Blaze Be Your Own Boss TV Show Returns to the Screens

Safaricom Limited has announced the return of the BLAZE BYOB TV show, which will air on KTN beginning Monday 5^th February.

The contestants were selected from a total of 1196 auditions conducted during the BLAZE BYOB Summits that were held in Meru, Nakuru, Eldoret, Machakos, Mombasa and Nairobi last year.

“The first season of the show offered life to change opportunities for the contestants. 19-year old Valentine Nekesa won after a grueling season, surprising viewers and fans by rising from the bottom to eliminate her competition by relying on her passion and tenacity to wow the judges,” said Sylvia Mulinge, Director – Consumer Business, Safaricom.

Just like in the first season, the show will see 12 Kenyan entrepreneurs aged between 18 and 25 years compete for a chance to win a grand prize of KES 5 million in a reality TV-style competition that will run for a period of 10 weeks.

“Each contestant will be required to show GRIT. GRIT is our theme this year and an acronym for what we believe, which is that Greatness Requires Internal Toughness. We want to see the contestants get up after falling, and pushing through to the end,” added Ms. Mulinge.

The second season will feature a refreshed format whose aim is to create deeper connections between the audience and their favorite contestants, including a Mega Audition Special, deeper backstories, candid conversations between judges and contestants and new brand partners for each challenge.

Returning as judges will be straight-shooting media and marketing maven Caroline Mutoko, advertising and retail entrepreneur Trushar Khetia and multi-talented rapper and businessman Kennedy Ombima, AKA King Kaka.

Over 43,000 young people below the age of 26 attended the BLAZE BYOB summits in 2017. KES 2.8 million was awarded to 42 youth who presented the best business ideas at the co-creation camps, which along with CSR Fridays were a new feature of the summits and brought together budding entrepreneurs and mentors for intensive two-day boot camps.

At the end of the sessions, youth with the best business ideas walked away with KES 100,000 in cash and KES 10,000 worth of airtime to help kick-start their businesses.

“Following the successful conclusion of the summits, and the overwhelmingly positive response we received from the first season of the BYOB TV Show, we decided to renew our partnership with Standard Group. We believe that this partnership will deliver great value for the brand and allow us to reach our target audience through a mix of channels that is critical to the success of the show,” said Ms. Mulinge.