Isolation
Relationships live in individual contacts, not somewhere shared. The right founder and the right resource meet by accident, or with a lot of effort, if at all.
Source: Ffembi ecosystem map
Who we are
We
Map
the ecosystem,
Connect
its people,
Build
what it needs, and
Share
what we've learned.
Why we exist
Uganda's innovation ecosystem is full of amazing people doing amazing work. The talent, the capital and the intent are all here. What is missing is the connective tissue between them.
Support exists in silos. Lessons get relearned and introductions get remade, so the ecosystem does not compound.
We exist to give the ecosystem a shared memory, so promising ideas survive and value outlives any single programme.
The problem
Three forces quietly tax the ecosystem and keep us from growing.
2.5
connections
average per actor in Uganda's support ecosystem
Amnesia
When a person leaves or a programme ends, the lessons leave with them. Every new programme starts from zero.
Source: Makerere University study of GEM data (2021); GEM on why founders exit
Reinvention
More than half of founders who close a business start another. That is resilience, and also repetition: the same gaps rediscovered, the same mistakes paid for twice.
Source: Namatovu et al., Ugandan repeat entrepreneurs (GEM-based)
The insight
The support was already out there. It just had no memory.
Ffembi began as a coursework assignment: a map of who was building what in Uganda. Founders wanted support, hubs wanted pipeline, and enablers wanted to measure their success. So the assignment became infrastructure.
Today it is a living, sourced map. With Builders and the people and organizations that support them.
Where we are headed
Our mission
Map, connect, and equip innovation ecosystems.
Our vision
An ecosystem so connected and well-documented that building
alone is impossible.
Meet our team
The people building Ffembi.
Natumanya Guy M.
Nandyose Irene
What we believe
Innovation creates value. Entrepreneurship makes it sustainable.
- Isolation kills promising ideas.
- The best support is contextual.
- Open knowledge compounds fastest.
- Relearning wastes resources.
- Innovation creates value.
- Entrepreneurship makes value sustainable.