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About NeuroGrowth

An AI engineering studio, built in Nairobi.

We build practical AI for how African businesses actually work: mobile money, WhatsApp-first customers and networks that aren't always fast.
Shilla Swanapole, founder and CEO of NeuroGrowth Tech
Shilla Swanapole·Founder & CEO
Nairobi
Our story

We started by building for ourselves.

NeuroGrowth Tech began with a simple frustration: the AI tools everyone talked about were built for markets with fast internet, card payments and English-only customers. Businesses here run on M-Pesa, WhatsApp and relationships.

So we built our own products first. SmartChama brings automated bookkeeping and loans to savings groups. The Gikuyu AI Translator brings a local language into modern software. Both are live in production.

Today we use the same foundations to build automation, assistants and prediction systems for businesses across Africa, and we stay on after launch to keep improving them.

02
Products live in production
10
Services across four AI systems
4–8
Weeks from first call to a live system
24/7
Automations working after office hours
The team

Engineers, marketers and customer people in one room.

A small team on purpose. The people you meet on the first call are the people who build your system.

Shilla Swanapole, Founder & CEO

Shilla Swanapole

Founder & CEO

Eric Cecil

ML Engineering

Lenny Kidavi, Marketing Engineering

Lenny Kidavi

Marketing Engineering

Racheal Ngochi

CX & Personalization

How we work

Six principles we don't bend.

01

AI-First Thinking

We approach every business problem through an AI lens first — asking what's possible with intelligent automation before defaulting to manual solutions.

02

Results Over Outputs

We measure our success by your revenue, retention, and ROI — not by deliverables shipped. Every system we build is tied to tangible business outcomes.

03

Custom, Always

No two businesses are alike. We never deploy generic templates or off-the-shelf tools. Every AI system is architected specifically for your data and goals.

04

Radical Transparency

You always know what we're building, why we're building it, and what it's returning. No black boxes, no vanity metrics — just clear, honest reporting.

05

Compounding Systems

We build for the long game. Our AI systems are designed to learn, improve, and compound results over time — not spike and fade like a campaign.

06

Partnership Mindset

We operate as a true extension of your team — embedded in your goals, invested in your growth, and aligned on every metric that matters to your business.

Why Nairobi

We build where we live, for mobile money, WhatsApp-first customers and networks that aren't always fast. That isn't a constraint. It's our edge.

M-Pesa native

Payments, reconciliation and receipts built around mobile money from day one.

WhatsApp-first

Assistants and notifications where your customers already are.

Low-bandwidth by default

Light pages and lean apps that still work on a patchy 3G connection.

Proof

Products we build and run ourselves.

What clients say

In their words.

NeuroGrowth Tech completely transformed how we acquire and retain customers. Their AI automation system cut our cost per lead by 60% in 90 days.
Sarah L.Head of Growth, E-commerce Brand
The predictive analytics dashboard alone changed how we make decisions. We went from guessing to knowing — and revenue jumped 40% in Q1.
James M.CEO, SaaS Company
Their AI chatbot handles 80% of our customer support tickets automatically. Our team now focuses on high-value work while the AI handles the rest.
Aisha R.Operations Director, FinTech Startup
Get started

Want to work with us?

Tell us what you're building. We'll reply within one working day.