Route 360 Solutions Initiative has emerged as one of the 12 winners of the 2023 Mastercard Foundation Scholars Entrepreneurship Fund at the African Leadership University in Kigali, Rwanda. Launched in 2018 by the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program and implemented by the program’s university partners, the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Entrepreneurship Fund is designed to support Mastercard Foundation scholars and alumni in developing their social enterprises, with each partner designing its own unique feature.
Shortlisted as one of the 23 finalists in September 2023, Route 360 Solutions Initiative won in the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Entrepreneurship Fund accelerator category. Our Founder and CEO, Joseph Turay, represented us on the final virtual pitching day of the competition. Our Brick and Paver Engineer, Amza Turay, and our Business Development Representative, Mohamed K. Conteh, were also present during the event to support Joseph.
We appreciate the Mastercard Foundation Team at the African Leadership University and the African Leadership University Entrepreneurship Team for creating the platform for us to demonstrate our capabilities in addressing pressing issues in our country, Sierra Leone, and Africa. We are excited to have received a USD 7,000 prize from the program to support our innovation. We plan to use the fund to improve our operations, production capacity, manpower, marketing, and product development, among other areas.
We also want to congratulate all the winners and competing startups. Special thanks and appreciation to Sulaiman Barrie, whose continuous support and partnership with our Founder and CEO helped make this achievement possible.