Matt Magera

Matt Magera went straight into business after high school, driven by a conviction that Africa's potential is best unlocked by builders on the continent. As a student he ran a school newspaper, which taught him early lessons about running something people rely on, and he experimented with tech ideas to the point of raising venture capital at 17. He has studied accounting at Strathmore University while working full time on his company.

Jobzy began in 2020, during the COVID-19 lockdown, when Matt and his Mang'u High School friend Enoch Kambale turned a WhatsApp conversation into a marketplace connecting informal workers such as cleaners, mechanics and tutors with customers, including USSD access for people without smartphones. In 2023 the startup was named Startup of the Year at the East Africa Awards hosted by Africa Tech Festival. The team has since pivoted toward professional recruitment: Jobzy now offers employers an applicant tracking system, a pool of more than 20,000 professionals, and instant background checks linked to government databases in Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana and South Africa, while job seekers use an AI-powered app to sharpen CVs and find matches.

In 2025 Matt was selected, at 20, as an Anzisha Prize fellow. He is candid about lessons learned, saying he once spent too long chasing funding when customers deserved the attention, and that success means building something people genuinely love and use.