Shariki works alongside promising Tanzanian entrepreneurs to turn early traction into stronger companies, ready for the right capital and a wider market.
A venture-building initiative of Selfless Solutions. The first pilot is in development in Arusha.
After meaningful traction. Before serious growth capital.
Education and direct support can change individual lives. Broad, durable prosperity also needs businesses that make useful products more accessible, create productive work, and strengthen the economic systems around them.
Shariki is shaped by the market-creating innovation thesis in The Prosperity Paradox. It asks how practical support can help promising businesses serve people who are currently excluded by price, complexity, or availability.
Select a stage to see the connection.
People may want a product or service but cannot obtain it reliably because it costs too much, is too complicated, or is not available where they live.
Conceptual framework adapted from Clayton M. Christensen, Efosa Ojomo and Karen Dillon, The Prosperity Paradox. This diagram presents a theory of change, not measured results from Shariki.
They have customers and a visible opportunity. Yet the company may still lack the focus, records, leadership and operating systems needed to grow responsibly or attract serious capital.
Ideas, training, mentorship, competitions and small grants can help founders begin.
Work alongside the founder to clarify the strongest opportunity and build the company around it.
Investors and lenders need credible financials, validated demand, capable teams and a clear use of funds.
Customers are buying. Demand is emerging. But the founder is still managing through improvisation, incomplete records and a small team.
THE FOUNDER IN THE MIDDLEShariki’s model brings three capabilities together. Its work is hands-on and shaped by the needs of each selected business.
Find operating businesses with real customers, a promising market opportunity and founders ready to build.
Customer demand, evidence of what already works, founder ambition and openness, opportunity size, potential to expand access, and where Shariki can add meaningful value.
Identify the strongest signal, test the model, resolve bottlenecks and strengthen the team, systems and economics.
A dedicated Growth Associate works alongside the entrepreneur, with guidance from experienced consultants and specialists where needed. The first pilot offers three months of free, tailored support.
Build a credible case for the right type and amount of financing, then connect the venture with suitable partners.
Clear financial information, evidence of demand, a capable team, a focused growth plan and a defined use of capital. A connection does not guarantee financing.
A core Shariki team coordinates the work. Finance, legal, industry and capital partners contribute expertise when the venture needs it.
Many founders pursue several products or customers to survive. Shariki helps test which signal has the strongest evidence, then strengthens the company around that opportunity.
The work is tailored. The standard is consistent: evidence, focus, capability and readiness to scale.
Shariki is developing its first venture-building pilot in Arusha. The programme profile describes three months of free support for a small number of selected businesses.
The pilot is designed to test whether intensive, tailored work can move operating companies toward stronger systems and investment readiness. The long-term prosperity thesis will require years of evidence across ventures.
Can Shariki identify ventures with real demand and meaningful growth potential?
Can close venture-building support produce documented improvements?
Can the venture make a more credible case for suitable capital?
The first pilot tests the work. Each later stage depends on evidence, capacity and appropriate governance. These are planned directions, not services or returns already achieved.
Select a small portfolio and document whether hands-on support moves companies toward readiness.
Add specialists and investor relationships in response to the portfolio’s real needs.
Codify selection, diagnostics, delivery, measurement and fair financial participation.
Only after the model, legal structure, governance and investment discipline are ready.
Develop more venture builders and grow beyond Arusha across Tanzania, then East Africa.
For now, Shariki aims to prepare companies for financing from existing lenders, investors and strategic partners. Direct investment by Shariki is a later possibility that would need separate safeguards.
Philanthropy can fund the initial platform and early risk. Fees, profit sharing, equity, consulting or eventual investment returns are options to test over time. None is presented here as current revenue.
Each level requires different evidence. The first pilot can establish delivery and readiness. Wider market creation can only be assessed after ventures grow and reach more people.
Sharper model, better team and systems, credible economics, clear growth plan.
Investment readiness, suitable financing, disciplined use of funds.
Customers, revenue, capacity, jobs, suppliers and long-term survival.
People previously excluded gain access while local economic capability grows.
These are intended measures. Shariki is not claiming completed pilot outcomes or national impact.
An initial build-and-test grant would support the people and platform needed to test Shariki’s model. It is a request for venture-building capacity, specialist access, systems and learning, rather than an investment pool.
The funding amount and grant period are being finalized alongside the detailed personnel and shared-cost budget.
Direction, selection and accountability for the pilot.
Close work with founders and timely specialist support.
Documentation, measurement and a repeatable foundation.