Brains: Kenyan man builds tech startup in Estonia, lands opportunities in Europe

This story has significance for readers across Kenya and beyond.

A Kenyan lawyer who had never heard of Estonia just months earlier now calls the small Baltic nation home, having used it to establish the European headquarters of his technology company.

Michael Opondo boarded a flight from Nairobi to Cairo in early 2023 with no particular plan to leave Africa for good.

From Law to Lines of Code

What followed was a chain of events that took him from legal practice to software development, from Nairobi to Canada, and eventually to the snow-covered streets of Tallinn.

Opondo's first career was in law, where he worked with non-governmental organisations focused on security and monitoring online extremism.

Exposure to data analytics during that period lit a spark that gradually pulled him away from courtrooms and towards computers.

He pursued certifications in full-stack software development, Python, SQL databases, computer programming, and artificial intelligence for business.

How Kontorva was Born

Opondo then secured a position in Canada as an analytical consultant. After returning to Kenya, he co-founded Kontorva alongside Sherylle Pheona.

The startup was built around a straightforward but valuable idea: connecting businesses with vetted African developers working in blockchain, Web3, artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things.

The company's core team numbers six people, supported by a broader network of close to 100 developers. Early clients included Travel World Safaris in Kenya, Ong'anya Ombo Advocates LLP in Nairobi and Cardinal Destination Management in Johannesburg.

As Kontorva began to grow, Opondo recognised that the largest markets for advanced technology services sat in Europe and North America.

Estonia Discovery Changed Everything

Canada proved difficult to enter through immigration channels, so he began researching alternatives across Europe, considering Germany, Portugal and the UK before stumbling on Estonia.

Estonia's e-Residency programme, launched in 2014, allows entrepreneurs worldwide to establish and manage European Union-registered companies entirely online through a secure digital identity.

Opondo applied in January 2023 and received approval within weeks, promptly setting up Kontorva's European office in Tallinn. He later obtained a Startup Visa and relocated.

In Estonia, Opondo found something he valued deeply in the country's business environment: a culture where results matter more than connections.

Two Cities, One Company

Kontorva today runs parallel operations. Pheona leads the Nairobi office, which anchors the company's African business, while Opondo manages the Tallinn base, which handles European client relationships and provides access to EU digital infrastructure.

From Estonia, the company plans to extend its reach into Latvia, Lithuania and Poland before pushing further into European markets.

On the African side, growth plans target East Africa first, followed by expansion into Southern and West Africa.

Opondo's path from Nairobi lawyer to Tallinn-based startup founder, through an unlikely detour into a country he once knew nothing about, offers a practical example of what becomes possible when preparation meets an unexpected opportunity.

Source: TUKO.co.ke

Reporting originally appeared via TUKO. Read the full source for additional context.