Project Summary

Urunigi Shine Bright is a women-first e-commerce platform that empowers women in Rwanda and across Africa to launch portable, home-based international businesses using only a phone and internet. Through a unique profit-sharing model (45% of profits reinvested directly into participants’ businesses), free financial education, dropshipping from 200+ trusted Chinese factories, free shipping to Africa, and global reach, Urunigi turns everyday women into entrepreneurs who can sell worldwide while building financial independence. Founded in 2019 by Edouard A. Cyuzuzo (Managing Director) and the late Emmanuel Hakizimana (CEO), the platform successfully grew from $5K in 2019 to over $35K in 2022, onboarded 100+ women, partnered with six international warehouses (US, China, Germany, France, UK, Italy), and gave real hope to single and married women who were finally earning from home. Tragically, the business was liquidated in 2023 after trusted fund managers robbed us, the domain and platform shut down, my co-founder Hakizimana passed away in a 2025 accident, and the remaining team moved on. The technology failed, but the mission and the women who trusted us never did. We are now reviving Urunigi to restore that broken bond, rebuild the platform, and scale the proven model that literally changed lives.

What are this project's goals? How will you achieve them? Our revival goals are:

• Rebuild and relaunch the Urunigi.com platform and domain within 6 months.

• Re-engage and train 100+ women (starting with the original 40+ sellers and the 100+ who lost hope) to start or resume profitable home-based businesses.

• Achieve sustainable revenue growth (targeting $100K+ ARR within 18 months) while delivering measurable impact: average 3–5x income increase for participants and 45% profit reinvestment.

• Expand to include Made-in-Rwanda products and new African countries, creating a self-sustaining women-led ecosystem.

We will achieve this by restoring the tech infrastructure, reopening the Ambassador and training program with updated risk-mitigation systems (legal safeguards, transparent fund tracking, diversified banking), running targeted recruitment and free financial education courses, leveraging proven marketing channels (SEO, Facebook/Instagram/Google ads, influencers, affiliates), and systematically tracking income, retention, and profit-sharing outcomes. Lessons from the past failure have made us stronger: this time, every dollar is protected and every woman’s trust is earned back through full transparency.

How will this funding be used?

This $100K Manifund raise will be used entirely as working capital to revive and scale Urunigi:

• $35K – Platform rebuild, domain recovery, website redevelopment, and secure payment systems.

• $25K – Training & onboarding 100+ women (free courses, tools, initial product subsidies).

• $15K – Marketing and acquisition (SEO, paid ads, influencer/affiliate reactivation).

• $10K – Legal & risk-mitigation setup (contracts, escrow, transparent reporting).

• $10K – Operations & warehouse reactivation (logistics partnerships, initial inventory float).

• $5K – Administrative & monthly transparency reporting to funders.

All funds go directly to execution. We commit to monthly public updates, full outcome data sharing (successes and challenges), and complete financial transparency.

Who is on your team? What's your track record on similar projects?

• Edouard A. Cyuzuzo (Founder & Managing Director): Civil engineer and seasoned entrepreneur who built Urunigi from zero to $35K+ revenue while managing operations, partnerships with 200 Chinese factories, and six international warehouses. He personally lived the mission and remains 100% committed to restoring the women’s hope.

• Support network: 30-person volunteer/community team (18 hours/week availability, three languages) ready to restart; new risk-focused advisors will be onboarded with this funding.

Track record: Launched 2019 with $5K, grew to $35K+ by 2022, onboarded 100+ women sellers (80% women customers), achieved 20% user growth and 15% MRR growth pre-shutdown, secured international logistics and warehouses, and proved the profit-sharing model works. This is our first external raise since the tragic shutdown (previously bootstrapped through revenue and personal savings). The model was already working—only the process failed. We are bringing it back stronger.

What are the most likely causes and outcomes if this project fails?

Most likely risks and our mitigations:

• Low re-enrollment of women → Direct outreach to the original 100+ participants, job/income guarantees, free tools and transport subsidies.

• Technical or operational delays → Dedicated rebuild budget and vetted developers with milestone payments.

• Trust issues from past failure → Full transparency, escrow accounts, monthly funder reports, and legal safeguards (lesson learned).

• Market or cash-flow challenges → Proven revenue model, diversified marketing, and fallback to smaller pilot cohorts if needed.

Even in a worst-case scenario: at least 40–50 women still receive training and skills, the curriculum and partnerships are documented and shared with other organizations, and we gain publicly shared learnings on risk mitigation to help the broader women’s entrepreneurship ecosystem. Best case: platform fully restored, 100+ women earning again, 85%+ retention, 3–5x income growth, full profit-sharing cycle, and the data attracts follow-on funding to reach thousands more women across Africa. The dream to change women’s lives never died—we are simply resuming it with stronger protections and your support.