In 1999 Rob Van Hoek who was selling IBM computers decided to form a partnership with Mike Macharia, also a young entrepreneur selling Compaq computers. This led to the formation of Seven Seas Technologies in 2000, a firm that saw the two venture into

IT services. Then, Mike Macharia was just 26 years old when he became CEO, and the firm success was pegged on the ambition of the two.

Getting financial support then for a firm with no assets or no income statements was almost an impossibility. Macharia says that the first bank to support the young firm was the Banque Commerciale du Rwanda (Commercial Bank of Rwanda). Rwanda, alongside Kenya, was also the first market for the upcoming software services firm.

13 years later, Seven Seas Technology Group now consists of five firms: Bring, a business applications and consulting firm; Hakken, which does IT and service management; Intelligent Infrastructure which focuses on ICT infrastructure; the Knowledge Transfer Center focused on executive ICT and business corporate training; and Twenty Third Century Systems which does SAP implementations and consulting and was was acquired in Zimbabwe for a majority stake.

Shareholders include founders Macharia and Rob, Abraaj Group and the estate of the late James Gachui.

In 13 years, Seven Seas has expanded the firm's presence to Zambia, Zimbabwe, Angola, Mozambique, Ghana, Nigeria, Ethiopia and Burundi in addition to Kenya and Rwanda. There are over 150 employees spread over the 10 countries, with significant business coming in from West Africa.

While many in Kenya see Nigeria as a treacherous market, Macharia feels at home there. With the big dreams that Nigerian executives have, they are able to well understand Macharia who is also known as a big dreamer ever since he founded Seven Seas.

On Thursday evening, the group unveiled its new KSh. 310 million, four floor, global headquarters, which it has occupied for just two weeks. The group is the first tenant at Delta Riverside, snapping up one of the four blocks at the address. The physical location is five minutes from the Central Business District, along the busy Riverside Drive business district which also hosts a number of banks. A number of IT firms including SAP and Intel are also located down the road at 14 Riverside Drive. A new dual carriage highway linking Riverside Drive to Westlands offers an alternative to the narrow single carriage Riverside Drive notorious for slow moving traffic.