Refilwe Digoamaje - Ulimi Larona

Founder name: Refilwe (Fifi) Digoamaje

Startup name: Ulimi Larona 

Current student at the Business School 

What is the startup?

Ulimi is a story-first language learning platform for African children aged 3–15, teaching isiZulu and Setswana through narrated folktales, vocabulary games, and serialised Webtoons. The platform is built around the idea that language is best learnt through story and culture, not rote repetition. We operate a freemium model, with schools as a free distribution channel that drives family subscriptions. Our mission is to make indigenous African languages joyful, accessible, and economically sustainable for the creators who carry them.

Tell us more about the startup

At age 13 I started attending a multicultural boarding school where none of my roommates spoke my mother tongue, so English became our shared language by default. Within a year, I was dreaming in English — and today, if I'm honest, I can't confidently say the months of the year in my own language. That's my story, and it's the story of millions of African children. The idea for Ulimi came when I was searching for a bedtime story app in my mother tongue and found nothing. It was reinforced when I taught English in South Korea and watched my pre-kindergarten students move effortlessly between English and Korean — fully bilingual, naturally and joyfully. I came home asking: why can't South African children have that? The MBA and Edinburgh Innovations gave me the tools and the framework to stop asking that question and start answering it.

What three word best describe your entrepreneurial journey?

Formative, rewarding, grounding. The entrepreneurial journey has taught me more than any classroom ever could — about resilience, about people, and about myself. It’s been deeply rewarding to see an idea I believe in attract real attention and real support. And it has kept me grounded in what actually matters: the children, the families, and the communities this is built for.

What motivates you as an entrepreneur? 

What motivates me is the idea of a child hearing their grandmother’s language for the first time and feeling something click — a sense of belonging they didn’t know they were missing. Language is identity, and when it’s lost, something irreplaceable goes with it. I’m also motivated by the opportunity to show that cultural preservation and commercial viability are not opposites. Ulimi is proof that you can build a sustainable business while doing something that genuinely matters.

How do you define success? 

For me, success is a child who grows up able to speak to their grandparents in their language. That’s the long game. In the short term, success looks like validation — and we’ve had some brilliant early signals. We won the PowerHer Up competition, were selected for the Startup Summer Accelerator, and most recently were awarded the Edinburgh Innovations Venture Development Fund. We’ve completed 24 primary research interviews with parents across Gauteng, Edinburgh, and London, and we’re now in active MVP demo sessions with families. The momentum is real.

What piece of advice would you give to budding entrepreneurs? 

Talk to your customer before you build anything. The instinct is to refine the idea in your head, but the real clarity comes from the conversations you’re most nervous about having. I’d also say: don’t underestimate the power of your own story. The reason people believe in Ulimi is not just the product — it’s why I’m building it. Your founder story is not a nice-to-have; it is your most compelling asset. Lean into it.

What role has Edinburgh Innovations played in your entrepreneurial journey? 

Edinburgh Innovations has been a genuine cornerstone of this journey. From resources and funding opportunities to introductions and encouragement at exactly the right moments, the support has been invaluable. But honestly, what has made the biggest difference is the people — specifically the team at Student Enterprise. Their selflessness in sharing information, opening doors, and cheering us on has been nothing short of phenomenal. We would not be where we are without them.

What’s next? 

We’re launching our MVP in South Africa. That means getting Ulimi into the hands of real families — parents and children testing the platform together, learning together, and telling us what we’ve got right and what we still need to fix. The Edinburgh Innovations Venture Development Fund will be instrumental in making that happen, supporting native speaker validation, narrator recording sessions, and the language quality assurance that sits at the heart of everything we do. This is the moment the idea becomes a product.