Technology is always changing for the better with each passing day. The tech scene in Kenya for instance has seen tremendous growth the last few years but is still in the early stages. We still have a long way to go and the baby steps we take right now will determine how successful we will be. To get to where we want, we need to see more investments in the tech scene by local companies and investors.
One company that recognizes the importance of investing in technology is Squad Digital. The digital advertising firm has launched its own innovation lab. The main aim of this lab is to spur technological growth through incubation and research in Kenya.
The innovation lab is dubbed Squad Labs and will have dedicated research and development teams that will be responsible for creating innovative products. At the moment, the Lab is working with over 30 developers right here in Kenya.
Commenting on this, Squad Digital General Manager, Manish Sardana said, “We want to drive cutting-edge innovation in the digital marketing space in Kenya and Africa and we will be investing heavily in this sector to incubate products in Customer Relationship Marketing, social media, Wearable Technologies and Content Marketing areas.”
“Squad Labs will seek to leverage Kenya’s creative minds and resources in new innovative ways and will provide a platform to source, develop, evaluate, test and eventually launch new digital offerings and technologies to the market.”
The Lab has already worked on its flagship product which is a Social Banking Platform that allows consumers to open bank accounts online on Facebook. Phase two of this Social Banking Platform will allow users to view their bank statements and even transfer funds.
Commenting on the Social Banking Platform, Mr. Sardana said, “Social Banking revolutionizes the way the Kenyan youth interact with the Banking system. The over 5 million Facebook users will now be able to manage their banking needs from the convenience of their Facebook pages.”
“Squad Labs is expected to impact the country by developing practical and cost effective solutions that focus on consumer trends and we will work with techprenuers to generate new ideas that will move quickly from concept to reality.”
Just recently, Squad Labs organized a Hackathon for its technology team to develop an online Influencer Management Platform using Twitter’s API’s. This platform, called Twitulence, is used to rate influencers based on their follower and subject matter expertise. Twitulence will be rolled out to the market very soon.
Squad Labs is also working on a Customer Relationship Marketing (CRM) solution called Lead Management System to help sales organizations optimize their campaign spends and manage leads from various campaigns.