How A Kenyan Startup is Building African-Made Tech Solutions

Founded in 2020 by Kenyan embedded-systems engineer Boit Victor, Veno Autobotics is a hardware company developing Internet of Things, automation and custom electronics solutions for African markets.

Its work spans circuit-board design, prototyping, sensor systems and cloud-connected platforms—helping businesses automate physical processes with technology built for local conditions. Its broader ambition is to position Africa as a producer, rather than simply a consumer, of advanced hardware.

That expertise gave rise to QuePay, an embedded-payments venture founded by Victor to connect mobile-money transactions directly to automated machines. Combining a hardware controller with a digital platform,

QuePay enables water and milk dispensers, vending machines, laundries, pool tables and access systems to accept M-Pesa, Airtel Money and MTN MoMo. Once payment is confirmed, the machine delivers the product or service while operators gain real-time visibility into revenue, performance and customer activity—reducing cash leakage and creating transaction records that can support financing.

QuePay shipped its first commercial device in May 2025 and surpassed KES10 million in processed transactions within its first year, demonstrating demand among small businesses and unattended-service operators.

Now serving more than six commercial verticals, it is evolving into a last-mile intelligence platform for monitoring sales and distribution across multiple locations. QuePay was selected as one of 10 finalists from more than 200 applicants for the Safaricom, M-PESA Africa and Sumitomo-backed Spark Accelerator, while Victor has also participated in the Africa Internet of Things and Artificial Intelligence Challenge.