Catherine Mahugu

Catherine Mahugu
Born	c.1987
Nationality	Kenya
Occupation	businessperson
Known for	supplier to consumer apps

Catherine Mahugu (born c.1988) is a Kenyan entrepreneur who has receive wide recognition for the companies she has created to allow producers to seel their products direct to the consumer. Her first company, Soko, involved hand-made products like jewellery and her second company Chiswara sells Kenyan coffee. She has received several fellowships and she was included in the Forbes 30 under 30 and the BBC 100 Women lists.

Life

Mahugu was born in about 1988 and decided to study computer science because she wanted to be a woman in STEM. Marketing and communications were seen as more appropriate subjects but she rejected them. Early in her software career she was involved with applications to help people find clean water and to help people with disabilities to read. She had worked with Stanford University students.

She worked with Gwendolyn Floyd and Ella Peinovich to created an e-commerce site and app. They had seen artisans spending a day in the Maasai market place trying to sell their creations for little or no return. They thought that they could improve on this business model. The application they made allows users to sell their hand-crafted jewelery and to receive a share of the sale price. She made the 30 under 30 part of the BBC 100 women list in 2015.

Mahugu is from Kenya and before the age of thirty she was chosen to be in the Forbes 30 under 30 list. She believes this is due to setting herself no limits.

In 2023, she was featured in UNCTAD's eighth World Investment Forum in Dubai. There she was talking about abother business called Chiswara which allows consumers to buy coffee from the people who make it.

Speaking

Mahunga has received a number of fellowships and invitations to speak at events organised by the World Bank, the BBC, Harvard University, The Economist and The Financial Times.