OUR FOUNDING STORY
A Problem Faced. A Dream Sparked. A Vision Realised.
HOW A LIVED EXPERIENCE GAVE RISE TO A COMPANY THAT IS CHANGING STUDENT OUTCOMES
Excel@Uni was born from a lived student experience, where support was missing, dropout was common, and funding was falling short. Today, it’s a technology-driven company that empowers students to succeed and helps funders protect their investment, develop future-ready talent, and drive meaningful social impact.
In his third year at university, Lungelo Gumede, our founding CEO of Excel@Uni, lost his bursary after being unable to meet a prerequisite requirement for a key course. With his parents unable to provide financial support, Lungelo was forced to raise his tuition fees alone. He turned to entrepreneurship, running small ventures on campus just to stay enrolled. The stress nearly caused him to drop out. Similarly, Ludwick Marishane, Excel@Uni’s founding Chief Partnerships Officer, faced overwhelming challenges in his final year. Juggling academic responsibilities and work to support himself, he too came dangerously close to dropping out.
What made the founders’ situations even more troubling was that both had entered university as top-performing students, with excellent academic records and strong potential. But talent wasn’t enough. They discovered firsthand that most student support systems are built to fund access, not ensure success. Their bursaries provided financial aid but little else: no personal guidance, no academic support, no safety net.
A SYSTEMIC PROBLEM BECOMES A PERSONAL MISSION
After graduating, Lungelo and Ludwick reflected deeply on their journeys. They realised their experience wasn’t unique, it was systemic. Thousands of students were entering university, but too few were completing it. And when students dropped out, the consequences were far-reaching:
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Students confronted shattered dreams, deep community disappointment, and a lifetime burdened by financial debt.
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Corporate donors lost the financial investment, and incurred additional recruitment costs to replace failed bursars.
Inspired to act, the founders began developing a student success framework rooted in empirical research. They identified the following essential pillars proven to increase graduation and employability outcomes:
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Access to Funding
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Ongoing Student Monitoring and Tracking
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Academic Support and Tutoring
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Mentoring, Advisory and Personal Development
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Career-Readiness and Skills Development
These pillars became the foundation of what would become Excel@Uni’s integrated service offering.
TESTING THE MODEL
In 2013, the founders pitched their idea to a bursary funder that agreed to trial the model over a full three-year funding cycle, the length of a typical undergraduate degree. During this pilot, Lungelo and Ludwick personally delivered the entire programme, closely monitoring student outcomes, providing academic support, mentorship, and career readiness training. The ROI was clear with reduced academic failure, better graduate outcomes, and stronger alignment between company investment and talent pipeline.
SCALING THROUGH TECHNOLOGY
The success of the pilot confirmed that the model worked, but also revealed a major constraint: it wasn’t scalable without technology. The founders pivoted Excel@Uni from a hands-on student support programme to a technology-enabled EdTech company. They began digitising their student success framework, creating scalable tools to track performance, deliver support, and report on outcomes. To lead this transition, Lesedi Makena, a long-time collaborator and skilled technologist, joined the team as Chief Technology Officer. In 2018, Excel@Uni was officially registered as a standalone business entity, with a mission to simplify student success, by providing the best technology-driven scholarship support, enabling managers to invest in more students.
