Erik Hersman is an American-born technologist, entrepreneur, and blogger who became the single most influential catalyst in the creation of Kenya's tech startup ecosystem. As the founder of iHub Nairobi, co-founder of Ushahidi, and founder of BRCK, Hersman occupied a unique position in Silicon Savannah - not as the most commercially successful entrepreneur, but as the person who built the physical and intellectual infrastructure that enabled an entire generation of Kenyan tech founders.
Hersman grew up in Kenya and Sudan, the son of American missionaries. This upbringing gave him a perspective that few other tech figures possessed: deep familiarity with African realities combined with fluency in the language, networks, and fundraising mechanisms of the Western tech world. He studied at a Florida university but returned to Africa repeatedly, eventually settling in Nairobi permanently. His blog, White African, launched in 2005, became one of the earliest and most widely read sources of commentary on African technology, attracting readers from Silicon Valley to Lagos who were curious about what was happening at the intersection of technology and development on the continent.
The founding of Ushahidi in January 2008 - alongside Juliana Rotich, David Kobia, and Ory Okolloh - was Hersman's first major contribution to Kenyan tech history. Ushahidi, a crisis-mapping platform built during Kenya's 2007-08 post-election violence, demonstrated that Kenyan technologists could build globally relevant tools under extreme pressure. The platform was subsequently deployed in the Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and dozens of other crises worldwide, establishing Nairobi as a source of civic technology innovation.
But Hersman's most consequential act was the founding of iHub Nairobi in March 2010. iHub was a co-working space, community hub, and pre-accelerator rolled into one - located on the sixth floor of a building on Ngong Road in Nairobi's Kilimani neighbourhood. The physical space became the gravitational centre of Kenya's tech ecosystem. Developers, designers, entrepreneurs, investors, and journalists converged at iHub, exchanging ideas, forming teams, and launching companies. Cellulant's team worked there. BRCK was conceived there. Eneza Education, FarmDrive, and dozens of other startups incubated within its walls or its orbit.
iHub's significance was not just physical but cultural. It normalised the idea that Nairobi could be a tech hub - that young Kenyans could aspire to build technology companies rather than pursuing traditional careers in banking, law, or government. Before iHub, Kenyan tech talent was dispersed and invisible. After iHub, it was concentrated, visible, and increasingly connected to international networks of investors and mentors.
Hersman founded BRCK in 2013, attempting to transition from ecosystem builder to product entrepreneur. BRCK was a rugged, battery-powered internet device designed for African conditions, and later pivoted to Moja, a free public WiFi platform. The commercial results were mixed, but the attempt reflected Hersman's belief that Kenya's tech ecosystem needed to move beyond services and platforms toward building physical technology products.
See Also
Sources
- Hersman, Erik. "White African" (blog). whiteafrican.com, 2005-present.
- Bright, Jake. The Next Africa: An Emerging Continent Becomes a Global Powerhouse. Thomas Dunne Books, 2015.
- Gathigah, Miriam. "Erik Hersman: The Man Behind Nairobi's Tech Revolution." The East African, 2013.
- Cunningham, Lillian. "How Erik Hersman Built Africa's Tech Hub." Washington Post, 2014.