In 2011, after seeing the success of a Makerere University created crime mapping start-up, CrimeX — which won the East & Southern Africa Microsoft Imagine Cup competition under his mentorship — Kaizzi found the motivation to establish Thinvoid.
In 2006, before putting his background in software engineering to use, Kaizzi, along with a friend, started a media venture following high school graduation. The online blog portal helped to connect Ugandans in the diaspora to family back home. Two years later, when Kaizzi participated for the first time in the Microsoft challenge — which then called for the creation of an “environmental sensitization system,” he started a relationship with the tech giant — still today a supporter of Thinvoid.
“The local tech scene here is vibrant with Microsoft and Google actively engaging with the developer community by offering free development tools, funding promising ventures and financing events,” Kaizzi said about Uganda’s tech landscape.
Partnerships with local organizations and tech hubs like Hive Colab, Uganda Technology And Management University (UTAMU), Makerere University and the Africa Innovations Institute have helped Thinvoid move forward in its journey and initiatives.
The company is now in the process of hashing out tech ventures that are both simple and intended for the greater good of businesses.
“Hear Me Out is a social customer care automation tool that reduces response time by up to 86 percent. [Its] suitable for corporations and big brands that need queries handled in real time with minimal human supervision,” Kaizzi said.
“Ticket Bender is an events ticketing application. Think of Evenbrite for Africa, e.g. use of SMS instead of e-mail to disburse the tickets, etc.”
Drop Armour is an app that alerts phone owners through a scream to reduce the harshness of an impact should the phone drop.
“The next phase of this app is a simple phone cover that auto-inflates when it detects that the phone is falling,” Kaizzi added.
For a company founded on disruptive tech principles, this is a seemingly uncomplicated feat.
