Nairobi, May 6 -- Godrick Mali Luta did not set out to be an entrepreneur. He began by cooking in people's homes, a skill sharpened in childhood when his mother insisted her sons prepare their own meals.

"I had moments in my childhood that could point to how I ended up here," he says, recalling how growing up in a house full of boys, his mother would have them cook for themselves. "And then, whenever we travelled from Western Kenya to Nairobi, we would prepare maandazi and chapati to eat on the road to cut costs."

Still, he insists, that is not where his love for cooking began. Instead, it came later, almost by chance.

"I mentioned once while in high school that I would like to be a chef someday and my family members started throwing a...