Kenyan innovation space iHub has partnered online legal service platform uWakili to offer free legal training to local services.
iHub and uWakili said as many entrepreneurs tend to focus their efforts on the development and growth of their startups, they typically overlook the legal risks they startup may face.
With the cost of hiring a lawyer an obstacle to founders seeking legal advice in the critical formative stages of the startup, resulting in errors, the aim of the partnership is to reduce the legal barriers for startups and entrepreneurs in the iHub community.
The partnership will see specific pro bono legal services offered to iHub and m:lab startups by uWakili, an online legal services platform that provides Kenyan businesses and individuals with access to cost-effective and easy-to-use online legal services.
“Through this partnership, we hope entrepreneurs will be able to minimise the legal risks and costs and drive startup growth,” iHub said.
Startups will have access to virtual legal consultation office hours, as well as monthly in-depth training on a broad range of issues. The training will be facilitated by advocates with specialised training and experience in the different areas.
The monthly training is open to anyone interested in the area of discussion, with sessions in July, August, September, October and November covering subjects such as legal structure and compliance, foundation agreements, intellectual property (IP), employment management and contracts. Startups can apply here.
Launched in Nairobi in 2010, the iHub provides a home for Kenya’s tech community and allows developers and entrepreneurs to connect and work on ideas. It currently has more than 16,000 members, and also includes them:lab incubator, iHub Research and Gearbox.
Disrupt Africa reported in March the hub had raised funding from local investors Bitange Ndemo, Becky Wanjiku, Ken Mwenda and Miguel Granier as it moved into what co-founder Erik Hersman described as the “next chapter”, while it is now on the hunt for a CEO to help it scale operations.
