#19
KAMAL BUDHABHATTI – GROUP CEO CRAFT SILICON & LITTLE
Kamal Budhabhatti is a visionary technopreneur leading Africa’s digital revolution. As Founder and Group CEO of Craft Silicon, a global fintech leader, and CEO of Little, Africa’s first homegrown Super App, Kamal continues to build platforms that empower lives and businesses.
Craft Silicon serves over 300 financial institutions across more than 45 countries, offering cutting-edge solutions in core banking, digital lending, agency banking, and financial inclusion. With tech hubs in India and the U.S., Kamal has steered the company toward cloud-native, AI-driven platforms designed for speed and scalability.
In 2016, Kamal launched Little, a Super App integrating mobility, payments, deliveries, and enterprise tools. Today, Little serves over 6.1 million individual users and 11,000 corporates, expanding across East, West, and Francophone Africa.
Guided by his belief that “Speed is the New Gold,” Kamal has led the launch of several transformative innovations:
• Spotit – Instant BNPL credit within mobile banking apps
• SmallTalk – A smart, on-premise AI assistant for contextual enterprise support
• MySalary App – Real-time salary access integrated with HRMS
• TouristTap – A national tourism platform enabling seamless travel and payments for tourists.
He also leads Blubeetle.ai, Craft Silicon’s AI/ML division, focused on intelligent systems for finance, mobility, and automated customer support.
A hands-on leader, Kamal still codes in C# and Java, mentors teams, and remains actively involved in product development.
Outside of work, Kamal is an avid reader and an adventure enthusiast. He is a recipient of the Africa Award for Entrepreneurship and Honours from the ICT Authority of Kenya.
Kamal is known for driving fast, people-centric innovation. “Associates are the assets of Craft Silicon and Little. With their commitment, even the impossible becomes possible. In a region once considered peripheral to the global tech conversation, Kamal has quietly but powerfully redefined the narrative. He is often known as the “Little CEO” — a nod to the ride-hailing app that has made waves across East Africa.
Kamal’s contribution to sub-Saharan Africa’s technological advancement is anything but small. From modest beginnings to a tech powerhouse, his journey is a story of determination.
Originally from India, he moved to Kenya with a dream and a handful of code. His initial foray into the tech space began with freelance software development, but his ambitions quickly expanded. In 2000, he founded Craft Silicon, a software firm that would grow into a multi-million-dollar enterprise with a presence in over 40 countries.
Craft Silicon began by providing core banking solutions to microfinance institutions and banks across Africa. At a time when most tech solutions were imported, often at exorbitant costs, Kamal provided local alternatives that were not only affordable but tailored to the unique needs of African financial institutions. Through Craft Silicon, Kamal helped revolutionize how banks and MFIs operate, enabling greater financial inclusion by digitizing services in hard-to-reach communities across East Africa.
His Little Ride soon became sub-Sahara Africa’s answer to Uber. Kamal didn’t stop with banking. As global tech giants expanded their footprint in sub-Sahara Africa, Kamal saw the need for homegrown platforms that understood the nuances of the African market.
In 2016, he launched Little, a ride-hailing app designed with the African commuter in mind. Unlike its international counterparts, Little Ride offered a suite of unique features:
• Cash payments to cater to largely unbanked populations
• Free Wi-Fi in cars powered by Safaricom
• Female drivers for female passengers, enhancing safety
• Corporate transport management tools
• Electric vehicle integration in partnership with various clean-energy startups.
More than just a taxi app, Little evolved into a super app – offering food delivery, payments, healthcare access, and more. Today, Little operates in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia, and has expanded operations into Zambia and Ghana, with plans to further scale across West and Southern Africa.
Kamal’s strategy is clear: grow smartly, understand local needs, and build tech that works for the people – not the other way around.
Being a champion of local innovation sets Kamal apart. He is not just a technical genius – he has a passion and commitment to empowering local talent.
Craft Silicon’s Nairobi-based headquarters houses one of the most advanced tech campuses in the region, complete with modern R&D labs and training facilities. Through the Craft Silicon Foundation, Kamal runs digital literacy programs targeting underserved youth, particularly girls, in slums and rural areas.
Thousands have benefited from these free courses in computer literacy, programming, and entrepreneurship. Kamal has received several accolades for his work:
• Named one of Forbes’ Top 20 Men in Africa to Watch
• Featured in CNN African Voices
• Recipient of numerous innovation and entrepreneurship awards across the continent
His greatest reward is the visible transformation of tech in East Africa – a sector that now boasts thousands of startups, innovation hubs, and increasing global investment.
Looking ahead, Kamal continues to chart new territory. From EV-based ride-hailing to AI-driven financial products, his companies are constantly iterating to stay ahead of the curve. His vision is to make African tech not just competitive—but world-class. As Africa’s digital economy continues to expand, the role of visionaries like Kamal Budhabhatti becomes even more critical. He represents the possibility of African solutions for African problems, and a future where the continent doesn’t just consume technology—but creates it, innovates it, and exports it.
Kamal Budhabhatti may be known as the “Little CEO,” but his impact looms large. Through Craft Silicon and Little Ride, he has proven that sub-Sahara Africa doesn’t need to wait for Silicon Valley to deliver solutions—it can build its own. In celebrating his passionate achievements in this issue, the magazine celebrates the boundless potential of sub-Sahara African high tech innovations.
