Three month old hamster international on 26, May, won 15000 RMB at a pitch competition held at the Schwarzman College.
Image above shows the Kente and silk family together with the Hamster family
The startup company was birthed at an Alibaba facilitated Conference, "the Alibaba conference: general association of Zhejiang entreprenuers youth power" that had brought together youth leaders to Zhejiang. Like minded George Solomon Njau of Tanzania and Aden Alinur Jeyzan of Kenya were among the many youth leaders from Universities across China and out of their interaction realised that they could achieve their dreams together.
Jack Ma, Alibaba’s founder and Chairman in an economic forum in Switzerland on 19,Nov. 2018, said, “ Our philosophy is to empower others. We aim to empower every small company in our network to become the next Amazon.“ This he said in response to a question that compared his business model to Amazon’s.
Hamster international based in Wenzhou is a fast growing e-commerce company that offers delivery services using an English developed application.This startup company is a true testament to Ma’s vision of empowering others.The company has 45 youth employees who facilitate the service of at least 50 deliveries a day and aims at getting to a minium of 5000 deliveries a day in the future. The APP has opened doors to students at the Wenzhou campus who get a commission on each delivery they make. The company which has expansion prospects is in the process of partnering with IBM and expanding to Beijing and other parts of China.
The Organiser of the Pitching competition, Kente and Silk is a one year old Company “ African birthed “ with an agenda of improving Africa- China relations. It aims at delivering novel events and products that improve Africa –China relations.
Image above shows the Kente and silk family holding a poster of the pitch competition above.
“I really liked the competition. The event was well organised. I think Kente & Silk is doing a great job in showing the people here what Africa really is, and what Africans are capable of doing. “ said Raisa Yao one of the audiences at the pitching competition.
“Kente & Silk has also provided strategic advisory services to African start-ups helping them navigate the complexity of the China opportunity,” an informercial on the Company’s website states. It has held two pitching competitions since it started and the pitch competition is routinely the final event in its annual “Africa week” which has reached over 650 people living in China.
To encourage the finalists of the competition who did not win, Miatta Momoh, a Co- founder of the Company said, “ Everyone of you finalists is a winner. You will be part of a mentorship programme with Haidian pioneer park which is an incubator that will help you grow your companies,” she added.
Haidian Pioneer park is a Chinese Government incubator that helps startups in Beijing. With this promise, the Wenzhou based Hamster International hopes to open shop in Beijing with their only Beijing based partner taking up the management role.
“We hope to expand our business in Guangzhou, Nanjing, Shenzhen, Yiwu and Beijing where I am based,” Said Adan Alinur Jeyzan, the marketing manager of the organisation and a Medical student at Peking University.
The Organization’s initial Capital was raised through individual contributions by its founders and Co- founders. It had previously participated in the University student Entrepreneurship competition organised by the local government and won the 150,000 RMB price. It later adopted 5 new investors who are now shareholders. This combined resources facilitated the take off they needed. Apart from the initial App creation costs and office furniture that was required, the running costs have been minimal.This is because the staff members are interns who are remunerated through bonuses. Another factor is that the Co- founders are involved in the management of the Organisation therefore minimising hiring costs.
"The science park gave us office space and facilitated us with the company registration," Said Jezan. This assistance was part of the package prize of their victory in the Zhejang startup competition they won which saw them settle in Wenzhou. As Miatta previously mentioned the prize Kente and silk presented came with a similar package from Haidian park. China has most recently adopted the incubation model which helps young people establish businesses with ease.
The Hamstar team answering at the pitching competition
The Company was started by Njau a Wenzhou IT student and Jezan a medical student at Peking University, in conjunction with a Chinese Co- founder Brett Lyndall a medical doctor at Wenzhou and Belle Hu a finance student at the time. The company saw the adoption of five more Co- founders who contributed their finances among other things to necessitate the take off of the Company.
Image above includes all participating teams, the Judges and audiences present during the Competition
The organisation headed by a Chief executive officer has 10 departments. George Njau is CEO, Jeyzan Mohammed the marketing officer and soon to be C.E.O of the Beijing branch. Some of the Co- founders are silent partners with no active administrative roles while some like Brett who is the general manager and Belle a chinese lady who doubles up as Finance manager and legal adviser; are active.
"In China having a Chinese partner is important because it helps with legal matters as they understand their system better," Said Njau. "As a foreigner you cannot register a wechat account on your own. You need a Chinese for that. Having our legal officer on board helped a lot since wechat is one of the ways people make their payments on our App." he added.
RELATED LINKS
http://hamstercn.com
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