Good to see you.
Here's what matters for you today.
Three tasks this week. Do one, or all three.
New tasks every Monday. Other members rate your answers, and the ratings build your skill profile so people can see what you're good at.
Give each answer 1–5 stars. Ratings are anonymous, and they help everyone see what they're good at.
Vote for up to 3 answers you like. A new question every Monday.
Meet someone new for 15 minutes
Join by Tuesday. On Wednesday everyone who joined is paired with someone new and given a café table in the House. Meet when it suits you both before Sunday.
Badges are earned by doing real things, not by time online. Some unlock items for your House avatar.
Turn a real problem
into a real business.
SPARK ÉLÈVE is one portal for young Rwandans to go from a specific problem to a tested prototype, a stronger pitch and a room with investors and RDB, through contests, hackathons, training and consulting.
Theme to be announced
The season's problem statement will be published here with its sponsor.
Sharp ideas.
No way to start.
Young people in Rwanda have sharp ideas and the will to create jobs for themselves, but they lack the funds to start. Those who do start often work alone, hit early difficulties, or aim at the wrong market, and many ideas stop there.
One portal,
problem to launch.
We find talent through challenges, build ideas into tested prototypes, strengthen the pitch, and introduce the strongest teams to investors and RDB. Business consulting runs alongside, and winners can join a fellowship and launch with our support.
Built for four kinds
of people.
University students
Teams with ideas and little capital, reached through campus contests.
Young people outside university
Welcome to every open call. No degree needed, only a real problem and the will to solve it.
Investors and RDB
Screened, prototype-ready ventures and creative local solutions. Access is earned by founders, never bought.
Sponsors
Banks, telecoms and NGOs that fund a season's challenge on a problem they care about.
Sponsor a season →One challenge.
Seven steps.
Seasons are numbered, each with its own theme such as agriculture, finance, health or education.
- ChallengeA sponsor and SPARK ÉLÈVE publish the season's problem statement.
- Open callSubmit your idea with a short business plan.
- ShortlistingWe screen for fit, originality and feasibility.
- HackathonShortlisted teams build and test a prototype with mentors.
- Demo DayPitch to investors, sponsors and RDB in the Townhall.
- FellowshipWinners get training and support to launch.
- InvestorsThe strongest ventures are introduced, founders in the room.
Everything a creative needs
to start.
Contests & hackathons
The core of the platform. Problem-first, seasonal, sponsor-backed.
AI Studio
Tell the story behind your idea, then build a 12-part blueprint and pitch with an AI coach.
Investor access
Merit-based. Submit your idea certificate, business plan and prototype, then wait for investor review.
Business consulting
Plans, pitch review, market testing, projections and pricing. Included for fellows.
Fellowship
Training and launch support for winners, for a small share of the company agreed upfront.
SPARK Money for organizations
NGOs, cooperatives, schools and small businesses: budgets, statements, reports and a logbook in one place.
Save for your project
Founders, backers and investors save through Tunzi, from mobile money. SPARK never holds money.
It's already moving.
SPARK Work
Designers, developers, writers and translators get hired by founders and businesses, and build a track record.
Find work or talent →Teams
Many ideas stop because founders work alone. Find teammates with the skills you're missing.
Find a team →Credible with investors.
Fair to founders.
Investor access is earned by passing screening, not bought. Fees pay for training, mentorship, consulting and prototype support.
- 01Equity stated upfront
Our stake and terms are stated before any fellowship begins.
- 02You own your idea
Contest entrants keep ownership of their ideas unless they accept a fellowship agreement.
- 03Honest pitching
We help you present your strengths with validated data and a working prototype, never inflated claims.
- 04We never hold your money
Founders, backers and investors save through Tunzi in their own accounts. Paid work is settled directly between client and talent.
- 05Safe for young people
Introductions go through the SPARK team. Under-18s need a guardian's agreement for paid work.
- 06Private, not hidden
Other members can't read your messages. The SPARK safety team can review conversations to protect young members.
Theme to be announced
The sponsor and SPARK ÉLÈVE will publish this season's problem statement here.
Register your idea
Here's the whole road, and where you are on it
Dates are estimates from your own numbers. They update as you go.
Tell us about your team and idea
Answer this season's problem in a few lines. Students and young people outside university are both welcome. You keep ownership of your idea. Once you register, Level 1 opens straight away.
Entries are only accepted between the opening and closing dates. Each team enters once per season.
Get ready
- 1Register your team and idea.
- 2Learn: each level has short courses and one real task on your own idea.
- 3Exam: a short quiz. Pass it to send your idea for review.
- 4Review: the SPARK team passes your idea to the next level, asks you to improve it, or stops it here.
- 5Pitch: ideas that pass Level 4 pitch on Demo Day to judges and investors.
- 6Backing: funders, donors and collaborators back the teams they believe in.
Plan it, save it,
track it every day.
Split your capital into a budget, track money in and out, see your break-even and cash flow, and save with your team in Tunzi. SPARK never holds your money.
Put your money to work, step by step
Start with the money you have. Answer a few questions. We split all of it, 100%, into a budget and help you track it day to day. Only you can see your numbers.
Save together as a team until you can start
Set the minimum your business needs to start. Everyone in the team adds their share, and investors and backers add the rest. A team that funds most of its own start shows real commitment. Each person saves in their own Tunzi account or your Tunzi group from mobile money. SPARK ÉLÈVE never holds, moves or sees the money.
- 1Get the Tunzi app from tunzi.money and register.
- 2Create a group goal in Tunzi with the same name and amount, and invite your teammates. Saving alone works too.
- 3Save from mobile money. Turn on a saving rule or reminders so it happens every week.
- 4Each person adds what they saved here, so the whole team sees the progress. SPARK can't see Tunzi accounts.
Tunzi is run by Moneto Ventures in Kigali and says it's authorized by Rwanda's Capital Markets Authority. Read Tunzi's own terms before you save. SPARK ÉLÈVE isn't responsible for Tunzi accounts.
Your whole business
on one page.
Nine building blocks, the same ones investors and banks use. Each block comes with a two-minute lesson, a real Rwandan example and a quick check, so you learn the strategy while you write your own. We fill in what we already know from your AI Studio, season tasks and SPARK Money.
Start with your story.
End with a plan.
Tell the coach the story behind your idea. It asks one question at a time until the problem is clear, then turns it into a 12-part blueprint, checks your investor readiness and drafts your application and pitch. Your notes are private.
Write it once. Everything else is built from it.
Fill your blueprint below, then send it anywhere with one tap. If you change your blueprint, we tell you what to update.
Tell me your story first
No forms yet. Talk about what you've seen, the way you would with a mentor. Tip: tap the microphone on your phone keyboard to speak instead of typing. English, Kinyarwanda, French or Swahili all work.
Problem & opportunity
How ready am I?
Scores your blueprint the way an early-stage investor would and names the gaps to close first.
Apply or pitch
Send this project to the season's open call, or turn it into your investor pitch card.
Export notes
Save your blueprint as a text file to share with a mentor or teammate.
The coach gives guidance, not guarantees. Check figures and rules with a mentor before relying on them.
Come in.
Pull up a chair.
An online innovation hub. Every room has something to do: ask the concierge, draw a café topic, run a focus sprint, fill a whiteboard, practise your pitch on the Townhall stage, plant an idea in the garden or share a win on the rooftop. People only hear you when they're close.
SPARK House is for people with a purpose. Check in with security to enter.
Earned by merit.
Never bought.
Founders submit an idea certificate, a business plan and a prototype. The SPARK team reviews them, and only verified ventures appear in the Investor Room. Investors and RDB see screened, prototype-ready teams, and every introduction goes through SPARK.
Describe what you back. The AI matchmaker reads every verified venture and ranks the best fits with a reason for each.
Your skills.
Paid work.
Young designers, developers, writers, translators, photographers and makers offer their skills. Founders, businesses and partners post paid jobs, pick a proposal and leave a review that builds a real track record.
Don't build alone.
Build together.
Post the team you're forming and the skills you're missing, or join one working on a problem you care about. Strong teams do better at shortlisting.
Help for the problems
a contest can't solve.
Business consulting, a financial projection tool, the fellowship, and ways for sponsors and universities to take part.
Get expert help
For season winners
Training and launch support, including consulting, in exchange for a small share of the company. The stake and terms are always stated before the fellowship begins.
Fund a season or host a campus contest
12 months on one screen
Enter your best estimates in RWF. Everything is calculated in your browser. These are planning estimates, not promises: check each number with suppliers and customers.
Every franc planned.
Every franc accounted for.
For NGOs, cooperatives, schools, youth programmes, small businesses and self-employed people. Plan your money in a budget that adds up to 100%, log what you spend in seconds, and get your financial statements, reports and logbook whenever a board, donor or bank asks.
Why it matters
Funders and boards trust organizations that can show where every franc went. Most small organizations keep receipts in a drawer and build reports the night before they're due. Missing records cost grants, loans and trust.
Easy to keep up
One budget that adds up to 100%. Each payment takes 10 seconds to log from a phone. You see straight away what's left in each line and get warned before you overspend.
Reports in one tap
Income statement, budget against actual, cash flow and a complete logbook, ready to download, print or share with a donor, board, bank or auditor.
- 1Budget planner: split a grant, a project fund or a month's income into lines that add up to exactly 100%, built by AI from your plan or a template.
- 2Spending log: every payment against a budget line, with warnings at 80% and when a line goes over.
- 3Daily money in and out, cash flow and how long your cash will last.
- 4Financial statements: income statement, budget vs actual and cash flow by month.
- 5Logbook: every transaction in one list, downloadable as a spreadsheet file (CSV).
- 6A plan at the centre: your blueprint and business model feed the budget, so plans and money match.
- 7Grants and sponsors: money received, what each grant paid for, what's left, a reminder before the report is due, and a grant report PDF for each funder.
- 8Sponsor-ready reports: what the money achieved (people reached, results, what sponsors got) next to the numbers, as a PDF with sign-off lines.
Coming next for workspaces: several staff logging into one shared set of books, with approvals.
🔒 The SPARK team can't see your numbers. Your books are yours alone. If you want us to prepare your sponsor or grant report, or check it before you send it, share a copy from “Statements and logbook”. You choose what we see (totals only, or everything) and for how long, and you can stop sharing at any time.
We send back a draft you can use or ignore. SPARK prepares reports from your own records. We don't audit accounts or file taxes; for that, your books are ready for an accountant.
Monthly subscription per organization. Ask us for a quote.
SPARK never holds your moneySPARK Money is for planning, tracking and reporting. Your money stays in your own bank, MoMo or Tunzi accounts.
Tell us about your organization
Run the season.
Set the challenge, screen applications with AI help, verify ventures for the Investor Room, run Demo Day live, post House events and read your inbox.
Teams create a SPARK lock code and give it to Tunzi, so their start-up money stays locked until their start date. When Tunzi tells you a code is set up, mark it confirmed. Teams and investors then see “confirmed by SPARK”. Paste a code from Tunzi to check it.
While subscriptions are off, every SPARK Money tool is free. Turn them on to make the day-to-day tools a monthly plan. Members pay you outside the site, for example by MoMo, and you switch on their access here. The site never takes payments.
Three tasks rotate automatically every Monday. Replace any of them for this week with your own, and set the community goal everyone works towards together.
Teams that passed a level's exam wait here. Pass the idea to the next level, ask them to improve it, or stop it this season. Passing Level 4 makes the team a finalist who pitches on Demo Day.
Pledges are promises, not payments. SPARK never holds money: connect each backer with the team, and money goes to the team directly, for example through their Tunzi group goal.
Invite members as judges, such as investors ready to invest. Judges see the finalists and score them privately.
Tick “Finalist” on an entry above to publish it as a finalist. When judges have scored, publish the results to the season page.
Everything testers send from the 💬 Feedback button and the weekly check-in. Mark each one, and fix the top three every week. When you mark something "Done", add a short note: testers see it on Today under "You asked, we changed it".
Write what your team has learned about serving people well. Every AI answer on SPARK follows it, from the next answer onwards. Keep it short and specific. Members can read this guide, so don't put private details in it.
Only the owner and editors see this. Members are told the safety team can review conversations. Read a conversation when there's a report or a real concern.