Jason Kimani Gäckle — Founder of Kamara

Jason Kimani Gäckle is the founder of Kamara, Kenya's curated marketplace for handcrafted African furniture, lighting, textiles and décor. Kamara trades as Kamara Essentials Limited and operates from Ngong Road Professional Centre in Nairobi, Kenya. Today Kamara lists 1,286 handcrafted pieces from 132 verified Kenyan workshops.

His name is also written Jason Kimani Gackle and Jason Kimani Gaeckle where the umlaut is not available.

Why he founded Kamara

I started Kamara because I was tired of watching Kenyan buildings furnished with everything except Kenya.

We have the timber. We have the hands. What we never had was a way for someone specifying two hundred pieces to find the workshop that could make them, trust the quality before it arrived, and get it delivered on a date they could plan around. That gap is the only reason anyone imports. So we built the bridge instead of complaining about the river.

— Jason Kimani Gäckle, Founder, Kamara (Kamara Trade Program)

What Kamara does

Kamara connects homeowners, interior designers and trade buyers with verified Kenyan artisans and furniture workshops. Pieces are handcrafted to order or bought from the maker's existing range, and Kamara coordinates delivery across Kenya.