KCB Bank’s entrepreneurship show — the KCB Lions’ Den — returns to the screens on Tuesday, September, 5, 2017, pitting 63 entrepreneurs seeking growth opportunities for their businesses. Much like Dragon’s Den or Shark tank, the weekly Lions’ Den show, which will air on KTN every Tuesday at 8pm, offers selected entrepreneurs an opportunity to get funding for the businesses.
Competing entrepreneurs will be expected to pitch their ideas and negotiate for the capital they need to catapult to take their enterprises to the next level in exchange for a stake in their business. The financing will come from one or more of the five Lions — renowned Kenyan business gurus who are part of the panel who will be evaluating the ideas.
KCB Director of Marketing and Communications Angela Mwirigi said of the second season: “We are promising viewers a high quality show with much more expectation than the first season because applicants had time to learn from Season One. We can tell from the quality of applications that the standards have changed so much for the better and we certainly have great applications that will without a doubt engage the Lions and the audience intensely.”
The Show received an at least 5,000 applications. After the rigorous vetting process, 63 successful contestants were chosen to face the Lions. Of the successful applicants, 32% of them were women and 68% were men with businesses cutting across agriculture, design, education, energy, ICT, health, publishing, food & beverages, manufacturing, environment, entertainment and service. At least 12 counties were represented.
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The KCB Lion’s Den mainly seeks entrepreneurs looking for financial, social and intellectual capital for their new and innovative businesses in the country. Audiences will engage with the contestants as they battle in the Den. The Lions are Kenyan-based business moguls who have risen through the business world and established themselves as trailblazers in their respective industries in their journey to grow Kenya-based businesses.
Returning for season two are Myke Rabar, CEO Homeboyz Entertainment; Darshan Chandaria, Group CEO and Director of Chandaria Industries; Olive Gachara, Founder and Publisher of Couture Magazine Africa; Kris Senanu, CEO of Blackrock Entertainment and Wandia Gichuru, Co-Founder and MD of Vivo Activewear.
The TV show is part of the KCB Group 2Jiajiri programme expected to benefit at least 500,000 youth in a period of 5 years. The programme, which also encompasses a business challenge for start-ups, will enable young entrepreneurs to submit their business ideas for funding.
Related: KCB Lions Den season one ends with Sh150m invested
“The KCB’s 2jiajiri initiative aims creating job creation opportunities for the youth and skilling them for self-employment while at the same time providing funding, nurturing and mentoring future entrepreneurs,” Ms Mwirigi noted.
For the first season, over 5,000 applications were received from sectors such as agriculture, design, education, energy, ICT, health, publishing, food & beverages, manufacturing, environment, entertainment and service.
At least 72 local businesses made their pitches on the show over a period of 12 weeks and 30 lucky entrepreneurs were able to convince the 5 celebrated and renowned Lions to invest their own money in exchange for equity in the local businesses. A total of Ksh153 million was pledged by the Lions.
Lions’ Den Show was licensed by Quite Bright Films through Sony Pictures Television Network, and collaborated with KTN and KCB Bank to make the show a reality.
