Shopeak for Startups & SMEs
Launch or scale
on Kenya’s commerce stack.
Two grant tracks, 200 free 6-month licenses committed for 2026 — one for early-stage founders on Growth, one for established SMEs migrating to Pro. Both run on real M-Pesa from day one.
New drop · Nairobi
Streetwear made in Kenya.
Tee · Sage
KES 1,800
Hoodie
KES 3,500
Tote
KES 950
M-Pesa STK push
Pay in seconds · KES native
Our 2026 commitment · Founders & SMEs
200 live licenses.
KES 8.4 million of software.
Free.
The Startups & SMEs slice of our KES 19.8M calendar-year commitment. 100 Growth Live seats for early-stage founders, 100 Pro Live seats for established SMEs migrating to Shopeak.
200
Seats committed
8.4M
Total KES value
6mo
Free per recipient
Track 1 · Startup Grant
Early-stage
on Growth.
For pre-revenue founders in accelerators and incubators. Launch on KES-native checkout, build first traction, raise your seed round on real numbers.
KES 2.7M
100 founder licenses
Track 2 · SME Migration
Established SMEs
on Pro.
For revenue-generating businesses migrating from WhatsApp, spreadsheets, or foreign platforms. Multi-location, B2B price lists, API access — everything you need to scale.
KES 5.7M
100 SME licenses
Who qualifies
Sponsored, not
self-served.
Both grant tracks are distributed through partner programs. You don’t apply directly — your accelerator, university, or SME program issues the invite. Here are the four profiles we sponsor.
Accelerator portfolio
Backed by an accelerator or VC partner that distributes Shopeak grants? They issue your invite.
University spin-outs
Student-led ventures launching from a partner university entrepreneurship program.
Migrating from WhatsApp
Selling through WhatsApp DMs and Instagram? Bring your customers, catalog, and order history onto a real platform.
Outgrown a foreign platform
Fighting Shopify or WooCommerce on KES, M-Pesa, or local delivery? Migrate to Pro and stop adapting to a platform built for somewhere else.
What you build with
Every Growth and Pro
feature, unlocked.
Real money, real customers, real analytics. From the first STK push to your investor pitch deck.
Payments
M-Pesa, the way Kenyans actually pay.
STK push that drops into the right app on the customer’s phone. Auto-matched to the order. Reconciled in your dashboard before the receipt SMS arrives.
Native M-Pesa STK push
Enter M-PESA PIN to pay
Analytics
Numbers your investors will ask for.
MRR, AOV, retention cohorts, channel attribution. The reports you’d build yourself — already in your admin. Same dashboards founders raise on and SMEs report on.
Investor-ready analytics
MRR
KES 142K
+22%
Orders
428
+38%
AOV
KES 2,150
+5%
Revenue · 30 days
Top channels
Native M-Pesa & cards
STK push, Paybill, Till, Visa, Mastercard. Auto-reconciled on every transaction.
Custom domain + SSL
Launch on yourbrand.co.ke with HTTPS from day one. Included on Growth and Pro.
Unlimited orders
Scale from your first sale to your thousandth with zero plan changes.
Multi-location inventory
Warehouse, retail, pop-up — one stock view across every location.
Full analytics suite
Revenue, live visitors, traffic sources, funnels, LTV. Investor-ready dashboards.
B2B price lists + API
Pro adds wholesale price lists, purchase orders, suppliers, and full REST API.
Why local wins
Built for Nairobi,
not Palo Alto.
Whether you’re a founder launching from scratch or an SME migrating off a foreign stack, the math is the same: Kenya pays in M-Pesa, in KES, on mobile. Shopeak is built that way from the metal up.
After 6 months
Transparent.
No traps.
We email you 30, 14, and 7 days before your grant ends. On day one your subscription converts to the same tier at the standard rate. Downgrade, switch tiers, or cancel any time. Your data, products, orders, and customers stay with you — grant or not.
Your grant timeline
Day 1
Invite claimed
Your live tenant is provisioned. Pro features unlocked.
Month 5 · Day 1
30-day reminder
Email + dashboard notice. Pick your plan post-grant.
Month 5 · Day 16
14-day reminder
Final chance to downgrade or switch tiers.
Month 5 · Day 23
7-day reminder
Last call before standard pricing kicks in.
Day 180
Conversion
Grant ends. Subscription continues at standard rate (or stops if you cancelled).
Questions
The fine print,
in plain English.
Am I a startup or an SME for this grant?+
Startup Grant (Growth, KES 2.7M pool) is for pre-revenue or early-revenue founders backed by an accelerator or incubator. SME Migration Grant (Pro, KES 5.7M pool) is for established businesses that already have revenue and are moving to Shopeak from WhatsApp, spreadsheets, or a foreign platform. Your partner program decides which track you slot into.
Can I apply directly?+
No — grants are distributed exclusively through partner accelerators, incubators, universities, and SME programs. If you're not in one of those, sign up for Shopeak Starter at admin.shopeak.co.ke and grow from there.
What plan do I get?+
Startup Grant gets Growth (KES 4,500/mo). SME Migration Grant gets Pro (KES 9,500/mo). Both run for 6 months on the house, with every feature of the tier unlocked.
Can I migrate my existing data over?+
Yes. SME Migration Grant beneficiaries get onboarding help to bring across products, customers, and order history from WhatsApp catalogs, spreadsheets, or another commerce platform.
What happens after 6 months?+
Your grant ends and the subscription converts to the same tier at the standard monthly rate. We email you 30, 14, and 7 days before expiry — you can downgrade, upgrade, or cancel.
Can my co-founder or team access the admin too?+
Yes. Growth includes 5 staff accounts, Pro includes unlimited. Role-based permissions let you separate finance, fulfillment, and admin access cleanly.
How is this different from Shopeak Starter?+
Starter (KES 1,500/mo) is for solo entrepreneurs with their first store — 50 product cap, 1 location. The grants give you Growth or Pro instead: hundreds to unlimited products, multi-location inventory, custom domain, full analytics, and (on Pro) B2B price lists, purchase orders, and API access.
Build the next
African brand.
Already invited by your accelerator? Claim your account in seconds. Running a program and want to sponsor founders? Let’s talk.