A Founder’s Story
2011 was the year that I first set foot in Rwanda. I was enchanted by the country, it’s history, and the dramatic turn around that have been made since the 1994 Genocide. I was also stuck by the enormous opportunity that the country held.
I was there together with my wife leading a trip for a group of high school students. Our goal has been to take kids into a refugee camp so that they could see the other side of the long refugee highway that had lead many people to resettle in our suburban neighborhood. As one of the most stable countries in the region, Rwanda hosts 175,000 refugees from neighboring countries. The trip was transformational for us and for those kids. One is now a dentist in the navy and started an international dental care organization while in College. One works for a local refugee-serving non-profit.
Rwanda is densely populated. The country is about the size of Maryland, but holds 12.7 Million people. Rwanda is land-locked and mineral-poor as compared to its neighbors. In recent years, the country has invested heavily in growing service-based industries. I knew that with the apprenticeship program, that 8th Light has an enormous potential to develop raw potential in programmers and I knew that with some intentionality, this model could be translated to a place like Rwanda.
I came back from that trip and excitedly told 8th Light’s founders about the potential, but I just could not figure out where to begin. I watched a few American try to launch software businesses in Rwanda, but fail really to find or develop the talent that they needed. Even if I picked up and moved the family to Rwanda, it would be many years before the first group of apprentices would be ready for professional development.
I stayed stuck on that idea for many years. When we returned with another group in 2014, I spent a day at Klabs - a local innovation tech-hub, where I met dozens of programmers each working on their own startup idea. I then travelled with my family (including my then 2-year-old) in 2017. It was that year that the I finally started to see where to begin. I made a connection that year with a scholarship program called Bridge 2 Rwanda. They recruit the top students out of Rwandan high schools and enroll them in a one-year gap program where they help them pass the TOFEL exam and get their ACT score up. With those improved test scores, the students are able to get scholarships to attend US universities.
The aim of this program is to bring highly trained individuals back to Rwanda to live and work after their studies, but their return rates had been historically low. Here, I thought, was my entry point. I could recruit from these scholars, finding bi-cultural individuals who could understand US cultural, and translate their experience with 8th Light back to their home country. Robert Rugamba started with 8th Light part-time that fall, and then joined Full time after completing his Master’s Degree in CS. Anselme joined that next summer after completing his degrees. Rugamba and Anselme did exceptionally well in their apprenticeships and on their first projects. This proved this thesis that we could hire people in the US on their student visas and gain enough experience to become great software crafters.
As I built out the business plan for 8th Light, it became increasingly clear that the best chance of success was to operate this project as a new company. 8th Light has a lot on it’s plate as it grows and Rwanda did not fit neatly into that growth. So, we reached an agreement for 8th Light to invest in the new company
The vision for the new venture is to hire and train developers in Africa who will deliver at a level that is consistent with companies like 8th Light. We are growing relationships with other development companies to supply premium-quality talent. From there we hope to develop local projects and incubate new Africa-based software startups.
