Rundown - Ye! Community Uganda Training & Pitching Summit
The Ye! Community Uganda Training & Pitching Summit hosted at the Silver Springs Bugolobi in Kampala had an excellent turnout. Over 130 young entrepreneurs from across Uganda joined the two-day summit. Attendants came as far as the northern regions, some traveled overnight just to attend.
The day began with a government panel which provided a space for bankers, ministers and youth entrepreneurs to exchange ideas and create a dialogue about the future of government support for youth entrepreneurs.
Who was on the Panel?
The Honourable Werikhe Kafabusa—Ministry of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives
Ivan Ssettimba—Bank of Uganda
Mathias Mulumba—Ministry of Education, National Curriculum Development Centre
Irene Mutumba—Private Education Development Network
The panel also consisted of two of the Ye! Community's own entrepreneurs—
Zaitunie Nakaddu
Ronald Ochoo
The key takeaways were the overwhelming need for better entrepreneurship education, loans and investment into youth-led enterprises, and increased government support for young entrepreneurs.
The Pitching Event
The jury had a tough choice on Friday the 16th of June. Each standout entrepreneur had the tough task of pitching their business to the jury in under three minutes. The jury then had five minutes to pose their questions about each pitch and they did not hold back. The entrepreneurs showed us their great presentation skills and each one finished their pitches to ethusiastic applause.
Who was on the jury?
Patrick Bitature—CEO of Simba Group of Companies
Eva Baguma—UWEAL (Uganda Women’s Entrepreneurs Assoc. Limited)
Andrew Kaggwa—East Africa Trade and Investment Hub
Kyle Denning—Investor from Voxtra/Goodwell Investments
Pamela Nakityo—Relationship Supervisor for SACCOs and Investment Clubs Finance Trust Bank
Who were the Pitchers
Ronald Mugulusi—YODIME Ltd.
Sam Turyatunga—Tursam Investments Ltd..
Vincent Nsereko—Ziimart
Yunus Masaba—Track 24 (U)
Best Ayiorwoth—Girls Power Micro Lending Organization (GIPOMO)
Arthur Woniala—Khainza Energy Ltd
At the end of the six pitches the jury left the room to deliberate who to crown the winner of the Ye! Uganda Award 2017. They used the entire twenty minutes to choose. The decision was tough!
While the jury deliberated the young entrepreneurs in the audience had a chance to ask each pitcher their questions. The audience drilled the pitchers, showing it was not only the judges who had difficult questions to ask.
When the jury returned Patrick Bitature discussed the points they had taken into consideration when choosing a winner.
-Confidence
-Concrete Business Model
-Simplicity
-Enthusiasm
Patrick announced the winner to an energized crowd.
Sam Turyatunga is the Ye! Uganda Young Entrepreneur Award Winner. The jury stood behind Sam’s business and stated his pitch showed a plan that was scalable and concrete.
So… who is Sam?
Sam Turyatunga is 28 years old and a member of the Ye! Community Uganda. He started Tursam Investments Limited while he was at Kyambogo University, Kampala, Uganda in 2013. His fruit juice products are marketed under the Brand name UHURU FRUIT DRINKS ®. Sam buys local fruits and uses value-addition to produce ready to drink organic and non-organic juices. Uhuru Fruit Drinks has expanded beyond Uganda, supplying products to Rwanda and DRC. Sam began exporting to these countries less than two years after incorporation. In his business model, revenue is derived directly from the sales of the juice. Each 500ml USD 0.45 and we make a profit of USD 0.2 per bottle.
Sam’s pitch was concrete, simple, and clear. When answering the jury’s questions’, it was clear Sam had prepared and was ready for whatever they threw his way. Congratulations Sam on winning the Ye! Uganda Young Entrepreneur Award.
Check out Sam's Ye! Profile here
You can also visit his website. http://uhurufruitdrinks.com
For more information on the Ye! Community Uganda check out the facebook page https://www.facebook.com/yecommunity256
Are you a Ye! Community Member? Sign up to get coaching, become part of the global network of young entrepreneurs, and take part in events in your region.