Baraza Media Lab

What Baraza Media Lab does

Baraza Media Lab is a Nairobi-based non-profit organization founded in 2019 that operates as a multi-location platform for media professionals and creatives across Kenya. It runs co-working spaces in five Kenyan cities (Nairobi Riverside Drive, Nairobi Industrial Area, Nakuru, Mombasa, and Kisumu) and delivers a portfolio of programs including the Africa Media Festival (annual continental event in its fourth edition in 2026), the SheLeads Media Fellowship for early-career female journalists in East Africa, the Data Storytelling Fellowship co-developed with Fringe Graph, Curators in Residence, Fumbua (disinformation training), Incubation, Micro-Okoa Grants, Sanara, and the PRX Hackathon. Content output includes the Barua Ya Baraza newsletter (nearly 120 editions), The Baraza Notebook, The Baraza Lens, Story Sosa on-demand video, and the Humans of Nairobi project.

The organization serves three primary segments: media professionals and journalists (working news producers, editors, digital journalists), creatives (filmmakers, photographers, podcasters, visual artists), and civic society advocates. It holds NGO Source equivalency determination status, enabling it to receive grants from US-based foundations, and partners with the Thomson Reuters Foundation (Bettina Fund/SheLeads), Fringe Graph, Code for Africa, and various mission-aligned media organizations. Co-working memberships (annual subscription), grant and donor funding, event venue hire, and festival ticketing form the core revenue streams. A 16-person team operates under Curator Martie Mtange (since April 2025), following the departure of founding Lead Curator Christine Mungai.

Name

Baraza Media Lab

Legal name

Baraza Media Lab

Website

https://barazalab.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2019

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Baraza Media Lab is a Kenya-based non-profit operating co-working spaces and fellowship programs for media professionals and creatives across five Kenyan cities, anchored by the annual Africa Media Festival and funded through memberships, grants, and event revenue.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Media and Creative Industry Community Platforms

NAICS

Advertising, Public Relations, and Related Services (5418), Motion Picture and Video Industries (5121), Media Streaming Distribution Services, Social Networks, and Other Media Networks and Content Providers (51621)

SIC

Services-Motion Picture & Video Tape Production (7812), Services-Mailing, Reproduction, Commercial Art & Photography (7330)

akta.pro primary industry

Media Arts & Film/Photography Nonprofits (BPAGAHAJ)

akta.pro secondary industries

Public Media Partnerships & Content Co-productions (NGO/Cultural) (MPABADAN), Nonprofit & Cause Communications (BPAFADAK)

Keywords

• Media co-working spaces
• Journalist fellowship programs
• Creative community events
• Media industry training
• Newsroom skills development

Headquarters

HQ city

Nairobi

HQ country

Kenya

HQ region

Africa

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Co-working and Membership Fees: Baraza Media Lab operates membership-based co-working spaces in Nairobi (Riverside Drive, Industrial Area) and regional offices (Nakuru, Mombasa, Kisumu). Members pay for access to co-working facilities, event spaces, production spaces, and community resources. Membership terms are annual (1 year term referenced in Terms & Conditions).
2. Grants and Donor Funding: The organization operates substantially on grant funding and donor partnerships, as evidenced by programs like the Bettina Fund (Thomson Reuters Foundation), Data Storytelling Fellowship (with Fringe Graph), and various foundation-backed fellowship programs. The NGOSource equivalency determination badge indicates registered nonprofit/charitable status.
3. Event and Venue Hire: Baraza Media Lab generates revenue through venue hire for events — the Terms & Conditions state the organization provides venue, staging, and technical equipment for events held at its spaces, with costs borne by business partners. The virtual tour and booking forms indicate paid booking of meeting rooms, event spaces, and production spaces.
4. Festival and Program Participation: Africa Media Festival (now in its fourth edition) and other flagship programs serve as revenue-generating events, attracting paid attendees and sponsors. Early bird ticket pricing at 25% discount was offered for AMF 2025.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels10 records

Core offering

Baraza Media Lab operates a media and creative industry ecosystem combining physical co-working infrastructure across five Kenyan cities with structured programs including the annual Africa Media Festival, fellowships for journalists (SheLeads Media, Data Storytelling), curators-in-residence, hackathons/bootcamps, micro-grants, incubation support, and disinformation training (Fumbua). The platform also distributes editorial content via a newsletter, podcast, blog, on-demand video storytelling (Story Sosa), and a pan-African opportunity/job board for the media and creative sector.

Product overview

Baraza Media Lab is a platform for media and creatives to experiment, co-create, share resources, and learn. It operates as a multi-location co-working space in Kenya (Nairobi Riverside Drive, Industrial Area, Nakuru, Mombasa, Kisumu) offering both physical infrastructure and programs. The portfolio includes co-working spaces, events, creative workshops, and community membership alongside structured programs such as the Africa Media Festival (annual continental event), SheLeads Media Fellowship (women journalists), Data Storytelling Fellowship, Curators in Residence, Fumbua (disinformation training), Incubation, Micro-Okoa Grants, and Sanara. Content offerings include The Baraza Lens newsletter, The Curator's Desk, The Baraza Notebook blog, Story Sosa (on-demand video), Humans of Nairobi storytelling project, and Baraza Research. The Baraza Opportunity Board provides a job/ opportunity aggregation service.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Africa Media Festival: A continental meeting place for people working across media, public interest issues and creative practice, held under themes such as 'Resilient Storytelling: Reimagining Media Freedom'.
• The Baraza Lens
• The Curator's Desk
• The Baraza Notebook
• Story Sosa
• Humans of Nairobi

Products and services

• Co-Working Spaces
• Africa Media Festival
• SheLeads Media Fellowship
• Data Storytelling Fellowship
• Curators in Residence
• Fumbua Program and digital course focused on combating mis- and disinformation, providing creatives and journalists with resources and training to identify and counter false information.
• Incubation
• Micro-Okoa Grants Small grant program providing financial support to media and creative projects.
• PRX Hackathon

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 500 women applied for the inaugural Bettina Fund/SheLeads Media program; 12 women selected for 3-month leadership program
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Thomson Reuters FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 March 2024Thomson Reuters Foundation set up the Bettina Fund program in memory of Director of Development Bettina Peters (who died in 2020) to foster the next generation of women leaders in Kenyan media. The program was co-designed and delivered with Baraza Media Lab, which provided its Nairobi co-working space and ecosystem. The Bettina Fund evolved into the SheLeads Media Fellowship. The partnership focuses on training, mentoring, and networking for female journalists, with Baraza providing the physical hub and programmatic infrastructure.
• Fringe GraphcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021Baraza Media Lab and Fringe Graph jointly launched the Data Storytelling Fellowship, a program to strengthen evidence-based journalism by equipping journalists and storytellers with data storytelling skills. Fringe Graph contributes data expertise and instructional capacity; Baraza provides the platform, community, and publishing pipeline. The program has run multiple cycles, with fellows' work published in Nation Africa, The Star, and Africa Uncensored.
• Fallohide AfricaminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFallohide Africa, led by game designer Joanna Oluoch, partnered with Baraza Media Lab for a member spotlight at Africa Media Festival 2025, showcasing ARGO — Africa's first public environmental augmented reality game. ARGO transforms Oloolua Forest into an immersive AR storytelling environment. Fallohide Africa received a Création Africa grant (2025) supporting ARGO development. Baraza provides a platform for visibility and community connection.
• Radio WorkshopminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerRadio Workshop (led by Naomi Grewan, Mike Rahfaldt, and Melissa Mbugua) delivered hands-on audio storytelling sessions at Africa Media Festival 2025 under the title 'Level Up Your Audio Storytelling.' Following the event, Radio Workshop opened its pitch process to AMF participants, creating a talent pipeline between Baraza's ecosystem and Radio Workshop's podcast production platform.
• Code for AfricaminorGTM or Marketing PartnerCode for Africa and Baraza Media Lab maintain a talent referral and opportunity-sharing relationship. Baraza's Opportunity Board regularly features vacancies from Code for Africa (e.g., Senior Copy Editor, Digital Academy Trainer). Code for Africa benefits from Baraza's community reach for recruiting African media and tech talent.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Co-Creation Hub (CcHub): Nigeria-founded pan-African innovation hub running co-working spaces, incubation, and applied research across multiple African countries. Broader tech focus but materially comparable ecosystem-building model with stronger funding base and continental footprint.
• The Innovation Hub (TIH): South African innovation hub and science park with co-working, incubation, and skills programs. Compares as a larger, more established African ecosystem builder with broader sectoral scope but a shared nonprofit/ecosystem-building DNA.

Direct peers

• Hive Colab: Uganda-based innovation and technology hub offering co-working space, incubation, and community programs in Kampala. Regional peer with comparable hybrid model targeting East African creative/tech talent and serving a similar geography.
• Code for Africa: Pan-African civic technology and data journalism organization with a network of newsroom partners across the continent. A direct partner of Baraza and shares its mission to strengthen evidence-based, public-interest journalism in African newsrooms.
• African Women in Media (AWiM): Africa-focused nonprofit that trains, supports, and advocates for women working in journalism and media. Highly comparable to Baraza's SheLeads Media Fellowship mission of addressing female underrepresentation in African newsrooms.
• Nailab: Nairobi-based startup incubator and innovation hub offering co-working space, programs, and events. Shares Baraza's hybrid nonprofit/community-hub model and serves overlapping early-stage creative and media entrepreneurs in Kenya.
• iHub: Nairobi-based innovation hub providing co-working, community programming, and incubation for tech and creative ventures. Operates in the same city and addresses an overlapping Nairobi media/creative community, making it the closest local comparability benchmark.
• Bongo Hive: Zambia-based innovation and media hub operating co-working space, programs for creatives and tech entrepreneurs, and community events. Highly comparable mission of building a creative/tech ecosystem in an East African neighbor with similar grant-supported nonprofit economics.

Emerging players

• WanaData: Pan-African network of female data journalists supported by Code for Africa. Comparable to Baraza's Data Storytelling Fellowship in equipping African storytellers with data journalism skills for evidence-based reporting.

Others

• African Story Challenge: Pan-African journalism initiative supporting investigative and data-driven storytelling through grants and mentorship. Adjacent ecosystem participant with overlapping funder base and target audience of African journalists.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/barazalab
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCdbde10rOAg3dguw6s9u_Tg
• Facebookfacebook.com/BarazaLab
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/baraza-media-lab
• Instagraminstagram.com/barazamedialab

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Baraza Media Lab