Statistics can measure a gap, but they cannot capture what it feels like to sit inside one. Uganda’s 35% primary completion rate, youth unemployment exceeding 17% among those aged 18 to 30, and school internet access below 30% describe the scale of a challenge, but not the lives behind it.

They do not describe teachers stretching every resource they have, a young person in a refugee settlement for whom quality education has always felt distant, or a child whose disability was long treated as a reason for absence rather than a call for inclusion.

The Mastercard Foundation EdTech Fellowship Uganda was designed with those learners in mind. On 30 April 2026, with the signing of 12 locally led EdTech ventures into the programme’s inaugural cohort, the work of reaching them formally began.

That principle, responsible scale, is the design philosophy behind everything the programme does. It is why the selection process prioritised ventures with demonstrated traction over impressive pitches, and why the support goes far beyond a grant cheque.

Each of the 12 selected ventures will receive equity-free catalytic funding of up to USD 70,000, alongside a structured fellowship curriculum, one-on-one mentorship, learning science and impact measurement support, investor readiness, strategic advisory, and access to partnerships and ecosystem opportunities.

Part of Something Bigger

Wariko Waita, Director of the Centre for Innovative Teaching and Learning at the Mastercard Foundation, reminded fellows that by joining the Fellowship they were stepping into a continent-wide network of 236 fellows across Africa: founders, builders, and problem-solvers reimagining how young people learn, transition, and access opportunities.

The Fellowship is not a standalone intervention. It is one piece of a larger ecosystem that delivers lasting change when policy, investment, community, and innovation move in the same direction.