, and dialogues for media innovators who are intentional about creating solutions to journalism’s challenges.


The Innovators in Residence: 2021 Cohort kick off their residency trainings

Other than the grant, we saw it best to provide a vast set of trainings that will equip the founders with the necessary knowledge and skills to run their business.


Let’s choose to challenge inequalities

Girls must grow up knowing that they can be presidents, engineers, CEOs, and we as a society must learn to be comfortable with women working in traditionally male-dominated professions.


I started a media company in 2019 not to break news, but to unbreak it

We must give context and background to audiences about what the news means to them or what it means to specific groups of people.