Kosmotive: Venture Impact Story
Blandine Umuziranenge didn’t start Kosmotive because she wanted to run a business. She started it because of a number she still can’t shake
“Did you know that 2 million girls miss school or work because they can’t afford pads?” For her, that wasn’t a statistic. It was a daily injustice. Kosmotive grew from that urgency – reusable pads that last two years, health education, and a belief that periods shouldn’t cost anyone their dignity or their future. But turning that belief into a functioning venture took more than determination. It took guidance. Pressure.
The kind of support that asks hard questions and sits with you through the uncomfortable parts.
That’s where Impact Hub Kigali came in.
Blandine remembers it clearly: “Someone was taking time to understand our business.” Not just the products, but the decisions, the blind spots, the choices she knew she needed to make but hadn’t made yet.
Through KosmoPads – reusable pads that last two years and save girls and women up to 88 percent of what they would spend on disposables – and the KosmoHealth app, Kosmotive provides dignity and practical tools to young girls and women from underprivileged communities across Rwanda and the region. It’s more than affordability. It’s behavior change.
“The women in our production and distribution come to see their period as a source of light and power,” Blandine explains. And the push for circular design goes beyond reducing waste; it challenges the stigma around what it means to simply be a young girl moving through her monthly cycle.
Impact Hub Kigali’s support followed Kosmotive through different stages of growth.
During the Circular Economy Program, Blandine remembers being pushed to think differently. “We thought our pads lasting two years was enough. Then we learned to think about afterlife.”
That shift led them to redesign materials, remove labels entirely, and rethink how circularity could guide their decisions. Then came develoPPP Ventures. It was the first time she applied for a major program and received support during the application itself. “Most programmes, you feel alone until you make it,” she says. “But with this one, there was always someone walking with us, even when the financial model felt really hard.”
That experience built clarity, confidence, and credibility – not just for Kosmotive, but for other entrepreneurs watching her succeed. “People started approaching me from different countries, asking how to apply. They saw someone who looks like them make it.”
Impact Hub Kigali’s experts also worked with her to shape Kosmotive’s regional expansion strategy. That groundwork now anchors their next chapter: a flexible payment model developed through the EPR project. “We’re hoping that every girl, every woman across Eastern and Central Africa can access products in a way that is affordable to them,” Blandine says.
Whether through small installments or flexible options, the goal is clear. “No girl should stay home because she’s waiting for a pad she can’t afford.” This is the kind of support that matters: consistent, contextual, and transformative.
The kind that doesn’t center the program. It centers the progress.
2025, Captured in Full
A focused look at what Impact Hub Kigali delivered in 2025 — the programs we ran, the ventures we supported, and the results we tracked across the year.
