Silicon Valley-based Ethiopians Release Super App for Ethiopians, Eritreans

With the goal of providing streamlined information for the Ethiopian and Eritrean communities, Jotika LLC has launched a super app called Kesto.

The Silicon Valley-based mobile, web, and data consulting firm founded by Ethiopians designed the social platform for the two communities to find, share and consume information aiming to decrease the gap in information accessibility.

“The lack of streamlined information accessible in our community has been a huge struggle for the Ethiopian and Eritrean communities. The lack of a platform to connect with each other and the world has led to the community relying on platforms such as Facebook or Instagram,” said Tedla Fanuel, general manager of Bizdev, & Marketing, a local subsidiary of Jotika LLC.

Teshager Tesfaye, Yonas Teshager, and Simon Tesfaye,  are the other co-founders of Kesto, who are based in Silicon Valley.

In a social world that is constantly changing and updating, people are looking for more, better, and faster access to the information they need. Those not on social media will be left out, and those who can’t keep up with the rapid flow of vast information also fail out of the loop.

This is precisely what the team at Kesto plans to solve. Kesto organizes its content in the form of channels, making information readily available to users, businesses, and professionals. It is quick, convenient, and user-friendly, packed with a lot of functionality.

Kesto enables its users to find, share, and consume information. The app enhances the current practice of sharing information among this closely-knit community worldwide by enabling everyone to be both a content provider and a consumer.

The app is available in Android and iOS versions and has gained over 10,000 downloads since its release in August of 2021. Seven channels are currently available on the app, including business, articles, events, videos, deals, housing, and a marketplace.

Anyone can use the app right now for free, both to access and create content. In the near future, the team hopes to launch premium services.

The team promises that additional channels will be added eventually. A recommendation engine, monetization, personalization, targeting, offline functionality, and many other features are also on the team’s list of features to include.

If you are wondering what Kesto means, Teshager Tesfaye, lead founder, explains on LinkedIn that Kesto is an Amharic word that implies an arrow to denote direction and an “o” at the end to denote personalized for you. When you put everything together, it indicates that the information you can go to is personalized.

The Kesto team currently has no plans to expand into other parts of Africa but instead wants to establish the app as a mainstay in the hands of Ethiopians and Eritreans.

Referring to themselves as the Habesha “Yelp,” Kesto aggregates businesses, professionals, events, and other listings to solve the simple question “what is where, and how can I contact them or get there?”