BUILDING AN ECOSYSTEM FOR WOMEN'S HEALTH: KOSMOTIVE'S JOURNEY FROM PERIOD POVERTY TO PAN-AFRICAN IMPACT
INTERVIEW QUESTIONS - KOSMOTIVE
1. What did you notice that others weren't seeing, and what gave you the conviction to build a business around it?
In 2014, we launched Cosmos Magazine, a print and online publication focused on parenting, women's health, and lifestyle. During one exercise in 2017, I drafted a piece about a time when I could not afford sanitary pads. Sharing it made me discover that I was not and had not been the only one. I began researching and discovered that 18% of girls and women in Rwanda miss school or work because they lack menstrual products. The problem was not invisible; it was more like ignored. Menstruation was and still is treated as a private inconvenience rather than a public health crisis with real economic consequences. It is a systemic issue, and I believed that if we gave women the right products, information, and dignity, we could unlock something much larger. I refused to let a taboo topic in our culture stop me from uplifting others who had faced an issue like mine.
2. How did you design this multi-product model, and how do the four pillars work together to support a woman's full health journey?
We are an ecosystem designed by the women and girls we serve. Their needs keep evolving, and so do we. Sometimes, updating our research also uncovers hidden barriers.
3. How have you navigated the behavior change challenge, and what strategies have been most effective in shifting mindsets at the community level?
Behavior change is the hardest work we do, and no campaign moves people faster than a neighbor's testimony. Our most effective strategy has always been proof at the community level.
Oftentimes, we also deliver menstrual health and hygiene (MHH) sessions at schools and in communities to destigmatize and educate about periods. We also leverage the power of partnerships, especially for these sessions.
Over time, we have also learned that women were not able to afford the initial cost of our pads, so we are introducing flexible mobile payment systems so cost is no longer the barrier it once was.
One KosmoPad replaces up to 120 disposable pads, and 100% of our customers reported a reduction in spending. The environmental impact resonates, too, but in our local communities, it tends to follow once the comfort and savings are felt personally.
4. Many founders are told to "focus on one thing." How do you respond to that advice, and how do you manage the operational complexity of running four distinct product lines?
I understand why that advice exists, but it was never designed for our context. Period poverty is not one problem. It is a tangle of access, stigma, affordability, and information. Focusing on a single product while leaving the surrounding system broken would mean solving less than half the problem.
What makes it manageable is the team. An agile, passionate, and competent team, the majority of whom are women, has been the key to keeping all our product lines alive. We share a genuine understanding that each of us must serve for Kosmotive to be what it is. Beyond that, it comes down to discipline: setting clear goals, laying out plans, and continuously monitoring progress across departments. The complexity is real, but we internally aim to simplify things and focus on solutions for any and all emerging constraints, with women’s health at the center.
5. What gap were you solving with KosmoHealth, and how do you ensure access for women with limited smartphones or digital literacy?
For a decade, Cosmos Magazine was our answer to the information gap. But we kept meeting a new generation getting their reproductive health information from unreliable corners of the internet. The gap was access to accurate, shame-free, culturally relevant information in the format this generation actually uses.
KosmoHealth gives girls a cycle tracker, bite-sized health lessons, an AI-powered chatbot for questions they are afraid to ask, and a community where they are not alone. For women with limited connectivity, we reach them through our MHH sessions at the community level.
Recently, we developed a flyer to leave with adolescents after sessions. In the near future, we are thinking of tangible tools such as books for long-term use. We are hoping that the digital divide is reducing as years go by; however, we will always go with the solution that serves our communities.
6. How do you balance mission and margin, and has there ever been tension between the two?
There has always been tension, and any founder who tells you otherwise is not being fully honest. In our early years, NGOs buying for donation accounted for nearly 99% of our sales. It was a fragile model given the current climate in the charities and NGOs space.
The turning point was accepting that sustainability and mission are not opposites. If we cannot sustain the business, we cannot serve the communities. So, we pushed into new markets, built a sales agent network across Rwanda to meet the end users where they are, and invested in demand creation. Of the 74 jobs we created in 2025 alone, 93% were filled by women. We are building a model where each one strengthens the other. The financial projections are not where we want them, but at least the direction is clear.
7. International support can come with expectations that do not always align with local realities. How do you manage these relationships while staying true to your vision?
Partnership is a skill, and it has taken years to develop. Early on, I felt the weight of needing to fit into frameworks designed for realities that were not always ours. Over time, I learned to enter every partnership with clarity about what we will not compromise. Our vision, our community, and our understanding of what women in Rwanda and Africa at large actually need.
Numbers do not lie. We attract aligned partners with the quality of our evidence. Last year, we conducted independent research that showed that 99% of our customers reported an improved quality of life. Partners serious about impact want to fund what works. We have also been intentional about seeking local partners alongside international ones, because that balance protects us from becoming dependent on a single source of support or a single definition of success. We look for partners in collaboration, funding, and even co-creation where viable.
8. What is your pan-African expansion strategy, and what conditions must be in place before Kosmotive enters a new market?
In 2025, we expanded into the DRC, the Central African Republic, and Kenya, distributing over 111,000 KosmoPads kits in DRC alone. That growth followed where the need was greatest, where there was a ready demand, and where infrastructure allowed reaching a distributor.
Our expansion is built on two major conditions: the depth of need and the presence of trustworthy distribution partners with last-mile relationships. Expansion for us is not about moving products across borders. It is about replicating the ecosystem of empowerment. The markets we watch most closely are East and Central Africa, where there is cultural and linguistic proximity.
9. What has kept you going, and how has your leadership style evolved over these ten years?
What has kept me going is the women and girls who use our products. When independent research tells us that 2 in 5 school-going girls are now missing fewer school days, that is not a mere statistics. That is life. Those lives are why I wake up every day.
My leadership has changed enormously. I came into this work believing passion was enough. I have learned that passion without strategy is just noise. I am now more evidence-driven, more comfortable with uncertainty, and more deliberate about building a team that challenges me. The years when we over-invested in production without fully understanding market demand taught me lessons no accelerator program could have. I am a better founder because of what went wrong, and I carry those lessons with a grateful heart to keep learning.
10. What would you tell a young woman who has an idea in women's health but fears the market is not ready?
I would tell her that the market being unready is precisely the opportunity. If it were ready, someone would already be there. The spaces that feel too stigmatized or too overlooked are often where the need is deepest and where the loyalty of the women you serve will be the strongest you will ever find.
Start before you feel ready, because readiness is a moving target. Cosmos Magazine started with me and my friends writing articles we believed in. From that single act grew everything Kosmotive is today. Listen more than you speak. Build a team that shares your values even when they challenge your ideas. And on the hard days, remember that the girl waiting for what you are building is reason enough to begin.
About Kosmotive
Kosmotive is a purpose-driven brand ecosystem founded in 2014 to improve reproductive and maternal health for women and girls in Rwanda and across Africa. The company develops innovative, accessible solutions that increase access to vital health information, essential products, and services for those who currently lack them. Its four products; KosmoPads reusable sanitary pads, KosmoWear maternity and nursing wear, KosmoHealth digital health platform, and KosmoMag work collectively to dismantle stigma, reduce school absenteeism, and build economic resilience for women and girls. Combining design, health, and impact, Kosmotive creates beautiful, functional solutions that empower women and girls across Rwanda and beyond.
To learn more visit: https://kosmotive.rw/
