Cavendrys (WAM Advocates LLP)

Founding Partners

Catherine Kariuki - Mulika - [email protected]

Janet Othero - [email protected]

Cavendrys WAM Advocates LLP are a specialist law firm focused on Technology, Telecoms, Data, FinTech, Intellectual Property (IP) and Innovation (TDFI) sectors. They advise clients on commercial transactions, infrastructure projects, licensing, compliance, governance and emerging technologies. Their strength lies in integrating commercial execution with regulatory clarity, backed by deep familiarity with the East African digital economy. Many of their matters involve global technology companies, investors and regulated digital businesses entering or scaling in East Africa. They are Kenya’s digital economy law firm, serving the wider East African region.

Cavendrys’ legal services include structuring regulated digital offerings, advising on complex technology transactions, and shaping policy in emerging sectors. What makes them different is their proximity to the ecosystem and the sector regulators. They have contributed to policy discussions, reviewed draft laws, and helped shape East Africa’s regulatory frameworks from the inside out. This gives their clients unmatched context and foresight on emerging issues affecting their operational undertakings.

Beyond their core specialisations, they provide strategic support for the corporate, commercial dispute, and real estate matters that arise in the context of their clients' most critical moments, from market entry and expansion to investment and exit.

FinTech and Digital Financial Services

Cavendrys offers legal support to fintech, banks, digital lenders, money remitters and forex, and payment platforms to navigate licensing, regulatory compliance, product rollout, and investment readiness across East Africa's dynamic financial services sector. They service the full lifecycle of financial technology by advising players and investors on market entry, licensing, financing, lending and secured facilities, enforcement, and dispute resolution management. Their work spans digital credit, payments, platform integration, partnerships, and virtual assets, helping clients structure, scale, and de-risk innovation.

Crypto, Digital Assets, Blockchain & Virtual Asset Regulation

They help digital asset businesses understand Kenya’s VASP regulatory framework by advising on exchanges, custodians, stablecoin issuers, tokenisation projects, and virtual asset platforms on licensing, compliance, data protection, AML requirements, and the operational standards regulators expect. Cavendrys helps foreign players understand how their products interact with mobile money channels, PSP networks, bank settlement systems, telecom infrastructure, and regulatory expectations. Their legal services include licensing applications, partnership structuring, operational readiness, compliance architecture, and cross-border execution, grounded in deep experience across fintech, payments, telecoms, digital infrastructure, and data protection.

Data Protection, Privacy & Cybersecurity

Recognised as a leading advisor in Kenya’s data protection landscape, Cavendrys provides end-to-end support on data privacy compliance. They advise innovation-led and transactional businesses managing sensitive data across digital platforms, teams, and technologies. Their team integrates privacy-by-design, data governance, and cybersecurity enforcement strategies, built on deep knowledge of the Kenyan Data Protection Act and its intersection with commercial law, technology contracts, and global privacy standards like the GDPR. They also help foreign entities localize data frameworks for the Kenyan market and support AI-powered solutions by embedding legal risk management.

Technology Transactions & Commercial Agreements

Cavendrys offers legal support in structuring commercial agreements that power the digital economy, including multi-jurisdictional software licensing, cloud services, tech partnerships and collaboration, and the adoption, white labelling, acquisition, sale, or licensing of traditional tech and AI systems. They support clients with legal advisory across tech M&A, private equity, and commercial structuring against a background of the realities of structuring, negotiating, and closing deals in Kenya’s evolving digital economy. From SaaS platforms and AI tools to Web3 applications and digital finance products, Cavendrys supports in navigating the legal complexity, whether preparing for licensing, localising a global model, or getting investor-ready.

Telecommunications & Digital Infrastructure

Cavendrys supports telecom operators, ISPs, data centre developers, and infrastructure investors with licensing, rollout, commercial contracts, and regulatory strategy. Their guidance helps clients scale networks, access spectrum, and operate with legal clarity in Kenya’s regulated telecoms market.

Intellectual Property and Innovation

Cavendrys helps clients protect, commercialize, and enforce IP, from brand ownership and licensing to due diligence, investor readiness, and infringement claims. They advise on filings (national, ARIPO, WIPO, OAPI) and IP structuring. Cavendrys is home to some of Kenya’s most respected IP experts, whose IP practice goes beyond registration to provide strategic advice, commercial structuring, and enforcement support. They also support startups, scale-ups, and venture funds through every stage from formation and fundraising to growth, M&A, and exit.

Real Estate, Infrastructure & Financing for the Digital Economy

They provide legal support for the acquisition, development, structuring, and financing of real estate and infrastructure assets that enable digital and economic transformation. From land and commercial space to smart housing, last-mile logistics, and industrial sites, they work on projects where physical infrastructure and innovation intersect. Their deal list spans deal structuring, joint ventures, financing documentation, and land approvals, with a focus on regulatory alignment, risk allocation, and enabling project delivery.

Cross-Cutting Legal Services

While they focus on high-growth sectors like fintech, telecoms, tech, data, and innovation, Cavendrys also offers a wide range of complementary legal services to support business operations, growth, and compliance journey. Cavendrys' supporting services include Dispute Resolution & Enforcement Strategy, Employment Law & Governance for Digital Teams, Consumer Protection & Platform Market Compliance, Competition Law & Merger Control

Cavendrys supports various multinationals with their multiple country compliance obligations in addition to leveraging its international affiliates to deliver bespoke services to its clients operating across multiple jurisdictions. They offer a full suite of services relevant to cross-jurisdictional and cross-border business needs — from regulatory approvals and compliance audits, to M&A, investment structuring, data protection, and IP — all of which are critical where businesses operate across multiple countries. Some of the transactions they have been involved in include:

Credentials

• Advising the largest short-term stay platform provider on various regulatory implications on its operations from a national and regional perspective that include data privacy and tax procedures, together with its affiliate law firms in the various jurisdictions.
• Supports one of the world’s largest taxi-hailing platform providers on various data privacy issues arising in its local jurisdiction as well as its international framework, and how they both align with national legislation and global best practices.
• Advised, a UK-based professional association, on the implications of registering its intellectual property rights across various jurisdictions within the African region.
• Advised a leading technology infrastructure company on a 100% share transfer within a group restructuring.
• Negotiated and structured fintech vendor contracts for a major pan-African bank, enabling seamless integration of digital banking solutions.
• Advised a digital lending platform on market entry and licensing as a Digital Credit Provider, handling regulatory approvals, operational structuring, and full compliance documentation.
• Led a multi-jurisdictional IP protection strategy for a financial institution expanding across nine African countries.
• Advised a telecom infrastructure company on contracting, advertising compliance, and employment structuring.
• Provided regulatory counsel to a global online marketplace on data protection and licensing engagement with Kenyan regulators.
• Advised a global education provider on data breach response, regulatory engagement, and risk mitigation strategies.
• Conducted data protection advisory, regulatory audit support, and compliance drafting for a leading global fintech, ensuring adherence to Kenyan privacy regulations.

Cavendrys is not your typical law firm.They are built for East Africa’s digital future, where innovation moves fast, regulation is evolving, and legal advice must do more than just check boxes.Based in Nairobi, Kenya, they specialize in law for the Technology, Telecoms, Data Protection & Privacy, FinTech, Intellectual Property, and Innovation (TDFI) sectors.

Location: 3rd Floor Upper Level, Kalamu House Grevillea Groove, off Brookside

P.O.Box 52623-00100

Nairobi, Kenya

Email: [email protected]