Fork Nairobi '26
A 90-day residency for open-source builders. Five people, one cohort, at Makerspace Nairobi.
The best open-source is underfunded
The best open-source work happens on stolen time—nights, weekends, unpaid maintenance between day jobs. For-profit capital won't touch projects without a clear moat, so critical infrastructure, protocols, and tools get built by exhausted maintainers for free, then absorbed or forgotten.
Fork is ninety days where that isn't the case. A small cohort in residence at Makerspace Nairobi, with the resources to focus on the work.
Six things, covered
- 01A stipend for the full 90 days.
- 02Dedicated workspace at Makerspace Nairobi. 24/7 access, with use of the full hardware workshop.
- 03Weekly mentorship from a Cr4fts partner, plus introductions across the Cr4fts network.
- 04Compute and infrastructure credits for the duration of the residency.
- 05Demo day at the end of 90 days, with funders, collaborators, and the Cr4fts network.
- 06Potential for direct funding from Cr4fts for standout projects that emerge from Fork.
Builders, not tourists
- 01Maintainers or primary builders of meaningful open-source projects, or people about to start one.
- 02OSI-approved license. Permissive or copyleft, doesn't matter.
- 03Any stack: software, hardware, firmware, protocols, developer tooling, scientific instruments, research.
- 04Able to be in Nairobi full-time for the 90 days. This is not a remote residency.
2026
- 01Applications: open now, close 30 May 2026.
- 02Review and interviews: June 2026.
- 03Cohort announced: late June 2026.
- 04In residence: 90 days, starting summer 2026.
- 05Demo day: final week of residency.
No standups, no founder theater
No prescribed daily structure. You show up, you build, you ship the thing you committed to in your application.
Your Cr4fts mentor checks in weekly. Your cohort peers are there to bounce ideas off. The full Makerspace workshop is there when you need to prototype hardware. Beyond that, the ninety days are yours.
Makerspace Nairobi
Right Wing, 9 Kiambere Rd, Nairobi, Kenya. A working hardware and software studio: 3D printers, laser cutter, electronics bench, quiet rooms for calls, daily lunch, espresso. Events and talks from the broader Cr4fts network.
Get directionsTell us what you’re building
We read every application. After 30 May, we spend a couple of weeks reading them properly. If we’d like to talk further, we’ll reach out to schedule a conversation in June. Either way, we’ll write back.