AyaHQ Closes Kilifi Founder Residency After Funding Runs Out

AyaHQ has closed its 40-bed founder residency in Kilifi, Kenya, after funding for the facility ran out in October 2026.

The closure followed nearly two years of operations at the facility, which was opened in January 2025 to bring founders and other builders together. AyaHQ’s Accra facility remains open as a working hub hosting founder residencies, coworking, mentorship, team retreats, builder gatherings and other ecosystem activities.

From payments to founder development

Founded by Eric Annan, Pishikeni Tukura and Dennis Ukonu, AyaHQ was incorporated in October 2020. Annan has said the work of building the company began in 2021.

The company has moved through several business models, beginning with Aya.cash, a stablecoin payments platform launched in 2021 to help African remote workers receive and transfer money across borders. In May 2022, it launched Aya Gigs to connect African digital professionals with international employers hiring remotely.

AyaHQ retired Aya Gigs as its core business in September 2022, after concluding that access to international work required more than payment infrastructure. Annan said the company found that employers assessed communication, collaboration, problem-solving and performance within distributed teams.

“This is not a skills deficit in African talent. There is a gap between how talent is usually trained and what modern collaborative workplaces demand,” Annan said.

A grant from Coinbase supported the company’s shift into training and funded its first programme. That programme brought software developers, product designers and product managers together to practise collaborative problem-solving and product development.

Building physical spaces for founders

AyaHQ introduced its founder programme in June 2023. The programme is designed to help founders identify problems, form teams, develop products and build ventures capable of reaching the market.

The company opened its first builder residency in Accra in May 2023. The 32-bed facility offers stays of up to six weeks and is used for founder residencies, collaborative building and other activities. The Kilifi site later expanded the company’s physical residency model with a 40-bed facility.

“Founders need more than business training, mentors, and capital. They need the right environment, complementary capability, relationships, and real practice,” Annan said.

AyaHQ says it has run six formal residency cohorts involving 250 founders across more than 80 startups. It also says it has engaged more than 1,700 founders, builders and ecosystem participants from over 20 countries. Those figures are based on the company’s own account.

The company’s model includes institutions paying AyaHQ to design and deliver founder programmes. It also takes small equity stakes in some participating startups.

Funding pressure

Annan said the Kilifi closure was caused by insufficient funding rather than a failure of the residency model.

“We closed Kilifi in October 2026. Funding ran out, and we could not secure what it took to keep it running,” he said.

He added that the model had demonstrated what could be achieved with limited resources, but that a physical residency required consistent financial backing. AyaHQ also lost a major source of support following Lisk’s exit from the market in September, prompting the company to reconsider how it would finance its operations.

AyaHQ says its partnership with Lisk distributed more than $500,000 in grants to over 35 startups across more than 25 countries.

Annan identified securing patient capital, operating as a philanthropic social enterprise and deepening engagement with ministries responsible for digital economies as possible paths for the company. The company has not stated which option it will pursue, and there is no verified indication that new funding has been secured since the Kilifi closure.