In 2023, the lights went out at Gearbox Pan African Network (GPAN), once Nairobi’s hub for eletronics hardware innovation. A funding shortfall had crippled the non-profit’s operations. Staff were let go, dreams were shelved, and the tech startups ecosystem held its breath in disbelief.
For Dr Kamau Gachigi, the GPAN founder, it was a bitter reckoning. After nearly a decade of mentoring young engineers, startups, and hobbyists, he found himself staring down the same dilemma that haunts many Kenyan tech ventures—when the funding dries up, so can the future.
He knew he had to act quickly to keep the innovation dream alive. “I picked up the lessons from that painful collapse and pivoted,” he tells the Business Daily.
Two years on, there’s a different kind of hum coming from Nairobi’s Industrial Area. It’s the sound of machines at GbE Circuits, a lean, export-focused electronics micro-factory co-founded by Dr Gachigi and technologist Latiff Cherono.
Out of GPAN’s ashes, a new venture is rising, one that’s shipping high-precision printed circuit boards (PCBs) to clients across the globe.
Dr Gachigi’s journey into hardware innovation began in 2009 in the workshop halls of the University of Nairobi, where he helped launch one of Africa’s first Fab Labs.
His guiding principle was simple but bold in its implications: African innovators should have access to the same tools as anyone else in the world, tools to turn ideas into prototypes and prototypes into products.
That vision took shape in 2014 with the launch of Gearbox, a sprawling 20,000-square-foot makerspace kitted out with 3D printers, laser cutters, and electronics labs.
With backing from international partners like The Lemelson Foundation and Autodesk Foundation, it became a launchpad for Kenya’s electronics hardware hopefuls.
But it wasn’t built to survive a donor pullout. “The Lemelson Foundation was funding about 90 percent of our operations,” Dr Gachigi recalled in a 2023 interview. “When that ended in 2022, so did much of what we could do.”
The fallout was severe.
Up to three-quarters of Gearbox’s 15–20 staff were laid off. Severance payouts drained what little remained. The team surrendered half their space to cut costs. Even as they promised to repay affected employees in instalments, the dream had effectively hit pause.
And it wasn’t just about the money. Some decisions, made under pressure and poor advice, made things worse.
“The transition model was flawed,” looking back, Dr Gachigi, now admits. “We gave up part of our space just to manage rent while we tried to pivot.”
Still, he didn’t walk away. Instead, he quietly redirected his energy into something more sustainable.
Back in 2019, alongside UK electronics firm Europlacer, Dr Gachigi had helped set up Gearbox Europlacer, a for-profit arm focused on electronics assembly. With Mr Cherono now on board, that seed has evolved into GbE Circuits.
“GbE was born out of necessity and a shift in thinking,” says Dr Gachigi. “We knew we had to build something that could stand on its own, commercially. And now it is.”
The company now employs eight engineers and runs a fully certified surface-mount assembly line, capable of producing complex PCBs to international standards. The contracts are steady. “We’re edging toward breakeven,” he says. And once they hit that mark, GbE plans to channel part of its profits into supporting GPAN, allowing the non-profit’s training and incubation work to continue.
Global clients
GbE’s client list spans Kenya, Nigeria, Estonia, the US, Japan, and the UK. Of its 100 clients, just 10 are international, but they account for nearly 80 percent of its revenue.
Gearbox Executive Director Kamau Gachigi during an interview at the firm’s plant in Nairobi’s Industrial Area on June 23, 2025.
Photo credit: Billy Ogada | Nation Media Group
“It’s ironic,” says Dr Gachigi. “The Kenyan market is our home turf, but uptake hasn’t been as fast as we hoped. Part of that is simply because people don’t know this kind of manufacturing is even possible here.”
That’s exactly what Mr Cherono, GbE’s Chief Technology Officer, hopes to change. “Startups used to wait weeks for their PCBs to arrive from China or Europe. Now, they can prototype and produce right here in Nairobi,” he says.
And it’s already making a difference. GbE Circuits is powering everything from medical devices to smart ATMs that dispense fuel or milk. They’re producing custom headphones for Nigerian universities and even helped with local ventilator design during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Their recent work with Raspberry Pi Picos (microcontroller boards developed by a UK foundation) for the African market is another milestone. “Producing for a globally recognised brand shows that world-class quality is achievable locally,” says Mr Cherono. “And confidence like that spreads.”
Dr Gichigi notes that for years, Africa’s tech narrative has been dominated by software. With GbE, the techpreneurs are now making a strong case for hardware. “You can’t build a digital economy without a physical layer,” says Dr Gachigi.
Their mission also fits into a broader continental agenda. Through a UNDP partnership, Dr Gachigi and his team helped design innovation hubs now running in 13 African countries. The takeaway? Innovation ecosystems must be rooted locally but built for export.
There’s also a powerful socioeconomic upside: jobs, skills, and local value chains. “We’ve democratised manufacturing,” says Mr Cherono. “Whether someone comes to us with a single prototype or a full batch of units, we offer the same support and quality.”
GbE’s model is as ambitious as it is practical: flexible order sizes, global standards, and made-in-Kenya production. “It’s what people said couldn’t be done,” Mr Cherono adds. “But we’re doing it, and we’re just getting started.”
Still, the journey hasn’t been easy. “We made mistakes,” says Dr Gachigi. “Taking the wrong HR advice cost us. But we’ve learned.”
Biggest lessons
What are the biggest lessons? Separate mission from operations.
GPAN’s non-profit model, Dr Gichigi notes, wasn’t built to scale quickly. GbE’s commercial DNA gives it a fighting chance. Another lesson? Diversify revenue streams. Daily contracts and the eventual support of GPAN through profit-sharing should help create stability. And finally: invest in people—and policy.
“We have incredible talent in Kenya,” Mr Cherono adds. “But the government needs to step up too—VAT exemptions on components, for instance, could really supercharge the sector.”
Meanwhile, by narrowing their focus and forming the right partnerships, Dr Gichigi says they’ve built something stronger, leaner, and more grounded than before.
“We aren’t just trying to survive,” says Dr Gachigi. “We want to thrive. That dream that Africa can make, build, and export electronics hardware on its own terms is alive.”
