Samrawit Fikru

Ethiopian entrepreneur and businesswoman

MicroLink Information Technology College
HiLCoE School of Computer Science and Technology (BsC)

OccupationSoftware developerKnown forFounder and CEO of Hybrid Designs (RIDE)

Samrawit Fikru (Amharic: ሳምራዊት ፍቅሩ) is an Ethiopian computer scientist, entrepreneur, and businesswoman who is the founder and CEO of Hybrid Designs, a software development company which produces the most popular ridesharing app in the country, RIDE.^[1]

Early life and education

Fikru was born in Asella, Ethiopia. She received her diploma in software engineering from MicroLink Information Technology College in 2004. She graduated with a BSc in computer science from the HiLCoE School of Computer Science and Technology in 2006.^[2]

Career

Fikru founded the software development company Hybrid Designs in 2014.^[2] The same year, Hybrid Designs released RIDE as an SMS-based ridesharing service. It was relaunched as a mobile app with a backing call center in July 2017.^[3] RIDE was inspired by the difficulty Fikru experienced trying to hire a taxi cab after late nights at work.^[4] She also wanted to create a service to address the safety concerns felt by herself and others in trying to find a taxi, and developed RIDE to help address these gaps.^[2]

As of 2020, the app has tens of thousands of users and has been downloaded over 50,000 times.^[5] The development staff for the app is 90% female.^[6] Fikru aims to inspire other women with her work: "Women-owned business are growing in number; now we need more young girls to access the finances to make their creative ideas happen."^[7]

In 2022, Fikru released Sewasew, a streaming platform for Ethiopian music.^[8]

Honors and awards

Fikru was recognized as one of the Rest of World's 100 Global Tech Changemakers^[9]
Fikru's success as a tech entrepreneur and her inspiration to young women were recognised by her inclusion on the BBC's 100 Women list in 2022.^[7]

References

^ Aidoo, Theodora (28 November 2019). "Samrawit Fikru, the tech genius behind Ethiopia's version of Uber whose staff is 90 percent female". Face2Face Africa. Retrieved 29 January 2023.
^ ^a ^b ^c Berhane, Samson (15 April 2019). "Samrawit Fikru". Ethiopian Business Review. Retrieved 29 January 2023.
^ "RIDE, Ethiopia's version of Uber, is opening up for women in male-dominated taxi business". Semonegna. 25 August 2018. Retrieved 30 January 2023.
^ Adeyooye, Oluwafisayo Dorcas (8 February 2021). "Meet Samrawit Fikru, The Tech Genius Reforming Ethiopia's Transport Sector". BuiltInAfrica.io. Retrieved 30 January 2023.
^ Moore, Janet (27 May 2020). "Ethiopian Entrepreneurs: Five Inspiring Women and Men to Watch". distant-horizons.com. Retrieved 31 January 2023.
^ "Samrawit Fikru". RestOfWorld.org. Retrieved 30 January 2023.
^ ^a ^b Koba, Melchior (6 December 2022). "BBC 100 Women 2022: Who is on the list this year?". BBC. Retrieved 31 January 2023.
^ "Teddy Afro Joins Samrawit Fikru's Streaming Platform Sewasew". Shega. 24 November 2022. Retrieved 31 January 2023.
^ "Samrawit Fikru contributes to safer mobility with RIDE". WeAreTech.Africa. 27 May 2022. Retrieved 1 February 2023.