A Journey of Innovation and Impact
2025 marked a milestone year for Impact Hub Kigali as we proudly celebrated 10 years of strengthening Rwanda’s innovation ecosystem.
This report specifically focuses on the achievements and impact realized in 2025, reflecting our commitment to driving sustainable, inclusive entrepreneurship in Rwanda and beyond
Building impact that lasts
Message from
Leadership
Impact is not a headline. It is the cumulative result of consistent choices made by entrepreneurs who decide to keep building meaningful solutions in uncertain and fast-changing contexts.
In 2025, Impact Hub Kigali celebrates ten years of supporting entrepreneurs and strengthening businesses beyond the early stages. Through our tailored programs, we have helped founders sharpen their models, make better strategic decisions, and access capital with intention.
Our work has been defined by selectivity, proximity to ventures, and partnerships designed to translate ambition into action.With some distance, 2025 reads as a year of alignment rather than difficulty. We refined how we support founders to build and scale with greater precision, while working closely with partners and investors to ensure capital is more deliberate and anchored in long-term value creation.
This convergence strengthens the ecosystem in tangible ways and enables the ventures we support to move forward with greater confidence and purpose.
None of this happens without the people and partners who make the work possible.
Behind each program and milestone is the Impact Hub Kigali team, alongside a trusted pool of experts who challenge assumptions, bring practical insight, and stay closely engaged with founders through complex moments.
Their discipline, passion, and commitment to quality are what turn support into real progress. Together with partners who trust us, we are able to deepen our programs and contribute to meaningful progress across the country and the region.The outcomes captured in this report reflect that shared effort.
They signal an ecosystem that continues to mature, one shaped by collaboration and long-term thinking.
While the work ahead will require even more focus and collective action, the direction remains clear: supporting ventures to build resilient models, operate in real markets, and create impact that lasts.
Thank you for shaping this journey with us, and we invite you to continue building impact — together!
Alejandro Jiménez, Managing Director
A decade of building systems that support innovation — at scale.
Over the past ten years, Impact Hub Kigali has evolved from a community space into a platform for tailored acceleration support, ecosystem building, and long-term collaboration. Our work has focused on supporting entrepreneurs with the structures, partnerships, and resources needed to grow sustainable ventures.
Here are key numbers that reflect ten years of steady work.
Innovation & acceleration programmes delivered*
Ventures supported across Rwanda and the region*
Funding facilitated to support venture growth*
Strategic partners engaged across the ecosystem*
2025 at a Glance
In 2025, our efforts translated into measurable progress toward more sustainable and inclusive entrepreneurship. This report captures that impact.
Programs delivered
Innovation and acceleration programs support ventures across Rwanda and the region.
Ventures Supported
Innovative startups and ventures participating in our 2025 programs.
Funding Facilitated
Funding channelled through our 2025 programs.
Partners
Partners powering our work in 2025.
Hours of Coaching & Technical Assistance
1:1 expert advisory, mentorship and tailored technical support provided.
People Reached
Users reached through supported ventures in 2025.
Women-Led Ventures
Teams led by female founders.
Workshops & Masterclasses.
Expert led sessions delivered as part of our programs.
Ecosystem Initiatives
Activities and community events strengthening Rwanda’s entrepreneurship landscape.
We’ve partnered with leading organizations including
We’ve partnered with leading organizations including
Our innovation programs provide tailored acceleration support
that help ventures refine their innovations and grow sustainably. Here are a few programs that shaped our work in 2025.
Kura Na AgTech Accelerator Programme
Kura Na AgTech, led by Swisscontact in partnership with Impact Hub Kigali, is a 4-month acceleration program that empowers Rwanda’s promising agritech startups to scale solutions that improve smallholder farmer livelihoods, boost food security, and strengthen agri-food systems.
Startups Supported
High-potential startups accelerated to scale farmer-focused innovations.
Funding Facilitated. Capital unlocked to test, grow, and move to market.
AgriTech4Rwanda Innovation Challenge
The AgriTech4Rwanda Innovation Challenge, powered by the Rwanda Green Fund through Ireme Invest, in collaboration with the CGIAR Hub for Sustainable Finance (ImpactSF), the CGIAR Accelerate for Impact Platform (A4IP), and Impact Hub Kigali with funding from the Gates Foundation, is a groundbreaking initiative designed to enhance climate resilience in Rwanda’s agricultural sector.
Ventures Supported
Climate-smart agri-tech ventures identified and backed to strengthen sector resilience.
Recoverable Grants
Capital committed to pilot and scale solutions.
develoPPP Ventures Programme
develoPPP Ventures in Rwanda, an initiative of DEG Impulse, in partnership with VC4A and Impact Hub Kigali, supports start-ups with innovative business models that substantially enhance living standards in emerging markets. Through a matching funds model, it offers EUR 100,000 non-dilutive funding paired with technical assistance to assist in the scaling of operations and prepare for future fundraising rounds.
Ventures Supported (2 Cohorts)
Startups accelerated toward scalable growth in 2025.
Funding Committed
Combined funding committed across the two cohorts in 2025.
Generation Africa Fellowship Programme
New Roots is a collaboration between Impact Hub and GoDaddy’s Empower programme, an initiative that nurtures entrepreneurs from Black, Asian, minority ethnic backgrounds, and women. Offering tailored guidance, it promotes equitable entrepreneurship and sustainable growth.
Ventures Supported( 15 Countries)
Youth-led agribusinesses strengthened across the continent.
Users / Beneficiaries Reached
End users impacted through fellows’ solutions.
Facilitation & Consulting
2025 Facilitation Highlights >>>
We partner with organizations to co-design solutions, guide collaborative processes, and deliver facilitation that moves projects forward.
Sustainable Leadership for a New Generation of African Innovators
AGYLE Alumni Meet-Up
This project strengthens purposeful and sustainable leadership across four dimensions: leading yourself, your people, your team, and your organization. Participants worked towards building resilience, inspiring others, exploring cultural perspectives, and creating sustainable team cultures while learning to scale their impact and drive systemic change.
Through interactive activities and peer learning, they gain practical tools and a renewed commitment to purpose-driven leadership.
Amplifying Women’s Leadership and Voices Across Rwanda
Women’s Economic Empowerment (WEE) Facilitation
As part of the GIZ WEE initiative, Impact Hub Kigali designed and moderated a series of high-energy events promoting women’s leadership and entrepreneurial growth.
From role-model conversations to a women-led SME pitch event, a session on measuring gender-transformative change, and the Women Economic Forum, each engagement created space for learning, visibility, and meaningful dialogue across Rwanda’s ecosystem.
Ecosystem & Communities
2025 Highlights >>>
Through events and community-driven initiatives, we create spaces for actors to connect, share knowledge and collaborate.
Strengthening Grassroots Initiatives
NGO Showcase & Demo Day
The NGO Showcase & Demo Day, hosted by the German Embassy in Rwanda in partnership with Impact Hub Kigali, brought five local nonprofits into the spotlight, giving them the storytelling, pitching, and visibility support needed to reach new audiences.
Through coaching, video production, and a curated final showcase, the event created a platform where NGOs could present their work to partners, funders, and ecosystem actors with clarity and confidence. The initiative strengthened the role of non-profits in Rwanda’s innovation landscape by elevating community-driven solutions and connecting them with people who can help scale their impact.
Connecting Circular SMEs With the Capital They Need to Grow
CIRF Investor Forum 2025
The CIRF Investor Forum, part of the Circular Food Systems for Rwanda (CIRF) programme funded by the IKEA Foundation and implemented by a WRI-led consortium in collaboration with the Government of Rwanda, convened circular agri-food SMEs, investors, and ecosystem actors for two days of focused discussions and curated matchmaking.
The Forum enabled entrepreneurs to present their circular solutions, explore financing pathways, and build relationships critical for early-stage growth—strengthening the network driving Rwanda’s circular economy forward.
Venture Impact Stories
The venture stories featured in this report reflect what sustained, contextual support can unlock — when guidance stays close to the ground and adapts as ventures grow.
These stories capture not only outcomes, but how ventures changed and grew over time
kosmotive
Davet LTD
IMPACT HUB KIGALI
Meet the People Behind the Impact
At Impact Hub Kigali, our work is shaped by people who stay close to entrepreneurs — asking hard questions, testing assumptions, and supporting founders through moments that are often complex and uncertain. From programme design and venture support to facilitation and ecosystem building, the team brings both technical expertise and deep local understanding to the work.
This year, our efforts were strengthened by a trusted pool of subject-matter experts who supported ventures across strategy, finance, operations, and sector-specific challenges — extending our capacity while staying grounded in quality.
The Architecture of Growth
Growth doesn’t happen by accident. It’s engineered through better decisions, stronger structures, and long-term thinking. In this profile, Gloria reflects on what it takes to move startups past early-stage fragility — and why reducing dependency, unlocking investment, and scaling responsibly are the real signals of impact.
2025 pushed us forward in all the right ways and we’re already excited for what comes next.
Let’s keep going. The time is now. The way together!