Hillsgrowth

Who

We Are

Hillsgrowth is a residential startup incubator based in Burundi, built to transform promising tech founders and innovators into capable CEOs running scalable, sustainable companies. We take builders with a validated idea, MVP, or early prototype and immerse them in a fully-resourced, 6-month live-in program designed to compress years of founder growth into a single, uninterrupted season of focused work.

Where most incubators offer part-time support around a founder's existing life, Hillsgrowth removes the noise entirely. Our founders live together in one house for the full duration of the program eating, building, learning, and growing alongside the mentors, peers, and resources that will shape their company's future. This is not a co-working membership. It is a total immersion designed for founders who are ready to commit everything to building something real.

Our

Mission

To build a strong, self-sustaining entrepreneurial ecosystem in Burundi by providing world-class business training, hands-on mentorship, and direct access to funding anchored by deep partnerships and community engagement with the ultimate goal of scaling startups and creating jobs at scale.

The Transformation

Every founder who enters Hillsgrowth follows the same arc:

You arrive as a builder with a bold idea. Over 6 months, you are trained, mentored, tested, and pushed technically, strategically, and personally. You leave as a CEO, founder, and businessperson ready to run and sustain a company.

This transformation is the core product of Hillsgrowth. The startup is the vehicle; the founder is what we are actually building.

Who

We Serve

Hillsgrowth is built for young tech founders and innovators who have high potential but limited access to resources, capital, networks, mentorship, or infrastructure. We look for people who already have something real: a validated idea, an early prototype, or a working MVP, and the discipline to commit fully to six months of intensive growth.

We are not looking for volume. We are looking for founders with the highest potential to build companies that create jobs and drive economic impact in Burundi and the wider region.

Program Structure

6 Months, One House, One Focus

Each cohort lives together on-site for the full duration of the program. Founders do not leave during the 6 months, a deliberate design choice that ensures total focus, removes daily-life distractions, and builds the kind of discipline and dedication a real company demands. This constraint is also a filter: it naturally selects for founders serious enough to commit everything to their idea.

What we offer

During the program, founders receive

Full accommodation for six months

Housing, meals, and workspace covered for the entire 6 months

Intensive mentorship

Direct, ongoing guidance from experienced founders, operators, and industry experts

Business training

Structured curriculum covering strategy, finance, operations, leadership, and company-building fundamentals

Early customer acquisition support

Help getting first paying customers and validating product-market fit

Networking

Access to a growing ecosystem of founders, mentors, partners, and alumni

Workshops

Hands-on sessions on the specific skills founders need at each stage of growth

Investor connections

Direct introductions to angel investors, VCs, and funding partners

Demo Day

A culminating showcase where founders pitch to investors, partners, and the broader ecosystem

Selection Criteria

Hillsgrowth accepts only high-potential and innovative ideas. Applicants are evaluated on:

  • Strength and validation stage of the idea (existing MVP or prototype preferred)

  • Founder capability, resilience, and coachability

  • Market opportunity and scalability potential

  • Willingness to fully commit to the 6-month residential format

We would rather run a smaller, sharper cohort than a large, diluted one.

Why

This Model Works

Immersion over convenience

Removing founders from daily distractions for 6 months creates a depth of focus that part-time programs cannot replicate.

Community as infrastructure

Living together builds peer accountability, collaboration, and a support network that continues long after Demo Day.

End-to-end support

Founders don't just get advice, they get housing, mentorship, customers, capital connections, and a network, all in one place.

Built for underserved ecosystems

Hillsgrowth is designed specifically to address the real barriers, access to resources, mentorship, and capital, that hold back high-potential founders.

Our

Vision & Impact

Hillsgrowth exists to build more than individual startups, we exist to build an ecosystem. By combining business training, mentorship, and funding access with strong partnerships and community engagement, we aim to:

  • Turn high-potential ideas into investable, scalable companies
  • Create a growing network of founders, mentors, and investors across every market we enter
  • Generate sustainable job creation at scale
  • Position each ecosystem we operate in as a credible source of investable tech talent and companies