About Cichlify

Named after
the cichlid.
Built to adapt.

Product just launched — we're early and we know it

We are a small, deliberate team at the very start of something. Our first product is live. We're learning fast, staying honest, and building for organisations that have something real to achieve.

Our story
001 — Our Name & Spirit

Named after
the cichlid.
Built to
adapt.

Where we are now

Cichlify takes its name from the cichlid — vibrant, tenacious fish known for thriving where others can't. Found across Africa, South America, and South Asia, cichlids have evolved radically to suit thousands of different environments. That resilience and adaptability is at the heart of everything we build.

We are an early-stage startup. Our first product has just launched. We don't have years of client logos to display or a long track record to point to — what we have is a founding team that has worked inside complex, under-resourced organisations and built this product to solve problems we lived through firsthand.

We believe that organisations with purpose deserve software built with the same care and rigour as anything built for the largest corporations. We're here to prove that's possible — starting with one product, shipped honestly.

Work with us
No spin

Here's exactly
where we stand.

What's true
  • One product, recently launched
  • A founding team with deep domain experience
  • Built on real problems, not speculation
  • Small enough that you'll talk to the people who built it
What we're building toward
  • A growing community of early users helping us improve
  • A track record earned one deployment at a time
  • A suite of tools for purpose-driven organisations
  • A company as resilient as the fish we're named after
What we stand for

Four principles.
No exceptions.

01

Genuine investment

We only build things we believe in. Not because we can't handle the work — because great software requires caring about the outcome as much as the people who use it.

02

Radical clarity

We say what we think, including when we disagree with an assumption. Honest guidance early is worth more than polite agreement that sends us in the wrong direction.

03

Built to last

We write code as if we'll maintain it forever. Because whoever inherits the codebase deserves to understand it — and so do the people depending on what we ship.

04

Purpose over novelty

Every technology choice is justified by a problem it solves. We don't reach for the newest tool to impress; we reach for the right one to ship.

The people

Small by choice.
Excellent by
necessity.

Four people who left more comfortable situations because they believed this was worth building. Every person here is working on the problem directly — there is no layer between you and us.

MP
Marvin Phiri
Co-founder & CDAIO

Leads the data and AI vision at Cichlify. Obsessed with building intelligence that is useful, explainable, and genuinely worth deploying.

RT
Raymond Tembo
Co-founder & CTO

Architects the systems that keep Cichlify running reliably. Believes infrastructure should be invisible and unbreakable.

TK
Tikondwe Kawonga
Head of Business Development

Builds the relationships that turn early interest into lasting partnerships. Focused on finding the organisations who need what we are building most.

LS
Lionel Suluma
Software Developer

Turns complex requirements into clean, maintainable code. Has a bias toward shipping things that actually work and look good.

Our brand guidelines

Building with or writing about Cichlify? Download our brand guidelines to ensure you're using our name, mark, and colours correctly.

Download brand guidelines
Early access

Get in early.
Help shape what
we build.

We're actively working with our first users. Your feedback at this stage shapes the product directly — and we mean that literally.

Start a conversation See the product