Meet Francis Chiwunda

Francis is co-founder, organiser, and fundraiser at StartupBus Africa
Francis Chiwunda — co-founder, organiser, and fundraiser at StartupBus Africa; focuses more on the practical side of the project. “And of course adds some smiles during tough times”, he jokes. After being introduced to StartupBus by Magnus Petersen-Paaske and Christopher Pruijsen, Francis “considered it no harm to have such a trip in the region” so StartupBus Africa was born and Francis became the Zimbabwean part of our very international team! Francis explains that StartupBus Africa is not just a road trip as it does well to bring together people from different parts of the globe who would not have met otherwise.

Francis is, in true StartupBus Africa spirit, a multi-tasker explaining that he “finds himself having to balance between his studies and his passion for entrepreneurship”. Francis’ passion for entrepreneurship has seen him being the co-founder of ecosfera, a young start-up which produces eco-bricks (environmentally friendly building bricks). This start-up has as one of its main goals to address global warming and climate change. Francis has been involved with various entrepreneurship projects; most notably, the Kairos Society. He is the Founder of the African Chapter of the society and has supported the building of the society in 5 different African countries. But this was not enough and so Francis has gotten involved as a delegate at various youth forums such as One Young World and the South American Business Forum (SABF). He is also on a Chartered Financial Analyst Institute (CFA) scholarship to complete his prestigious CFA Level 1 examinations.

Amongst all this Francis, as someone passionate about the African continent, is concerned with the social impact that the StartupBus Africa’s buspreneurs’ innovations in mobile technology, energy, and healthcare will have on the day to day lives of African people. Francis says of a StartupBus Africa success, “Bringing together 30 carefully selected and innovative minds and asking them to prototype on something that adds value to the end consumer — is just more than satisfying”.