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About Us
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About Black Shepherd Technologies
We don't
follow trends.
We set them.
Born in Nairobi in 2019, Black Shepherd Technologies is the studio that refuses to build ordinary stores. We are strategists, designers, engineers, and obsessive detail people — united by one belief: a great e-commerce store should be impossible to leave without buying.
2019
Founded in Nairobi
150+
Stores Launched
18
Team Members
4×
Avg Revenue Lift
Westlands, Nairobi
Kenya · East Africa
01
Our Story
Origin
Built from frustration.
Driven by purpose.
It started with a problem our founder Brian G Kayen Bikuri kept seeing: Kenyan businesses with extraordinary products were losing customers because their online stores were slow, confusing, or simply broken on mobile. International agencies didn't understand the local market. Local developers didn't prioritize design.
Black Shepherd Technologies was the answer. A Nairobi-native studio that combines world-class design thinking with deep knowledge of how Kenyans actually shop online — their devices, their data speeds, their payment preferences, their trust signals.
Six years later, we've designed over 150 stores across Kenya — from solo artisans in Kamukunji to enterprise brands in Westlands — and every single one was built with the same obsessive attention to craft and conversion that defined Day One.
Milestones
2019
Founded in Nairobi
Brian G Kayen Bikuri launches BST from a co-working space in Kilimani with a 3-person team and a clear mission: build stores that actually convert.
2020
First Major Enterprise Client
Signed our first enterprise e-commerce contract with a major Kenyan retail chain. Revenue 10× in 12 months. The team grows to 7.
2021
M-Pesa Integration Framework
Built our proprietary Daraja API integration framework, enabling seamless M-Pesa checkout across all platforms — now standard in every BST project.
2022
100th Store Milestone
Celebrated launching our 100th e-commerce store. Expanded the team to 14 designers and developers across Nairobi.
2024
Regional Expansion
Extended services to Uganda, Tanzania, and Rwanda. Recognized as East Africa's leading e-commerce design studio.
2025
150+ Stores, 18-Person Studio
Growing stronger. New AI-powered product photography and performance analytics services launching this year.
02
Mission & Values
What We Stand For
The principles that guide
every single decision.
Our Mission
Conversion Above All
We measure success in revenue generated, not pixels pushed. Every design decision traces back to one question: does this make someone more likely to buy?
01
Our Context
Africa-First Design
We don't import Western UX patterns blindly. We design for the actual devices, data speeds, payment methods, and cultural contexts of our market.
02
Our Standard
No Shortcuts, Ever
Templates are for people without ideas. Every BST store is designed from scratch for your brand, your audience, and your market — full stop.
03
Our Promise
Partnership, Not Projects
We're not hired guns. We embed ourselves in your business, understand your goals, and build stores we'd be proud to own ourselves.
04
Our Priority
Mobile is The Market
85%+ of Kenyan shoppers buy on mobile. Every store we build is mobile-first by default — not a responsive afterthought, but the primary experience.
05
Our Belief
Data Validates Instinct
Gut feel starts the conversation. Data ends it. We A/B test, analyse heat maps, and iterate until the numbers confirm what the design promised.
06
03
The Team
The People
18 obsessives.
One shared mission.
Our team blends Kenyan market expertise with global design craft — from former Google designers to Safaricom API veterans. Every hire is held to one standard: are they genuinely the best at what they do?
BK
Brian G Kayen Bikuri
Founder & CEO
Former software engineer turned product strategist. Built BST from 3 people to 18. Obsessed with the intersection of design and business outcomes.
Strategy
CRO
Product
LinkedIn ↗
AO
Amara Odhiambo
Head of Design
Ex-Andela design lead. 8 years crafting digital experiences. Believes every pixel is a decision and every decision has a business consequence.
Figma
UX
Branding
LinkedIn ↗
JM
James Mutua
Lead Developer
Shopify Partner Developer since 2017. Built the BST M-Pesa integration framework. Speaks Liquid, React, and PHP fluently.
Shopify
React
M-Pesa API
GitHub ↗
VA
Verah Abongo
Growth Strategist
Former digital marketing lead at a top Nairobi agency. Now engineers the traffic and conversion strategies that make BST stores unstoppable.
SEO
Google Ads
Analytics
LinkedIn ↗
150+
Stores Launched
6yrs
In the Market
18
Team Members
4×
Avg Revenue Lift
98%
Client Retention
04
Culture & Studio Life
Westlands Studio · Nairobi
Design Reviews
Sprint Sessions
Launch Day
How We Work
A studio built on
craft and candour.
We have no account managers who relay messages. You work directly with the people building your store. We debate ideas, push back on briefs, and celebrate launches together.
Radical Transparency
Weekly progress demos, honest timelines, and zero surprise invoices. You always know exactly where your project stands.
Always Learning
The Kenyan digital market evolves fast. Every team member has a learning budget and mandatory monthly upskill sessions.
Ownership Mentality
Every team member treats client stores as if they were their own business. We celebrate client wins as team wins.
Proudly Kenyan
We hire local, train local, and invest in Kenya's tech ecosystem. 100% of our team are Kenyan-based professionals.
05
Our Tech Stack
Technologies
The tools of our craft.
We don't use tools for the sake of trendy. Every technology in our stack was chosen because it consistently delivers better outcomes for our clients.
Platforms
Shopify & Shopify Plus
WooCommerce
WordPress
Custom PHP / Laravel
Headless Commerce
Design
Figma (UI/UX)
Adobe Creative Suite
Framer (Prototyping)
Hotjar (Heatmaps)
Lottie (Animations)
Development
React / Next.js
Node.js
Safaricom Daraja API
Stripe / Flutterwave
AWS / Vercel
Growth
Google Analytics 4
Google Search Console
Meta Ads Manager
Semrush / Ahrefs
Klaviyo (Email)
Project Mgmt
Notion (Documentation)
Linear (Sprints)
Slack (Communication)
Loom (Client Updates)
Quality
BrowserStack (Testing)
Lighthouse (Performance)
PageSpeed Insights
Optimizely (A/B Tests)
Work With Us
Ready to build
something extraordinary?
We take on a limited number of new clients each quarter. Tell us about your business and let's see if we're the right fit to build your next store.