A Romanian startup might help the economy and families in Africa.
How did it all start, what’s the story behind your startup?
I was volunteering in Africa in 2010 or 4 months, and than, after I returned home I founded a charity called “I have a brick in Kenya”.
We are helping a private school in Kenya, Rusinga Island. We believe in education, so in the future we want to collaborate with more private schools from Africa. I was inspired by the drawings of the Kenyan children and the colors of Africa. Than we realized that many adults started to color lately, coloring books and coloring pages became incredibly popular. We want to use this trend and sell Africa-inspired coloring pages for adults who love to color and would like to help African schools and children in the same time.
Name three key words that best describe your business
Education, Africa, direct giving
What is your motivation? What gets you from thinking to DOING?
Every year when I visit Rusinga Island I see, feel, and understand the benefits of education. For example last year we were organizing the first TEDx event on the island, and 6 months after that a young man called me on facebook to tell me, that he was so motivated after our event, that he started his own business, watched thousands of TEDx videos, and now he runs a succesful small business. Stories like this inspire me to support education in remote areas.
How do you plan to IMPACT the world?
Private schools are suffering, and facing difficulties throughout Africa. But we also see how these private schools can bring changes in rural ideas. We want to create a fundraising e-commerce platform and use the income to support these schools. The coloring pages fit great in this picture because it creates a connection between the donor and Africa. Coloring is also a way to relax after a stress full day, and we believe if we connect this meditative action with a good cause it will be even for inviting.
Impact Startup Factory is an incubation program organized by Impact Hub Bucharest, Impact Hub Cluj-Napoca and Impact Hub Zurich, in partnership with the Swiss-Romanian Cooperation. The Social Impact Incubator is a partnership between Impact Hubs in Romania and Impact Hub Zurich to adapt an innovation and entrepreneurship methodology developed in Switzerland for growing Romanian communities through the power of startups designed for profit, people and planet. The initiative will be implemented March 2016 – February 2017 and is co-financed by a grant from Switzerland through the Swiss Contribution to the enlarged European Union in total value of 73,116.72 CHF.