Economic Growth Rwanda Project #15320

Accelerate young Rwandan entrepreneurs

by African Entrepreneur Collective

Project Report | Jul 27, 2015
Catalyzing Rwandan tech entrepreneurs

By Julienne Oyler | Executive Director

In December 2014, African Entrepreneur Collective launched a program to support young tech entrepreneurs in Rwanda. Our goal was to support 17 tech specific entrepreneurs by enrolling them in our accelerator program, offering capacity building support, direct investments, and technology support so that they could grow their businesses and create jobs.

Six months into the program, we have achieved exciting results.

1) Target: Recruit 17 tech entrepreneurs into our 1 year program

1) Success to date: To date, we have recruited the following 8 high achieving tech entrepreneurs:

a mobile app store for Rwanda-specific apps and content in partnership with a large mobile network operator
a pan-African directory for African businesses to facilitate better trade with other African businesses (founder recently named one of Forbes Africa 30 under 30)
an inventory management software company
a platform for creative freelancers
an “uber”-like app for moto taxis focused on improving motorcycle safety in Rwanda (recent winner of Pivot East)
a mobile bus ticketing application
a mobile money transfer business
a school management software company

We are currently finishing a nation-wide business plan competition for university students. We expect to bring on an additional 7 tech startups in August through this competition.

2) Target: Foster a culture of testing and innovation for the larger startup community

2) Success to date: We have hosted a series of design thinking and human-centered design workshops. In total, 433 young entrepreneurs have participated.

3) Target: We will put 100 hours of curriculum online and share with partners

3) Success to date: We have developed 50 hours of modules and are finalizing the video production to put online.

4) Target: We will disburse ~16,000 euro in direct financing to entrepreneurs

4) Success to date: We have made the following direct financing disbursements

- 3,500 euro for Sawanet product improvement

Intended Impact: Sawanet.com is an SMS aggregator making it easy for innovators developing SMS based application to easily set up SMS services and integrate them with their applications. The improvements on Sawanet will make it possible for developers to electronically reserve short codes and get them automatically active on all Telecom operators.

- 4,500 euro for Esaja.com to launch their business in Rwanda

- 4,500 euro for Asuqu.com to launch their business in Rwanda

5) Target: to build a testing lab

5) Success to date: We have spent 3,500 euro to establish a protyping lab at kLab, a partner tech hub for idea stage entrepreneurs

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