Pitching Uruziga: first place, and where the prize went

On 20 March 2023 I stood up at the finals of the Youth Innovation Challenge at RP Tumba College and pitched Uruziga as team leader, with UWAYEZU Jean Felix beside me.

Then we waited for the results.

The mentorship behind the pitch

We didn't get to that stage alone. Through the business incubation programme we were guided by TUYIHIMBAZE Serge of Leaper Labs (through 4DSMETRICS), ISHIMWE NKUSI Claudine, the business incubation specialist at RP Tumba College, and BIZIMANA Hubert, who mentored alongside her. RP Tumba College and Expertise France (AFD) supported the programme.

The mentorship pushed us beyond features. Who pays? Why would they pay? What does it cost to keep the system running? Those questions changed how we pitched.

The result

That month, we learned that Uruziga had won first place, with 3,000,000 Frw in awards.

Four months after third place at the TVET Youth Challenge, it was the result we had been working towards since March 2022.

Where the money went

We put the prize into the company. It covered hosting infrastructure and the expansion of the services we offered through HDEV TECH.

That decision turned a one-time win into something lasting for the company.

What I took from it

Mentors change the questions you ask. We arrived thinking about what Uruziga did. We left thinking about customers, costs and sustainability.

Leading a pitch is leading a team. As team leader, my job on stage was to represent the work of everyone who built it, not only my own part.

Reinvest the first money. A prize can be spent once, or it can become infrastructure. Putting it into the company was the best financial decision we made that year.