Starting the Startup

Adaire signed its first clients in early 2022, and—in addition to the Zurich and Berlin offices—they’ve built a team of 10 employees who work in a centralized R & D center in Windhoek, Namibia. Initially the company is focused on relatively straightforward, traditional offerings: software, website, and app development. “All the normal technologies such as JavaScript, WordPress, and Wix,” says Mushambi, along with graphic design and UI/UX services. The company will eventually provide back office, call center, and IT support.

The plan is to progress in steps, starting with the July 2023 launch of Adaire Academy—to find and recruit talent as well as offer education, re-skilling and upskilling—and progressing to a focus on newer tech such as data science and cyber security. Eventually, Mushambi wants to construct additional centers that can absorb greater numbers of talent. Within this middle phase, the company plans to offer 24/7 support for clients. The long-term goal, Mushambi says, “is to start building our own products and to generate IP using the talent we’ve assembled.”

Mushambi answers negative perceptions of outsourcing or misplaced bias against African tech prowess with three key strategies: “First, we embrace the word ‘outsourcing.’ The partners realized that the world understands the cost-focused value of outsourcing. Second, they decided to address any negative biases head on, and built in a strategy to proactively answer questions such as, ‘Is the educational system in Africa good enough?’ The answer is yes, and the purpose of Adaire Academy is to fill any gaps.” Finally, Mushambi says, “We intentionally made it our goal to positively change the reputation and global perception of an African technologist.”

But that will require finding and training a new generation of talent—an initiative that Mushambi notes is Adaire’s biggest challenge. “A lot of people have traveled to Africa on holiday,” he says. “Then, in Nairobi, for instance, they chat up their taxi driver only to find that she has a PhD in microbiology!” Adaire wants to track those people—through schools, technical academies, local presence, Ministry of Education incubators, and accelerators—and train them through Adaire Academy.

To develop the Academy curriculum, Adaire partnered with the public research university École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (“Basically, the Caltech of Switzerland,” says Mushambi) to train promising technology students. The programs will actively recruit women, with a goal of achieving a 75% female workforce—which would be transformative, should Adaire achieve its mission of unlocking one million African software developers.

Growth, Mushambi says, requires a coordinated effort of fundraising, partnerships, internships, and mentorships. While there is a rich startup ecosystem in Switzerland, Mushambi found the community slim and federal support weak when he and his wife moved there four years ago. An alliance with the Swiss Startup Association has been an important early step, providing international networking opportunities as well as a way to strengthen local support and organization. The alliance has also brought them community, clients, and critical government validation.

Marketing campaigns that challenge prevailing opinions on African tech talent will be critical, too. “We need advocates who believe in that first project, who have the understanding that this is the starting point of something really good,” Mushambi says. “People who understand the incredibleness of Africa.”