Event film
Event recap film
The YouTube film from this retreat will be embedded here.
Event story
Three days on Lake Kivu where online cohorts met in person — from the first steps through the lake, the dinners, and the conversations that stayed with us.
Chapter 1
The road down to Kibuye is long enough to quiet your phone and loud enough to wake you up. Buses pulled in one after another. Founders stepped out with weekend bags and the same slightly nervous energy you get before meeting someone you have only ever seen on Zoom.
Lake Kivu opened up in front of us — wide, calm, impossible to rush. That was the point. For weeks we had built together online. This was the entrance into something real: same cohort, same ambition, new light.
Chapter 2
Before the schedule, before the cameras rolled properly, we sat in a circle and said a few words each. Not pitches — just truth. What are you building? What keeps you up at night? What made you say yes to this room?
Eighteen founders. Agri, tech, retail, creative work. Different stages, same feeling: we came because we believe we can build something that matters. That belief showed up in how people spoke — quietly at first, then with more air in the chest.
Chapter 3
Mornings were for business — growth, pricing, teams, the unglamorous work. Seminars faced the water so you could think while you listened. People took notes, asked sharp questions, and challenged each other with the comfort of people who already knew each other's names from cohort channels.
We filmed it because these moments deserve to be remembered — not as performance, but as proof that young founders in Rwanda and beyond are doing the work.
Chapter 4
We invited guest mentors to speak — founders and operators who have walked further down the road. Someone who built a brand from nothing. Someone who scaled through a hard season. Someone who told us the parts that do not make it to LinkedIn.
Their stories landed. People leaned in. But this was never the main thing. The main thing was us — believing in ourselves, in our ideas, and in the people sitting next to us. Guest mentors lit the path; they did not walk it for us.
We believe in ourselves — in our ideas and in what we are capable of building.
Chapter 5
Evenings belonged to the table. Candlelit dinner, plates passing, laughter mixing with strategy. Table themes kept the conversation useful — one night on money, one on customers, one on the founder behind the business.
Cameras caught the easy moments: someone gesturing with a fork to make a point, someone else finally saying the number they had been afraid to share online. Dinner is where Zoom cohorts became a crew.
Chapter 6
Afternoons broke the formality on purpose. Kayaks, walks along the shore, team games that had nothing to do with spreadsheets and everything to do with trust. You learn a lot about a founder when you watch them lose a relay race with grace.
The lake did what lakes do — slowed us down enough to hear each other. By the second day, nobody was performing. People were just building friendships that will outlast any single retreat.
Chapter 7
The last night we gathered close to the fire. Real challenges came out — cash flow, co-founders, family pressure, the fear of wanting more than your circle expects. No one had to perform strength. The room held it.
What stayed with people was not a single quote from a guest speaker. It was the belief in the room: I can do this. We can do this. Everyone left louder about their own capabilities than when they arrived.
We believe in ourselves — in our ideas and in what we are capable of building.
Chapter 8
Leaving Kibuye felt like closing a chapter and opening a longer book. Phones came back on. Photos were shared before the bus even moved. New collaborations were already being sketched on napkins.
Eighteen founders went back to their cities and their builds — agri, tech, retail, services — carrying the same thing: belief. In themselves. In each other. In what happens when online cohorts finally meet.
Guest mentors came to share their journeys — founders and leaders we respect. But the heart of the retreat was simpler: we believe in ourselves. Every person in the room believed in their own capabilities, their idea, and the version of themselves they are becoming.