Brian Mogeni
Brian Mogeni is a Kenyan tech entrepreneur and data economist spearheading Wowzi, the Nairobi-based marketplace turning ordinary social-media users into brand ambassadors. Since co-founding the platform with Mike Otieno in 2020, Mogeni has expanded it from a WhatsApp prototype into a pan-African network across 15 countries, 120,000 creators and 250 enterprise advertisers.
Wowzi’s automated workflow uses AI sentiment analysis and mobile-money micropayments to match nano- and micro-influencers with campaigns, creating over 300,000 paid gigs and injecting KES 1.2 billion directly into youth wallets by mid-2025.
In 2024 Wowzi raised US$5 million pre-Series A from Africa Renaissance Partners and Google’s Black Founders Fund, fuelling entry into Francophone markets and launching Wowzi Pay, a remittance wallet for creators.
Mogeni, a University of Nairobi actuarial-science graduate, previously analysed credit-scoring algorithms at Tala and consulted on digital tax policy for the Kenyan Treasury. His advocacy for inclusive creator economies has seen him address the UN Africa Internet Governance Forum and mentor entrepreneurs through the iHub START programme.
He was named to Business Daily’s Top 40 Under 40 (2021) and honoured among Quartz Africa Innovators (2024). Now 32, Mogeni is piloting an AI vernacular-content tool and pushing policy on social-commerce tax, reaffirming his mission to democratize work for Africans.