Business Description
Incumak Ventures is a business located in Meru. The business is involved in the production of incubators that are used to hatch eggs. The business is owned by university students who saw the challenges poultry farmers face in their communities and decided to ring a solution.
Problem/Solution
There is increasing demand of poultry products due to urbanization and increasing human population. The potential for poultry to increase household incomes, create employment and ensure food and nutrition security can only be realized if improved strategies and modern technologies are put in place in a holistic manner involving all the poultry chain players. Farmers are looking for ways to increase eggs-chicks hatched ratios in order to reduce waste and increase production. Incumak Ventures has appreciated the underlying greater need for low cost and efficient technology by innovatively creating the incubators at a low cost.
Products/Service
Incumak Ventures specializes in design, production of automated and computerized modern incubators locally. They are unique, modern and with higher efficiency at a reasonable price. Incumak incubators enable merchants and poultry farmers to efficiently hatch chicks and maximize production.
Market
Incumak Ventures targets locals who are area residents and Institutions which include: Poultry famers both commercial and domestic, schools, hospitals, hotels and entrepreneurs. The incubator’s unique selling point is that it’s computerized to increase the egg-chicks hatched ratio in order to reduce wastage and increase production. The incubator has ability to use two power sources namely; electricity and solar power. It has a power supply unit (PSU) with a back-up battery in case of power outage. They are easy to operate. While the forced air incubator provides eggs with internal air circulation which prevents overheating and suffocation of developing chicks and cares for an even distribution of humidity in the chamber enabling the eggs to hatch at the same time, the still-air incubator on the other hand operates well due to its capability to maintain the right temperature, humidity and ventilation.
Competitive Landscape
Research findings allude that poultry industry is an important source of food, income and employment. It is an integral source of livelihood to over 80% of the rural households. Incumak Ventures has opted to utilize this gap effectively and innovatively by coming up with the computerized incubators at relatively lower prices.
Business Model and Distribution Channels
An 88 egg capacity incubator goes at KES, 26,000. The firm uses Branding, Promotion, media advertisements as its main marketing strategies.
Traction to Date
Poultry farmers are expected to have increased income from increase of chicks hatched using the Incumak Ventures incubator. This shall improve the living standards of the people. The business will also employ more people in future to support in fabrication of the incubators due to existing high demand. The project solves the problem of food insecurity.
