Jason Eisen.

Founder of Mate in Three. Based in Kilifi, Kenya. Twenty years building companies, advising governments and funders, and running programmes in emerging markets; now helping organisations use AI without losing their judgement.

  • Advisor to the UK FCDO on AI.
  • Building Fundy.ke, an AI platform to make investment and fundraising in Kenya easier and more successful.
  • Co-founder and COO of Green Heart Kilifi, a regenerative town on the Kenyan coast.
  • Co-founder of the Africa DeFi Alliance.
  • Founder of UTU Technologies, trust infrastructure backed by SoftBank's DeepCore and Animoca Brands.
  • Designs and orchestrates AI systems and workflows that run day-to-day operations, finance and product work.

A recognised voice on African technology: annual invited delegate to the Future Investment Initiative in Riyadh, the World AI Summit and the Africa AI Summit; speaker at more than 25 African technology conferences; member of Pando DAO, a group of around 100 leading African tech founders; mentor with Village Capital and SeedStars, and adviser to several startup boards.

Jason Eisen, in a dark coat, holding a coffee on a windswept beach

The record

20+
years building and advising in emerging markets
13+
years based in Kenya
6
tech-enabled businesses founded
$7M+
foreign investment attracted to those businesses
50,000+
livelihoods strengthened across East Africa
$3.5B+
in funding and funding opportunities won for clients and employers
30+
countries worked in

Ventures

Six businesses founded since 2013, in mobility, digital trust, payments, decentralised finance, events and a town.

  1. 2025–

    Green Heart Kilifi

    Co-founder and COO

    A 45-year master-planned, 2,500-acre eco-city on the Kenyan coast. Runs operations and systems; built the town's block production, security and waste-management companies.

  2. 2022–2024

    Africa DeFi Alliance

    Co-founder

    A DAO that is both an industry association and a lending protocol. 15,000+ loans worth $2.2M to 1,500+ micro-entrepreneurs in Kenya and Rwanda.

  3. 2021–2024

    Safari DAO and ETHSafari

    Co-founder

    Africa's premier Ethereum event: three editions, 1,500+ participants from 50+ countries, and a fireside with Vitalik Buterin that brought the Ethereum Foundation to Kenya.

  4. 2022

    artSTORM.nft

    Founder

    Twenty artists, 23 murals, six sites: underused public spaces across Nairobi turned into art, with local community groups.

  5. 2019–2023

    BitLipa

    Co-founder, investor and board member

    One of Kenya's earliest crypto–mobile money rails. $500,000 pre-seed, $3M+ in transactions, 30,000+ customers.

  6. 2018–2020

    UTU House

    Founder and director

    Kenya's first co-working and community space dedicated to AI and blockchain. Many of Nairobi's current blockchain ventures trace their origins to it.

  7. 2017–

    UTU Technologies

    CEO 2017–2023, now board chair

    A decentralised protocol for online trust and reputation. $2.5M from SoftBank Group and Animoca Brands, a $3M token sale, research partnerships with the Alan Turing Institute and UKRI. Startup World Cup East Africa champion 2019; Hello Tomorrow Deep Tech Pioneer 2020.

  8. 2013–

    MaraMoja Transport

    Founder; CEO 2013–2017, now board chair

    One of Africa's first mobility apps, now Kenya's largest school bus operator: 75+ buses carrying 5,000+ students a day, 102% compound annual growth 2018–2024, $2M+ revenue in 2024.

Before Kenya

  1. 2007–2013

    International Resources Group, Washington DC (now RTI International)

    Business development analyst, then senior associate in relief and reconstruction. Managed US government programmes in Afghanistan and Pakistan; contributed to around 50 major proposals worth $3B+ in opportunities; 200+ alliance agreements.

  2. 2006–2007

    Williams Mullen Strategies, Washington DC

    Associate at a boutique lobbying firm: advocacy campaigns, government relations, trade-association management.

  3. 2007

    American University, Washington DC

    BA in International Relations (Business) and Latin American Studies, with a minor in Applied Physics. Certificate in Spanish translation.

Also

Recognition

  • Startup World Cup East Africa regional champion, 2019 (UTU)
  • Hello Tomorrow Deep Tech Pioneer, 2020 (UTU)
  • 2008 Olympic gold medal, awarded for hosting a Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs delegation on an official state visit to the US

Writing and inventions

  • UTU White Paper: A Decentralised Trust Model for the Internet (with Dr Bastian Blankenburg, 2018)
  • Enabling DeFi: Undercollateralized and Uncollateralized Lending on the Blockchain for Real-World African SME Working Capital Loans (with Dr Bastian Blankenburg, 2021)
  • Integrating Knowledge Management and ICT4D in Capacity Building for Agroforestry and Natural Resource Management (World Congress on Agroforestry, 2014)
  • The Price of Freedom: Oral Histories from the American Civil Rights Movement (with Julian Bond; Library of Congress and Smithsonian, 2007)
  • Inventor, Kenyan utility model KE/P/2014/002077: a system and method for arranging trusted transportation

Languages

English (native), Spanish (fluent), Swahili (fair), Portuguese (limited)

Off duty

Chess, ceramics, hiking, meditation. The company name is not a coincidence.

Press and talks