Cultural promotion app to represent Rwanda in regional startups competition

PIVOT East, an innovative startups competition aimed at nurturing ICT talent in East Africa, has unveiled semi-finalists for this year’s competition. The call for applications was made in February 2014 with startups from Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Ethiopia applying online. To reach the best startups in the region, PIVOT East partnered with the tech hubs across the region to take part in the 2014 edition of the competition. The hubs included: kLab (Rwanda), Outbox (Uganda), Hive Colab (Uganda), Kinu (Tanzania), Buni (Tanzania), iceaddis (Ethiopia), iBiz Africa (Kenya) and C4DLab (Kenya). The selection criterion was made public prior to the submission deadline. It was set by a panel of 15 experts on startups drawn from across the region. This culminated in the top 10 startups in five categories being determined. From Rwanda, Jifunza carried Rwanda’s flag high in the Entertainment category, mainly dominated by Kenyan mobile apps. This mobile app builds digital experiences and games to expose the beauty, diversity and culture of Africa to the world to change negative stereotypes about the continent. Yves Niyonshuti, the developer of the application, says the rapid loss of culture motivated him to create the application. “With this application, teachers and parents can share cultural values with the coming generations,” he said. Niyonshuti, who is excited to be among the finalists, is polishing up on the application and says it will be ready by the end of the month. The semifinalists, totaling 50, will be competing to be on the list of 25 exceptional mobile startups set to fight for market recognition and investor interest during the finals conference on June 24 - 25. The panel for selection of the final top 25 consists of over 15 active investors among them venture capital firms, angel investors and impact investors. About 75 mobile startups from across East Africa have participated as finalists of past PIVOT East editions. About 20 per cent of them have cumulatively raised over $4.7million in funding after their participation in the competition.

National

Cultural promotion app to represent Rwanda in regional startups competition