The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor 2019/2020 ranked Uganda one of the most entrepreneurial countries in the world with 30 per cent of Ugandans starting businesses annually.

In the United States of America and Japan, that figure stands at 7 per cent and 11 per cent respectively. 

“Over 3-Million Ugandan primary school children (and over 95-Million across Africa), a study in classrooms with no furniture to aid proper reading and writing,” was the basis on which SeatPack pitched their idea. 

Arnold Mugagga, the inventor of SeatPack, was the first participant to take to the podium, where he wowed the audience with his innovation that saw him as one of the winners, taking home UGX 77 Million.  

From the time you start a conversation with her to the very last statement, Edna will be wearing a full smile on her face. 

She advocates for self-love, for there is no way one can love others without loving themselves and being courageous. 

Life has taught Nakajugo Edna Margaret, to always pick herself up whenever she falls, patting herself on the back and whispering; “At least you tried.“ 

Despite the importance of digital security and privacy for Human Rights Defenders in carrying out their work, the development of effective digital security strategies still present a numerous challenge. Human Rights Defenders have to contend with an ever shifting landscape of technologies and threats, limited understanding of behavioral factors and the lack of customization for a number of the tools, among others.

Up Accelerate participant Kyomuhendo Phyllis, knows she didn’t have the average childhood, juggling between making a living at her day profession as a Medical Imaging Technologist and a startup that she is very much invested in, mSCAN — an ultrasonic probe and software that will support ultrasound scanning in low resource areas. This technology will address the problem of inadequate ultrasound services for expectant mothers.

After four months of intense business training, mentorship, technical guidance — our cohort of four (4) high-potential social entrepreneur teams, presented working demos of sexual reproductive health innovations for Demo-day. DigiHealth emerged the winner of the Up Accelerate cycle II demo day. The event provided the young entrepreneurs with the opportunity to raise follow-on funding and explore new partnerships that can enable their products access the market.

Solomon Kahuma is a software developer on the DrugDash team. DrugDash is supporting health workers and regional health offices to see and understand the data on drug and health supplies stock levels so as to better understand consumption trends. Below, Solomon Kahuma shares his journey through our Up Accelerate program, and what that means for him.