Background to the story
Yvonne Buluma-Samba, Tech Founder of E-Spaces Marketplace running LocaeRise and BuildLocalGrowGlobal, first engaged with SkilledUp Life in August 2022. Her engagement with SkilledUp Life has been dynamic and adaptive, reflecting the ever-changing nature of her entrepreneurial journey.
- In August 2022, E-Spaces subscribed to SkilledUp Life for a month.
- After a six-month break, the company returned for another month, followed by a subscription for four months after a one-month gap.
- Two months later, Yvonne returned under the brand My Wellbeing Champion, subscribing for a month.
- Following a significant hiatus, Yvonne re-engaged with SkilledUp Life in December 2024 as LocaeRise.
This irregular engagement pattern reflects the reality of tech startups: navigating uncertainty, experimenting with different approaches, and recalibrating as new opportunities and challenges arise. The so called overnight success rarely reflects the real journey of an entrepreneur.
The Pivot Journey: From E-Spaces to LocaeRise
The evolution from E-Spaces to LocaeRise marked a critical turning point in Yvonne’s entrepreneurial journey. E-Spaces was a revolutionary product but, in hindsight, was ahead of its time. The pivot to LocaeRise was driven by deep market insights gained through a business-changing, RTO grant from Innovate UK. This grant provided Yvonne, a former teacher, with a comprehensive understanding of the education system, its market dynamics, and emerging trends.
LocaeRise was developed to address contemporary challenges in education procurement. It connects schools with local and sustainable vendors, helping them tackle pressing issues such as:
- ESG compliance.
- Funding challenges.
- Community-driven procurement.
The platform aligns with schools’ needs for sustainable, equitable, and efficient solutions while fostering local economic growth.
Experience with SkilledUp Life
Our journey with SkilledUp Life has mirrored our startup evolution. In 2022 with E-Spaces, we were still exploring market fit and faced challenges with team structure and operational priorities. By late 2023, MyWellbeingChampion was an experimental spin-off idea, but the broader focus on education and sustainability was not yet central to our work. SkilledUp Life provided access to incredible volunteers, but the timing and alignment with our organisational maturity weren’t optimal. We learned a lot from those earlier experiences, particularly the importance of clear role definition, onboarding processes, and structured goals for volunteers.
Now, with LocaeRise, we’re in a much stronger position. We’ve refined our strategy, built a clearer roadmap, and identified specific ways SkilledUp Life can support us. We see SkilledUp Life not just as a talent provider but as a strategic partner in helping us grow sustainably.
How LocaeRise plans to use SkilledUp Life now
Currently, our team is small but focused. We have 4 core team members managing and advising on operations, strategy and product development. Through SkilledUp Life, we plan to fill 3 to 5 key roles in areas like marketing, product management and community engagement over the next few months. These roles will help us enhance our outreach, streamline processes and develop our platform further.
About LocaeRise: The Problem solved
LocaeRise addresses the inefficiencies in school procurement. Schools often rely on large suppliers like Amazon, which diverts money away from local economies. Our platform provides:
- Access to funding options tailored to schools.
- A marketplace for local, sustainable products.
- Tools to help schools meet ESG requirements.
- A focus on social value and community impact through shorter, transparent supply chains.
We’re building a tech platform that integrates funding solutions, product discovery, and social impact measurement tools, making it easier for schools to procure sustainably and locally.
Vision for the next 6-12 months
In 6 months, we aim to onboard 50 schools and a strong base of 100 local vendors. SkilledUp Life volunteers will play a critical role in content creation, outreach and product testing during this phase.
In 12 months, our goal is to expand to 200 schools and create measurable impact reports showcasing how our platform redirects spending into local economies. By then, we envision scaling our SkilledUp Life roles to 10, focusing on data analysis, partnership management and customer support to maintain and grow our network.
How LocaeRise will manage SkilledUp Life Volunteers
To ensure effective use of SkilledUp Life volunteers, we’ll focus on:
- Clear Role Definitions: Outlining specific tasks and deliverables.
- Structured Onboarding: Training volunteers to integrate seamlessly into our processes.
- Performance Monitoring: Regular check-ins and feedback loops to ensure mutual value.
Thank you for the chance to re-engage with SkilledUp Life. We’re excited to build a structured, impactful partnership this time and leverage the incredible talent pool to accelerate our growth while creating real value for schools and communities.
A resilient Tech Entrepreneur
Yvonne’s journey demonstrates significant resilience and adaptability. Tech startups rarely follow a linear path to success. The process of finding a scalable business model often involves trial, error and transformation. Her ability to pivot from E-Spaces to LocaeRise exemplifies her commitment to innovation and impact in the education sector.
Yvonne’s story is a testament to the importance of persistence, adaptability and a willingness to learn, qualities essential for navigating the complex world of tech entrepreneurship.
Author: Case Study is written by LocaeRise Tech Founder, Yvonne Buluma-Samba.
Manoj Ranaweera
Manoj has been building tech startups and related ventures since 2004 (22 yrs). He founded SkilledUp Life to address his own problem and we continue to be the most demanding customer of our own product.
