Intel Corporation today announced its sponsorship of two Kenyan tech startups Harmonics and mHealth Solutions Centre, to travel to Silicon Valley for three days of onsite training and a Demo Day with angel and venture capital investors.

This is in line with the company's commitment to enhance local innovation by providing developers with design tools, resources and expert consulting. The two tech startups are part of 14 finalist teams selected globally under the Intel Tech to Market Accelerator program (T2MA), a new annual lean start up accelerator and a business plan competition focused on computing technology. The startups will get an opportunity to showcase their business ideas as well as receive feedback from potential investors at the University of California, Berkley.

Intel invited developers through the Software Services Group launch and iHub to apply for the T2MA competition, out of which 14 applications were received in Kenya. Four teams were then selected to take part in the first phase of the competition which involved 4 months of top-notch startup training, tuning and mentoring from University of California Berkeley faculty members and Silicon Valley entrepreneurs. Based on their performance during the first phase, Harmonics and mHealth Solutions Centre were selected to go the UC Berkley for the final phase of the competition.

Speaking at a press event, Suraj Shah, Intel East Africa's Corporate Affairs Manager said Intel supports local innovation by empowering young people to solve social challenges using technology.

"The Intel Tech to Market Accelerator Program is the perfect platform to bring together young entrepreneurs to share their plans for turning their computing technology ideas into business opportunities, and to showcase those plans to potential investors. We are very excited two of our very own will be representing the country and will get the opportunity to compete and present their startup ideas at Silicon Valley," said he.

mHealth Solutions Center, one of the tech start-ups selected from Kenya seeks to innovate, design, develop, and market mobile and web solutions that address acute problems in the Kenyan health system. "This is an exciting opportunity for us not only to travel and meet like-minded individuals but also get a rich Silicon Valley experience. We look forward to meeting venture capitalists, angel investors, mentors, incubators and hopefully through these new connections raise $1 million in private seed capital in the next 12 months," said Dr. Monda of mHealth Solutions.

Made up of four individuals, Dr.Monda J.M.N, Nickson Nyakambi a student of medicine and App developer, Michael Omaria a pharmaceutical technologist and IT Consultant and Maxwell Ochwang'i - an entrepreneur and a student of medicine, mHealth has already developed two technologies that promise to address the current fragile nature of Maternal Health and Cancer in Kenya.

Harmonics is made up of Duncan Mwebia a technical expert; Jesse Kaburu, an entrepreneur and Phides Mugo - the mentor and marketer, is an ICT start-up that will provide a cloud based platform to help High school administrators manage their data and information using mobile phones, personal computers and tablets with internet connectivity. "Our project intends to streamline management of school administration by providing a unique and innovative solution.

The application will be hosted on a cloud platform eliminating the need for schools to incur extra expenses of server acquisition and other costs or risks associated with running an in-house application. We are looking forward to the Silicon Valley trip, to network, to gain new knowledge and hopefully create contacts that will help us propel our business to greater heights." said Phides Mugo of Harmonics

"Social innovation has the potential to transform economies and improve people's lives around the world. As a leading technology company, we promote social entrepreneurship to develop sustainable solutions at the local level and identify opportunities to scale replicable technology solutions globally. Through competitions and Silicon Valley experience, Intel works to inspire young entrepreneurs and more importantly connect them with experienced mentors and business leaders", added Shah

Intel Software and Services Group (SSG), a global division of Intel Corporation, aims at reaching over 400 developers and having 100 new applications created locally over a period of six months that would offer users differentiated experiences across mobile phones and tablets running on Intel® Architecture.

This is in line with the company's commitment to enhance local innovation by providing developers with design tools, resources and expert consulting. The two tech startups are part of 14 finalist teams selected globally under the Intel Tech to Market Accelerator program (T2MA), a new annual lean start up accelerator and a business plan competition focused on computing technology. The startups will get an opportunity to showcase their business ideas as well as receive feedback from potential investors at the University of California, Berkley.

Intel invited developers through the Software Services Group launch and iHub to apply for the T2MA competition, out of which 14 applications were received in Kenya. Four teams were then selected to take part in the first phase of the competition which involved 4 months of top-notch startup training, tuning and mentoring from University of California Berkeley faculty members and Silicon Valley entrepreneurs. Based on their performance during the first phase, Harmonics and mHealth Solutions Centre were selected to go the UC Berkley for the final phase of the competition.

Speaking at a press event, Suraj Shah, Intel East Africa's Corporate Affairs Manager said Intel supports local innovation by empowering young people to solve social challenges using technology.

"The Intel Tech to Market Accelerator Program is the perfect platform to bring together young entrepreneurs to share their plans for turning their computing technology ideas into business opportunities, and to showcase those plans to potential investors. We are very excited two of our very own will be representing the country and will get the opportunity to compete and present their startup ideas at Silicon Valley," said he.

mHealth Solutions Center, one of the tech start-ups selected from Kenya seeks to innovate, design, develop, and market mobile and web solutions that address acute problems in the Kenyan health system. "This is an exciting opportunity for us not only to travel and meet like-minded individuals but also get a rich Silicon Valley experience. We look forward to meeting venture capitalists, angel investors, mentors, incubators and hopefully through these new connections raise $1 million in private seed capital in the next 12 months," said Dr. Monda of mHealth Solutions.

Made up of four individuals, Dr.Monda J.M.N, Nickson Nyakambi a student of medicine and App developer, Michael Omaria a pharmaceutical technologist and IT Consultant and Maxwell Ochwang'i - an entrepreneur and a student of medicine, mHealth has already developed two technologies that promise to address the current fragile nature of Maternal Health and Cancer in Kenya.

Harmonics is made up of Duncan Mwebia a technical expert; Jesse Kaburu, an entrepreneur and Phides Mugo - the mentor and marketer, is an ICT start-up that will provide a cloud based platform to help High school administrators manage their data and information using mobile phones, personal computers and tablets with internet connectivity. "Our project intends to streamline management of school administration by providing a unique and innovative solution.

The application will be hosted on a cloud platform eliminating the need for schools to incur extra expenses of server acquisition and other costs or risks associated with running an in-house application. We are looking forward to the Silicon Valley trip, to network, to gain new knowledge and hopefully create contacts that will help us propel our business to greater heights." said Phides Mugo of Harmonics

"Social innovation has the potential to transform economies and improve people's lives around the world. As a leading technology company, we promote social entrepreneurship to develop sustainable solutions at the local level and identify opportunities to scale replicable technology solutions globally. Through competitions and Silicon Valley experience, Intel works to inspire young entrepreneurs and more importantly connect them with experienced mentors and business leaders", added Shah

Intel Software and Services Group (SSG), a global division of Intel Corporation, aims at reaching over 400 developers and having 100 new applications created locally over a period of six months that would offer users differentiated experiences across mobile phones and tablets running on Intel® Architecture.