Talent Index KE is a structured builder community for Kenyan developers building real products. We run cohort programmes, IRL events, and hands-on hackathons where every session ends with something deployed — not just discussed.

Every project in this organisation started as a real problem a Kenyan developer decided to solve. A savings platform for boda boda riders. A certificate issuance system. A crypto-to-M-Pesa payment gateway. A blockchain game. These are not tutorial projects. They are products built by developers who want their code in production.

The active programme is Mini Hack — three cohorts, each one month long, each anchored on Avalanche C-Chain. Payments. Gaming. Agentic AI. Every graduate has a deployed product on Fuji testnet, an Avalanche Academy certification, and a demo video.

Three cohorts. Three tracks. One blockchain.

Status: Active

Build a hybrid payment product that bridges M-Pesa and USDC on Avalanche C-Chain.

What you build: M-Pesa STK Push integrations, USDC payment contracts, hybrid payment backends, merchant dashboards

Tech stack: Solidity, Hardhat, ethers.js, Core Wallet, Daraja API, Ngrok, Node.js, Express

Certifications: Avalanche Fundamentals + Payments module on Builders Hub

Template: minihack-cohort1-template

Status: Upcoming

Build a game or gamified system with NFT assets, on-chain game logic, and token economies on Avalanche.

What you build: NFT in-game assets, ERC-20 reward tokens, on-chain leaderboards, gamified loyalty programmes, Avalanche subnet deployments

Tech stack: Solidity, Hardhat, ethers.js, Core Wallet, OpenZeppelin ERC-721/1155, Pinata IPFS, WebSockets, Node.js

Certifications: Avalanche Gaming + Token Design module on Builders Hub

Prerequisite: Cohort 1 completion or equivalent (Solidity basics, Hardhat, ERC-20 on Fuji)

Template: minihack-cohort2-template

Status: Upcoming

Build autonomous AI agents that reason about on-chain data, trigger transactions, and operate as production-ready systems on Avalanche.

What you build: Claude API tool-calling agents, blockchain-aware wallet advisors, RAG knowledge agents, autonomous USDC payment triggers with human-in-the-loop safety

Tech stack: Anthropic Claude API, Alchemy, The Graph, ethers.js, Chroma vector DB, Core Wallet, Node.js, Hardhat

Certifications: Avalanche AI + Agentic Systems module on Builders Hub

Prerequisite: Cohort 1 completion or equivalent (ethers.js, smart contract deployment, async Node.js)

Template: minihack-cohort3-template

Sessions: Every Tuesday and Thursday at 8:00 PM EAT on Google Meet

Office hours: Thursdays 6:00 PM to 7:00 PM EAT on Discord voice, before the main session

Quest submissions: Plug and Play platform — max 5 quests per week, Sunday midnight EAT deadline

Certifications: Avalanche Academy on Builders Hub — mandatory for every cohort, tracked as a primary KPI

IRL events:

• Night of Code — 19 June 2026, mid-cohort overnight build event
• Builders Connect — last Saturday of each month, Demo Day and graduation, attendance mandatory for certification

When you are accepted into a cohort, you receive an invitation to this organisation. Once you accept:

Step 1 — Fork your cohort template

Go to your cohort template repo and click Use this template or Fork. Fork to your personal GitHub account.

Step 2 — Clone and set up

git clone git@github.com:YOUR-HANDLE/minihack-cohortN-template.git
cd minihack-cohortN-template
npm install
cp .env.example .env
npx hardhat compile

Step 3 — Create your weekly branch

git checkout -b week-{N}-{your-github-handle}

Step 4 — Build and submit

Open a pull request against the main branch of your own fork. Title format:

[Cohort N Week N] Your Name - Deliverable title

Post the PR link in #submissions on Discord before Sunday midnight EAT. Complete all weekly quests on Plug and Play by the same deadline.

Step 5 — Earn your certification

Complete the relevant Avalanche Academy module each week and upload your certificate via Plug and Play. Your Builders Hub account is Quest 1 of every cohort — create it in Week 1.

Fuji testnet AVAX faucet: core.app/tools/testnet-faucet

# Verify Node.js 20 LTS
node --version   # must show v20.x.x

# Verify Git
git --version

# Install Hardhat (inside your project after forking)
npm install --save-dev hardhat

# Install ethers.js
npm install ethers

Also install: VS Code, Postman, Core Wallet browser extension, Ngrok (Cohort 1)

All weekly deliverables are graded on five criteria:

Grade bands: Distinction 90-100% / Merit 75-89% / Pass 60-74% / Incomplete below 60%

Week 4 final project carries 40% of the overall cohort grade. Weeks 1-3 together carry 60%.

Late submissions: Accepted up to 48 hours after the deadline with a 20% penalty. Beyond 48 hours receives zero for that week. Three consecutive zeros results in removal from the cohort without a certificate.

If you are already part of this org and want your project included in programme showcases and the monthly builder recognition:

Tag your repo with relevant topics — avalanche, web3-kenya, fuji-testnet, mini-hack, m-pesa, solidity — so it surfaces in searches and gets picked up by the showcase review.

Post your project in the Builder Spotlight discussion category. The technical lead reviews all submissions monthly.

Read CONTRIBUTING.md for the full guide on structuring your project for review.

Discord and all programme links: team1-kenya-mini-hack.vercel.app

Joseph Njoroge (Scotch) — Technical Lead, Mini Hack Avalanche Technical Ambassador. Co-founder, SynchStack Solutions. Owns the curriculum, session delivery, code reviews, and end-of-cohort reporting.

Lavender — Programme Lead Owns programme strategy, partner relationships, KPI reporting to the Avalanche Foundation, and IRL event logistics.