Richlyn Kainekay Turay, 2025 OSVP Tech Queen Winner
At a time when innovation continues to shape opportunities for young entrepreneurs, the 2025 Orange Social Venture Prize (OSVP) Tech Queen Winner, Richlyn Kainekay Turay, has shared her inspiring journey, describing the initiative as a transformative platform that empowered her to turn vision into meaningful impact.
Speaking on the theme: “When Innovation Meets Opportunity,” Richlyn Kainekay Turay explained how winning the OSVP Tech Queen 2025 title became a defining moment in her journey as an innovator, entrepreneur and advocate for women in technology.
Speaking from Freetown on Monday, 11 May 2026, Richlyn Kainekay Turay highlighted the role of the Orange Digital Center in fostering innovation, stressing that technology is not solely about digital solutions but also about empowering people and communities through opportunities that promote growth and progress.
Richlyn Kainekay Turay, who serves as Co-Chief Executive Officer of TechMinds SL Ltd., a Sierra Leone-based software and IT consultancy company, said the OSVP experience significantly strengthened her professional journey and expanded the impact of her flagship innovation, Smart College, a digital platform designed to modernize higher education management.
According to her, Smart College was developed to streamline institutional operations and improve learning experiences for students and educators across higher learning institutions in Sierra Leone.
“Being recognized as the OSVP Tech Queen 2025 was more than receiving an award,” Richlyn Kainekay Turay said. “It was a powerful vote of confidence; confidence in the problem we are solving, the potential of our solution and the impact women can create when given the right support.”
She explained that prior to OSVP, Smart College had shown promising signs of growth but remained largely at an early development stage. However, after benefiting from the support provided through the Orange Social Venture Prize, the platform evolved into a more refined and scalable digital solution.
Richlyn Kainekay Turay noted that through OSVP mentorship and guidance, Smart College experienced significant enhancements, including improved system performance, smarter workflows and stronger features tailored to address the real operational challenges facing academic institutions.
She further disclosed that the exposure created through Orange opened new opportunities for partnerships, industry engagement and collaboration, positioning the innovation for long-term sustainability within Sierra Leone’s growing education technology ecosystem.
“OSVP did not simply showcase our product,” she stated. “It connected us to people, networks and knowledge that strengthened our solution and positioned it for sustainable growth.”
Beyond technical development, Richlyn Kainekay Turay emphasized the critical role played by the Orange Digital Center in shaping her leadership journey.
She described the experience as one that provided much more than technical assistance, noting that mentorship and tailored support gave her renewed confidence, sharpened her leadership skills and helped refine TechMinds SL Ltd.’s long-term growth strategy.
According to Richlyn Kainekay Turay, the experience reinforced her belief that innovation achieves lasting success when people remain at the centre of technological advancement.
“For women in technology and entrepreneurship, this kind of intentional support matters deeply,” she noted, while praising Orange for promoting inclusion and diversity in innovation spaces.
She stressed that innovation becomes stronger when women are empowered to lead and contribute meaningfully to solving societal challenges.
Using her own experience as a testimony, Richlyn Kainekay Turay encouraged young women across Sierra Leone to apply for the Orange Social Venture Prize (OSVP) 2026, emphasizing that uncertainty should never discourage innovators from pursuing meaningful ideas.
“To every young woman with an idea capable of solving a real challenge: OSVP is for you,” she encouraged. “If your solution is still evolving, apply. If you are unsure whether you are ready, take the step anyway.”
She described the Orange Social Venture Prize as more than an awards programme, explaining that it serves as a platform for nurturing innovation, encouraging responsible leadership and connecting entrepreneurs to mentorship, visibility and supportive networks.
Richlyn Kainekay Turay further revealed that OSVP has inspired her commitment to mentoring students and young entrepreneurs, especially women, as a way of multiplying opportunities and strengthening Sierra Leone’s innovation ecosystem.
“I continue to mentor students and young entrepreneurs because innovation grows stronger when knowledge is shared and opportunities are multiplied,” she said.
Reflecting on her journey, Richlyn Kainekay Turay described her success story as proof that innovation thrives when vision is supported by opportunity and guided by purpose.
Meanwhile, applications are now open for the 8th edition of the Orange Social Venture Prize (OSVP) 2026. Entrepreneurs in Sierra Leone have been invited to submit their innovative projects between 26 March and 17 May 2026.
The competition offers attractive prizes, including SLE 200,000 for the National Winner in Sierra Leone, SLE 120,000 for the Tech Queen Women’s Category, international prizes ranging between €10,000 and €25,000, as well as a €20,000 International Women’s Prize.
Richlyn Kainekay Turay concluded by encouraging aspiring innovators not to underestimate their ideas, insisting that progress often begins with the courage to take the first step.
“OSVP changed my path,” she reflected. “It might just shape yours too.”
