Nov 5, 5:00 – 6:00 PM (UTC)
Update, we have rescheduled hosting Audace Niyonkuru, CEO of Digital Umuganda, the Rwandan AI startup behind the country...
Update, we have rescheduled hosting Audace Niyonkuru, CEO of Digital Umuganda, the Rwandan AI startup behind the country’s flagship Kinyarwanda voice datasets and the Mbaza public-information chatbot. We’ll unpack how local-language data, open ecosystems, and practical partnerships (from Mozilla Common Voice to GIZ) are powering inclusive AI products in Rwanda and what founders can learn about building with community, not just code. Expect real stories from scaling language data collection, shipping speech tech for low-literacy access, and navigating the road from prototype to national impact.
About the Speaker
Audace Niyonkuru is the CEO and co-founder of Digital Umuganda, a Kigali-based AI company building language and voice infrastructure for African languages. He serves in global internet governance circles and regularly speaks on inclusive AI, data ecosystems, and African language technologies. Under his leadership, Digital Umuganda helped mobilize one of the world’s largest open Kinyarwanda voice datasets and co-created “Mbaza,” Rwanda’s widely used chatbot for public information.
About Digital Umuganda
Digital Umuganda is an AI and open-data company on a mission to “bridge the AI divide, one language at a time.” The team builds datasets, speech/NLP models, and conversational tools to enable access to information and services in underserved African languages—starting with Kinyarwanda. Offerings span language data collection at scale, speech-to-text and text-to-speech pipelines, and applied chatbots for public-interest use cases.
Developers, builders, founders, startups, and students — this one is for you.
Startup Grind Kigali invites you to an inspiring virtual Fireside Chat with Audace Niyonkuru, CEO of Digital Umuganda, as we explore how Rwanda’s tech ecosystem is shaping inclusive AI and real-world innovation particularly supporting African Languages.
Join, connect, learn, and share ideas with fellow change-makers building the future from Kigali to the world.
RSVP now — let’s grow, build, and innovate together!
Digital Umuganda
CEO
Faculty of Organizational Sciences, University of Belgrade
PhD Candidate
ATENA VISION
Chapter Director
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