AyaHQ, a platform designed to support African startup founders, has closed its physical residency facility in Kilifi, Kenya. According to TechCabal, the 40-bed center ceased operations in October 2026 after nearly two years of running out of funding. The closure leaves Accra, Ghana, as the company’s only remaining physical location, which will now operate as a flexible working hub rather than a fixed-cohort program.
Founded in 2020 by Eric Annan, Pishikeni Tukura, and Dennis Ukonu, AyaHQ has shifted its business model multiple times. The company began as Aya.cash, a stablecoin payment platform for remote workers, before pivoting to a remote-jobs marketplace called Aya Gigs in 2022. Annan stated that the job marketplace revealed a gap in workplace communication skills among African talent, prompting a shift toward training and founder support. The company eventually launched a physical residency program in Accra in May 2023, followed by the Kilifi location in January 2025.
The Kilifi residency was designed to bring builders together for up to six weeks. Across its two locations, AyaHQ reports running six formal cohorts that engaged 250 founders across more than 80 startups. The company also distributed over $500,000 in grants through a partnership with the blockchain company Lisk. However, Lisk exited the market in September 2026, removing a major source of financial support. Annan told TechCabal that the model itself was successful, but the company could not secure the necessary institutional backing to keep it running.
Annan emphasized that the shutdown was not a failure of the concept but a failure of funding. He argued that physical residencies require consistent backing from institutions or governments mandated to support youth employment and innovation. "We closed Kilifi in October 2026. Funding ran out, and we could not secure what it took to keep it running," Annan said. He noted that while the company engaged over 1,700 participants from more than 20 countries, most supporters of their vision were not African entities.
The Accra facility remains open, hosting collaborative building, coworking, and mentorship activities. Annan outlined three potential paths for AyaHQ’s future: securing patient capital, operating as a philanthropic social enterprise, or deepening work with ministries of digital economies across the continent. He stressed that African ecosystems must invest in their own founder development rather than relying on external organizations.