Kimani Rugendo
- Net worth $28 million
- Status -
- Country Kenya
- Source(-s) of wealth Businessman, Entrepreneur
How much is Kimani Rugendo Worth? Kimani Rugendo Net Worth in 2026
Kimani Rugendo’s net worth is estimated at $28 million as of November 2026. He founded Kevian Kenya, the company behind Afia and Pick ‘N’ Peel juices, which now employs more than 1,400 people. The juice business started in 1995 with Sh25 million from savings and friends; Kevian has since reported or announced about Sh3.3 billion of spending on new plants and seed work, 132 times the starting stake.
| Net worth | $28 million (our estimate, range $15 million to $45 million) |
|---|---|
| Age | In his 70s |
| Country | Kenya |
| Known for | Founder of Kevian Kenya, maker of Afia and Pick ‘N’ Peel juices |
| Main income sources | Kevian Kenya (juices, malt drinks, snacks, potato seed), farmland, Sterling Craft |
How much is Kimani Rugendo worth in 2026?
We estimate $28 million, and this one is a rough estimate: little of the money is documented. Kevian is private and has never published sales or profit. What is on record is how much the company has spent on factories and seed programmes, one development-bank loan, and its size. We build the figure from those, credit the business to him and his wife Helen, who co-founded it, and give a wide range.
How we got to $28 million
| Source | Our estimate | What it rests on |
|---|---|---|
| Kevian Kenya’s plants and projects | $25 million | Reported spending: a Sh2 billion Thika plant opened in 2014, a Sh1 billion expansion announced in 2017 (we assume it was carried out) and Sh300 million on potato seed, Sh3.3 billion in all, or $25.4 million at 129.93 shillings per dollar (November 10, 2026), which we round to $25 million. Our assumption is that brand value and growth offset wear on older plants. |
| Less the German development loan | minus $5 million | A Sh1.3 billion loan from DEG in 2019. Repayments are not published; we assume half, Sh650 million, is still owed. |
| Farmland, Sterling Craft and cash | $8 million | Our assumption for more than 500 acres in Meru, the Sterling Craft regalia business and three decades of savings. No values are published for any of them. |
| Total | $28 million | Rough estimate; rows rounded. |
From bottled water for tourist hotels
Kevian began by selling Mt Kenyan bottled water, mostly to Mombasa beach hotels and a few Nairobi supermarkets, from the early 1990s. In 1995 he raised Sh25 million from savings and friends to move into ready-to-drink juice, and a juice plant in Thika followed in 2005, Kenyans.co.ke reported. By November 2019 the Afia line was filling 40,000 bottles an hour. The same report says he also owns Sterling Craft, which makes berets, medals and ceremonial swords for the police and the military.
The 2014 expansion is the detail that says most about the cash the business throws off. Kevian spent Sh2 billion on a Thika plant for ready-to-drink coffee, malt drinks and tomato juice and paid for it from internal cash flow rather than development lenders, Business Daily reported. Five years later it did borrow: €10 million, reported as Sh1.3 billion, from Germany’s DEG to fund more growth.
A juice company that breeds potatoes
His newest bet is underground. Kevian has spent Sh300 million, about $2.3 million, building tissue-culture labs, greenhouses and trial fields for potato seed, Billionaires.Africa reported in September 2026, citing Business Daily. Its labs turn out about 25,000 plantlets on an ordinary day. He chairs the National Potato Council of Kenya, and the company works with more than 3,500 farmer groups and processes about 200 tonnes of fruit a day.
Kenya’s potato crop is worth over Sh50 billion a year at the farm gate, per the same report. By our math Kevian’s whole seed outlay so far equals 0.6 percent of a single year’s harvest value, which shows how much room the bet has if the seed sells. Under a 2020 deal with the state research body KALRO, Kevian commercialises five potato varieties and agreed to pay the agency 2.5 percent of its annual sales, according to a Business Today report from 2023.
Why other estimates disagree
Most public estimates for him give no basis at all, and the company is often called a multi-billion-shilling business without a sales figure behind the phrase. Any estimate built on revenue is guessing, since Kevian has never published any. Ours uses the money the company has visibly spent, which probably understates a profitable brand leader, and the range reflects that.
What would move the figure
He has floated listing Kevian on the Nairobi Securities Exchange as part of succession planning, with no timeline. A listing or a published set of accounts would replace our cost-based number with a market price, and could move it a long way in either direction. Two of his sons work in the company, so any formal handover of shares would cut his personal portion.
Kimani Rugendo net worth FAQ
What is Kimani Rugendo’s net worth?
About $28 million as of November 2026 by our rough estimate, most of it his and his wife’s ownership of Kevian Kenya.
What company does Kimani Rugendo own?
Kevian Kenya, maker of Afia and Pick ‘N’ Peel juices, malt drinks and snacks, and Sterling Craft, which makes military and police regalia and medals.
How much did Kimani Rugendo invest in potato seed?
Sh300 million, about $2.3 million, spread over more than seven years of building labs, greenhouses and trial sites.
How did Kimani Rugendo start Kevian?
Selling Mt Kenyan bottled water to hotels in the early 1990s, then raising Sh25 million in 1995 to make juice.
Is Kevian listed on the stock exchange?
No. He has raised the idea of a Nairobi listing, but no timeline has been set.
How is his net worth estimated?
From Kevian’s documented spending on plants and seed, less an assumed balance on its 2019 German loan, plus an assumed value for farmland, his regalia business and savings.
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How we estimate net worth
Our estimates are based on public reporting, company valuations, and deal and earnings figures all compiled in an internal valuation model. They are approximate, and figures change over time as new information emerges.
Last updated: November 2026.