For Nathan Tshamba, growing up in Botswana meant experiencing both the beauty of one of the world’s richest wildlife ecosystems and the challenges that come with living alongside it. As a 2025 Aspire Leaders Program alumnus and founder of DURAS AI, Tshamba has transformed those experiences into an innovative venture that combines artificial intelligence, conservation, and sustainable tourism. His vision recently earned national recognition after winning the Orange Summer Pitch Challenge, positioning DURAS AI as a promising solution for protecting communities, supporting wildlife conservation, and making Botswana’s natural heritage more accessible to its own citizens.
Growing Up Where Communities and Wildlife Coexist
Tshamba’s leadership journey began long before launching a startup. Growing up in Botswana, he witnessed firsthand how communities living near wildlife reserves navigated the daily realities of human-elephant conflict. While Botswana is internationally celebrated for its conservation efforts, many rural families continue to experience crop destruction, livestock losses, and even threats to human life as elephants move through their communities.
Those experiences shaped the way Tshamba viewed leadership and inspired him to search for practical solutions that could improve people’s lives while protecting the country’s wildlife.
“I grew up in Botswana, a country blessed with abundant wildlife but also facing the daily reality of human-elephant conflict. Watching communities live alongside elephants, sometimes in fear and sometimes in loss, left a deep impression on me”.
His first venture, Imait Technology, further strengthened that perspective. Through an AgTech startup that used artificial intelligence and Internet of Things (IoT) technologies to improve export-grade beef traceability, Tshamba discovered that successful innovation begins by understanding the communities a solution is meant to serve.
Building DURAS AI to Protect People, Wildlife, and Opportunity
Those experiences ultimately inspired Tshamba to create DURAS AI, a venture designed to address two seemingly separate challenges that affect Botswana every day: human-elephant conflict and limited access to domestic tourism.
While elephants threaten farming communities, Botswana’s internationally renowned safari industry remains out of reach for many citizens because of its high cost. Rather than viewing these as independent issues, Tshamba developed a solution that allows each challenge to help solve the other.
DURAS AI uses autonomous drones powered by artificial intelligence to detect elephants, protect farming communities, and collect environmental data while simultaneously capturing immersive virtual reality safari experiences. Revenue generated through the VR tourism platform helps subsidize affordable subscriptions for farmers, creating a self-sustaining model that supports conservation monitoring, strengthens human-elephant coexistence, and expands sustainable tourism across Botswana.
“I want to see communities thriving alongside elephants, and Batswana discovering the beauty of their own country.”
By connecting conservation, tourism, and emerging technologies, DURAS AI demonstrates that protecting wildlife and supporting local communities do not have to compete. Instead, they can reinforce one another through innovative, sustainable business models.
Winning the Orange Summer Pitch Challenge
The impact and potential of DURAS AI were recognized nationally when Tshamba won the Orange Summer Pitch Challenge, one of Botswana’s premier entrepreneurship competitions.
Competing against more than 180 applicants from across the country challenged him to strengthen every aspect of the business, from refining the venture’s value proposition to validating its long-term sustainability.
“Competing against more than 180 applicants from across Botswana was both humbling and exhilarating. The process pushed us to refine our pitch, clarify our value proposition, and think deeply about our business model.”
When DURAS AI was announced as the winning venture, the recognition represented much more than a successful pitch competition.
“When they announced DURAS AI as the winner, I felt a surge of validation, not just for me, but for the communities we are trying to serve. Winning meant that our solution was not just a good idea; it was a viable, impactful venture that could make a real difference.”
The award also opened new conversations with potential partners and investors while reinforcing Tshamba’s belief that innovation rooted in community needs can create meaningful and lasting change.
Looking Ahead: Scaling Conservation Through Innovation
You do not need to wait for the perfect moment or the perfect resources. Build a prototype, test it, fail, learn, and iterate
Following his success at the Orange Summer Pitch Challenge, Tshamba and the DURAS AI team are preparing for the next stage of growth.
The company plans to launch pilot projects with safari operators in Maun and Gaborone while validating its virtual reality tourism platform and AI-powered wildlife monitoring system. At the same time, the team is raising pre-seed funding to expand throughout Botswana before bringing the solution to neighboring countries, including Namibia and South Africa.
For Tshamba, however, growth is measured by more than expansion. His long-term vision is to create a future where communities and wildlife thrive together while making Botswana’s natural heritage more accessible to its own people.
Reflecting on the journey from observing challenges in his own community to building a nationally recognized startup, Tshamba hopes his story encourages other Aspire alumni to trust the value of their own experiences and take the first step toward solving the problems they see around them.
“Start where you are, with what you have. You do not need to wait for the perfect moment or the perfect resources. Build a prototype, test it, fail, learn, and iterate. Leadership is not a solo journey. Surround yourself with people who challenge you and support you, and never underestimate the power of your own story. Your lived experience is your unique advantage. Use it to design solutions that truly reflect the needs of your community.”
For Tshamba, the journey behind DURAS AI is proof that some of the most meaningful innovations begin with a simple observation, a commitment to serve others, and the courage to transform local challenges into solutions with the potential to create global impact.
