C A S E S T U D Y · C L I E N T W O R K
Hackhouse Africa
The operating system for Africa's builder communities — from application to workspace, all in one platform.
T H E B R I E F
A founder community running on WhatsApp groups, Google Forms, and spreadsheets needed a real platform.
Hackhouse Africa is a Nairobi-based founder community connecting builders across East Africa. Before reaching out to Mctaba, they managed everything manually — applications through Google Forms, member tracking in spreadsheets, events coordinated in WhatsApp groups, and payments collected via manual M-Pesa transfers with no automated reconciliation.
They needed a single platform that could handle the full member lifecycle: apply, get accepted, pay, access resources, attend events, and connect with other founders. It had to work on mobile, support M-Pesa natively, and be fast enough that members would actually use it instead of falling back to WhatsApp.
W H A T W E B U I L T
Six core modules, one unified platform.
Every module shares the same auth system, design language, and data layer. Members log in once and access everything.
Applications
Online application flow with multi-step forms, document uploads, and automated review pipeline. Applicants track status in real time.
Member directory
Searchable directory with skill tags, cohort badges, and profile cards. Members connect by stack, industry, or location.
Event calendar
Community-wide event system with RSVP, reminders, and attendance tracking. Supports in-person and virtual events.
Resource library
Curated documents, templates, pitch decks, and guides organized by topic. Role-based access for different membership tiers.
Workspace chat
Slack-style real-time messaging with channels, threads, and direct messages. Keeps community conversation off WhatsApp.
M-Pesa payments
Membership fees collected via M-Pesa STK Push. Automated receipts, renewal reminders, and payment status tracking.
T E C H N I C A L D E C I S I O N S
Why we chose this stack.
Next.js for the full platform
Server components for the public site (SEO matters for a community landing page), client components for the dashboard and workspace. One codebase, one deploy, no separate marketing site.
Supabase for auth, database, and realtime
Row-level security policies gate every table by role (applicant, member, admin). Supabase Realtime powers the workspace chat without a separate WebSocket server. Magic link auth means no passwords to manage.
M-Pesa Daraja for payments
STK Push for membership fees — the member taps "Pay", confirms on their phone, and the platform updates in real time via the Daraja callback. No manual reconciliation, no "send screenshot" workflows.
Resend for transactional email
Application confirmations, acceptance notifications, event reminders, and payment receipts. All templated, all branded, all hitting inbox instead of spam.
T I M E L I N E
From brief to production in 4 weeks.
Discovery and architecture
Mapped user flows for applicants, members, and admins. Designed the data model across Supabase tables. Set up auth, RLS policies, and the Next.js project scaffold.
Core platform
Built the public site, application flow, and member directory. Integrated Supabase Auth with magic links and role-based access.
Workspace and events
Shipped the real-time chat workspace with channels and threads. Built the event calendar with RSVP and automated reminders via Resend.
Payments and launch
Integrated M-Pesa Daraja for membership payments. Added the resource library, admin dashboard, and email notifications. Deployed to production.
R E S U L T S
What changed after launch.
3x
Application-to-member
faster onboarding vs. the previous manual Google Forms flow
85%
Community engagement
of members active in the workspace within the first month
< 30s
Payment collection
from tap to confirmed M-Pesa payment via STK Push
~20hrs/mo
Admin time saved
eliminated from manual member management and event coordination
"We went from managing everything in WhatsApp and spreadsheets to having a real platform in less than a month. The M-Pesa integration alone saved us hours every week — no more chasing screenshots or manually tracking who's paid. Our members actually use the workspace now instead of scattering conversations across five different group chats."
Hackhouse Africa
Founding team
Building something similar?
Community platforms, membership systems, M-Pesa integrations — tell us what you need.