StartHub Africa
and SHA Consulting Group

Co-Founder and Program Design

Laura Althaus

Lead Venture Associate

Timothy Maenda

Manufacturing Lead

Esther Nafula

Nafula Esther Beatrice has 7 years experience working in the startup ecosystem, with expertise in business operations, business development, customer service, and management. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting from Makerere University Business School and is currently leading the manufacturing track at StartHub. Nafula’s experience spans consumer services, tech industry, retail, health care, sales, procurement, logistics, CRM, and manufacturing, showcasing her versatile skill set and leadership capabilities.

Consultant & Country Lead Tanzania

Shakila Mshana

Shakila is the country lead and co-founder for Tanzania and leads the team, university, and incubation programs in Tanzania.

Co-Founder & Teamlead Catalyzer

Matthias Möbius

Matthias sees Entrepreneurship as a tool to improve systems and bring one’s vision of the future to life. Passionate about working with innovators that are shaping the future.

Fundraising & Partnerships Lead

Bonita Nanziri

Bonita is an International patent Holder, Health Tech Innovator, and Entrepreneur. Her mission is to use technology to engage in exceptionally compelling projects that make a substantial contribution, change the direction of healthcare, and affect health outcomes. Bonita has a patent registered in Uganda and in the USA for mDex, a smartphone-based sickle cell diagnostic tool to increase access to diagnostic services in low-resource settings.

She is a Global Health Corps 2018 alumnus, a Grace Hopper Fellow 2014, a TEDx speaker, a Microsoft Patent Program pioneer, and a Switch Point speaker. She led the team that won the national finals of the Microsoft Imagine Cup 2014 competitions and went on to represent Uganda at the World Finals in Seattle, USA.

She is innovative and has a strong capability of coming up with out-of-the-box solutions. Her experience with system development and architecture allows her to fill the communication gap that usually exists between users and developers. As such she is deeply passionate about health technology and uses her skills to increase access to healthcare services in low-resource settings.

Bonita is an upcoming Commercialization Lead and a Business Development expert. She has over 10 years of experience in starting, building, and supporting startups, and business analysis supporting development teams to build systems that are reliable and user-friendly.

A commercialization enthusiast with a strong interest in understanding market trends, consumer behavior, and the competitive landscape while seeking opportunities to transform innovative ideas into viable businesses.
She thrives on the excitement and potential rewards of bringing new products or technologies to the market and enjoys every step of the journey, the overall process of taking a product from the development or concept stage to the marketplace.

She is currently leading the Fundraising and Partnerships team at StartHub Africa.

Finance and Administration

Joshua Mutama

Joshua holds a degree in accounting and finance. He is a growth enthusiast, capacity builder, and entrepreneur. He is passionate about helping young adults to reach their full potential

Admin & Procurement Officer

Lucky Kyomuhangi

Lucky Kyomuhangi is an IT professional who completed her Bachelor’s degree in IT at Uganda Martyrs University. Currently, she works as an administrator at StartHub Africa, a company that empowers young people to build a better future through entrepreneurship. Lucky is passionate about personal and people growth, and she believes that everyone can achieve their full potential if they have the right mindset and support.

Monitoring and Evaluation Lead

Wakyaya Jacob Mordecai

Mordecai is an accomplished Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) professional with over 7 years of experience in designing, implementing, and managing M&E systems for education, livelihoods and social economic empowerment development projects. With a strong background in program design, program evaluation, Mordecai has a proven track record of enhancing organizational effectiveness through evidence-based decision-making. He excels in developing M&E frameworks, conducting rigorous assessments, and providing actionable recommendations to optimize project outcomes. Mordecai holds a Post Graduate Diploma in monitoring & Evaluation, a Bachelors degree in Economics & Applied Statistics and is committed to driving continuous improvement and accountability within organizations.

Content Development Lead

Rhea Hirani

Student Club Coordinator

Gerald Geria

Driven by a desire to have a lasting impact on the African continent, Gerald is dedicated to supporting entrepreneurs bring their ideas to fruition. He thrives at and enjoys working at the intersection of challenges, ideas, and people.

Projects Team Lead/Project Manager

Andrew Kakinda

Andrew brings over 6 years of experience in project management, specializing in the design and implementation of projects focused on innovation, entrepreneurship, and employability. With a background in civil engineering, he seamlessly integrates construction management principles into project execution, ensuring efficiency and effectiveness

Innovation Manager

Noah Mesfin

Noah is a student of the Makerere University faculty for engineering, passionate about supporting others to innovate and build the future.

Viva Atwijukire

Viva Atwijukire is very passionate about helping youth and entrepreneurship . She is experienced in project management, and providing support to startups. She wants to help as many youth as she can. Viva has a bachelor’s degree in procurement and logistics management from Uganda Christian University.

Agriculture specialist

Jeremy Thadeus Moye

Realizing the need for Agriculture transformation through entrepreneurship gives me the drive to bring as much impact in this Industry. There is a huge potential of creating Jobs and future dollar billionaires in Agriculture and I am glad to be part of this movement.

Assistant Project Manager

Derrick Mugabi

Venture Associate-Tech and Manufacturing

Cynthia Nambooze

Cynthia is an experienced professional with a strong background in business development, investment management, entrepreneurship, and startup support. She is a passionate professional with 6+ years of experience supporting startups in East Africa. Skilled in mentoring startups, optimizing operations, and fostering growth. She is Passionate about supporting entrepreneurs, creating impact, and driving success.
As a Venture Associate at StartHub Africa, Cynthia focuses on portfolio management and provides invaluable guidance to startups, connecting them with essential resources, customers, and investors while adeptly navigating challenges. She plays an instrumental role in venture and capacity building initiatives, fostering growth and sustainability for emerging enterprises as a whole.

Technology Venture Pipeline Development

Ronnie Lutaro

With a Technology background and over 5+ years of experience in the field, Ronnie has made significant strides in technology and innovation. Formerly a Software Engineer at companies like Andela where he worked on back-end services, developed and launched new features that simplified flight booking, enhancing user experience by simplifying online bookings for flights and accommodations. His expertise also extends to software engineering, technical product development, community building and leadership, having served as a Technical Lead at Open-Source Community Africa – Kampala, guiding collaborative projects and community initiatives, and working on as a consultant with United Nations (UN) – Women on initiatives like the African Girls Can Code.

At StartHub Africa, Ronnie is passionate about nurturing early-stage technology startups. He leverages his skills & experience to assist founders in creating Technology Products that users love & care about through different Programs & Projects running across Uganda. This comes before helping the Founders access further follow-up venture building support including access to grants, industry expert coaching & mentorship, initial investment and later follow-on investment through the StartHub Catalyzer Program, building a sustainable pipeline of investable technology ventures in Uganda.

Fueling his drive is a love for crafting exceptional products and experiences, with a keen interest in the untapped potentials of technology and innovation.

Finance Assistant

Mary Nabandeke

Project Fellow

Brian Masanja

Agricultural Innovation Fellow

Fransisca Silivano Mwakinyali

Project Management Assistant

Lorna Charity Ayaa

Project Management Assistant

Owacgiu Boniface

Innovation Fellow

Irene Nandyose

Agri Tech Fellow

Natumanya Guy Muriro

Venture Builder/ Business Developer

Jesse Mugisha

Project Management Assistant

Benjamin Ojok

Tech Venture Associate and Project Manager

Ham Lubega

Assistant Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, and Learning (MEAL) Officer

Samuel Mawejje

Social Media Manager and Communications Assistant

Mercy Erii

Assistant Project Manager

Ainembabazi Sheilla

Innovation Lead

Zagaro Emanueli

Accountant

Martha Asiimwe

Martha is an Accountant with SHA Consulting Group Ltd for the catalyzer startups. She has  a background in Accounting and Finance from Kyambogo University. She is a Certified Chartered Accountant with 8 years of experience in financial reporting, analysis and a result-oriented professional who consistently meets deadlines.

Specializes in Financial planning, reporting, analysis and corporate tax planning. Martha is also a seasoned Auditor who performs external Audits for Startups to ensure Financial statements are prepared in accordance to the required accounting IFRS standards making it easy for startups to access finance and enhance their investment readiness.

Core expertise: Martha is passionate about Project accounting, mentor-ship and couching of young innovators and entrepreneurs on bookkeeping, tax management and administration, financial performance analysis, Accounting systems diagnosis and improvement, Financial Modeling and  forecasting. Martha is enthusiastic about startup growth and has expertise in working with startups to build robust Accounting and Financial management systems for sustainable and scalable growth.