Build
Form the team, document the problem, and build with the people you serve.
About Yabas
Sierra Leone does not lack builders. It lacks a system that carries them from problem to venture.
Yabas runs a selective Venture Fellowship for local founders solving important problems. We help teams build with the people who need the solution, prove it with evidence, and find someone who can sustain the work. Our focus is not activity. It is ventures that last.
7Growth layers
6Ventures per Partner
The standardEvidence before advancement.
Why Yabas exists
The need is real. The payer may be different.
Many important African problems sit in a funding gap. The problem is real, and the social or economic value may be high, but the people who experience it cannot initially pay enough to support a commercial product. Founders then struggle to finance research, product development, community trials, and the search for someone who can sustain the work.
Donors and government fill part of this gap, but a time-bound project does not automatically create a durable local venture. Conventional venture capital usually arrives later, after a team has shown revenue and growth. Yabas operates between those systems.
The inability of the beneficiary to pay is a business model design challenge. It is not proof that a sustainable venture cannot exist.
Prove
Test real use, measure what improves, and record the evidence honestly.
Sustain
Find a payer, build governance, and prepare for the right next step.
The Yabas philosophy
Growth happens in layers.
Yabas comes from the Krio word for onions. Ventures grow in layers — understanding, support, and evidence. Teams revisit these layers as they learn, testing both the solution and how to sustain it.
The goal is lasting value, whether through a company, a hybrid venture, or a durable public service.
Problem
Understand the real need.
Team
Bring the right people together.
Backing
Seek support to begin.
Solution
Build with the people you serve.
Evidence
Test what makes a difference.
Revenue
Find a sustainable payer.
Venture
Build for the long term.
How the ecosystem works
One institution. Clear roles.
Yabas is the coordination and accountability layer. We help each participant do their part without pretending to replace the institutions, experts, or payment providers around us.
Build and prove
Selected teams use the workspace, Partners, and evidence gates to turn a real problem into a credible venture.
Select and support
Yabas provides the selection process, Group Partners, evidence review, and shared record across the Fellowship.
Add capacity
Mentors, universities, hubs, and institutions contribute expertise, field access, referrals, and useful places to work.
Support validation
Backers fund early validation without automatic ownership or financial return. Investment, if introduced later, is a separate legal process.
The Venture Fellowship
A selective Class. Hands-on Partner support.
Each selected team works with a Group Partner through regular office hours, evidence gates, and field validation. Progress is measured by evidence, not attendance.
Problem proof
Field interviews, workflow observation, and problem sizing with the people affected.
Solution proof
Prototype, usability tests, and discovery of the true cost of delivery.
Adoption and public value
Pilot with real users and measurement of what actually improves.
Payer proof
Institutional interviews, pricing tests, and a credible revenue hypothesis.
Money and boundaries
Backing is not investment.
Community backing finances validation that conventional investors often avoid. It also tests public legitimacy and builds a group of people who understand the venture. It does not create ownership or financial return.
Support early
Donations, sponsorships, pre-purchases, and grants help teams research, prototype, and run early trials before revenue exists.
Keep ownership
Founders retain their pre-existing intellectual property. Admission alone transfers no equity to Yabas, and backing gives contributors no ownership.
10% on funds that pass through
Where funding is raised through Yabas and released to a venture, Yabas retains a 10% administration fee on the confirmed amount. The remaining 90% is allocated to the team before any separately disclosed payment-provider charge. Funding raised independently of Yabas is not subject to this fee.
What we believe
Accountability builds trust.
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Teams should show evidence before progress is approved.
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The user and payer may be different, but the payer model must not exploit the user.
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Backers should see how support is used, reported in plain language.
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Community funds must be traceable and restricted to approved purposes.
Build the next layer