Supporting Mission-Driven Entrepreneurs
Stories about Alumni and Partners that appeared in the Press
Access Afya runs a chain of micro-clinics in Nairobi’s informal settlements. The startup was founded in 2012 by Melissa Menke. Access Afya’s Akiba ya Roho initiative — a comprehensive diabetes and hypertension management programme — scored the social enterprise a place on the 2018 MIT Solver class.
http://ventureburn.com/2018/09/mit-solve-africa/
Arpit Dhupar knows that only too well. He grew up in Delhi and developed breathing problems at a young age. Now 25 and a mechanical engineer, he has taken on the fight against pollution by tackling diesel generators.
https://www.dw.com/en/indian-startup-turns-air-pollution-into-ink/a-45664168
The experience sparked the idea for Jerry the Bear, an adorable robot teddy that simulates symptoms of Type 1 diabetes — including fluctuating blood sugar, bathroom urgency and feelings of dizziness. It’s designed so kids can better understand their own health and help normalize their experiences.
https://nypost.com/2018/09/27/meet-the-tech-whiz-building-robotic-teddy-bears-to-comfort-sick-kids/
I hadn’t heard the term social entrepreneurship before coming to New Orleans. When I did, it really clicked with me – I realized that this is exactly what I want to do. To use my design skills to do good for the world, to help change things for the better. It inspired me to start my company, where all of our products give back and are made of eco-friendly materials.
https://dno.la/blogs/journal/do-your-thing-tippy-tippens-and-all-things-good
Several years ago, Kristof Grina and his friends started Up Top Acres. It’s an urban farming company that grows their crops on DMV rooftops.
https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/local/man-transforms-rooftops-into-fertile-farmland-in-dc/65-597517273
Ayzh (pronounced ‘eyes’) is a for-profit venture that is perhaps best known for its JANMA birthing kit. The kit, which is aimed at rural women in areas where healthcare and sanitation are often a low priority, includes the tools necessary to have a hygienic birth in the presence of a doctor or midwife. The expectant mother is given the jute purse after delivery for her own use, which Bai sees as an advocacy tool that furthers the movement for cleaner births.
https://www.firstpost.com/life/ayzh-founder-zubaida-bai-on-the-birth-kits-helping-women-in-rural-india-have-hygienic-deliveries-5236291.html
The ban on logging and the need to preserve the environment from the harmful effects of plastic waste have presented eco warrior Lorna Rutto, with the perfect incentive to turn waste into cash. Through her company, Eco- Post, Lorna is doing her bit to salvage the country’s forest cover, while keeping the land free from plastic waste. I spent time with this eco-preneur and found out, that apart from creating jobs in an endevour to create a clean environment, Lorna is living her dream. Her story is the subject of this week’s Women and Power with Gladys Gachanja.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=9&v=sEsp9Ms2d4c
On the commodity market, there’s no such thing as a high quality cacao bean. All beans are treated as equal, and their price is usually set very low. So the only way most cacao farmers can make more money is by selling more beans, and with the push for increased quantity comes inevitable exploitation.
http://www.kalw.org/post/bean-bar-bay-area-s-chocolate-revolution
Shivani Siroya founded Tala after spending time in emerging markets and found that mobile tech is the best way to solve this problem she was passionate about. Tala provides microloans to people in emerging markets who are unable to secure credit through traditional banks. They use nontraditional data pulled from mobile phones and have extended credit to over 1.3 million customers.
https://www.nasdaq.com/article/venture-out-shivani-siroya-ceo-of-tala-cm1024377
Just like our food systems, clothing production can be extraordinarily wasteful. It’s a disturbing and upsetting fact that at least as much energy, labor and raw materials that go into a meal we eat or a pair of jeans we buy is wasted on one that’s trashed. Yes, we throw almost 50 percent of our food away, and it turns out that statistic is probably true for fashion, too.
https://www.mnn.com/lifestyle/natural-beauty-fashion/blogs/fashion-company-doing-something-about-textile-waste
These individuals didn’t have credit scores. So I looked at other things. I lent to one woman, for instance, who I knew saved 30 percent of her income every month for her son’s computer class. I’d observed that she bought her inventory every third Thursday of the month, and that people in her community spent more time in her store than a
https://www.wired.com/story/wired25-melinda-gates-shivani-siroya-credit-loans/
Based on her experiences and observations she believes “female investors are less likely to invest with a ‘herd mentality’ that I find most investors gravitate towards.” She continued, “I, personally, find women to be more open minded to unique business models that have the potential to resolve larger problems than the same acute problem often chased by multiple investors.”
https://www.precisionag.com/service-providers/business-management/why-is-funding-a-challenge-for-women-led-agtech-companies/
Sara Polon, the founder of Washington, D.C.-based vegan soup company Soupergirl, says the company has to walk a “fine line” trying to maintain local ingredients while growing on a national level.
https://thehill.com/hilltv/rising/406695-soupergirl-founder-discusses-working-with-local-farmers-to-grow-company
Deepesh Agarwal, co-founder and CEO, MoveInSync Technology Solutions, said: “The infrastructural development in our country has hampered our commute. Traffic in metro cities is not going to get better, it will only deteriorate with time. The study shows how people spend a huge chunk of their daily life just in going and coming back from work. From the figures, it is estimated that a person spends almost 7 per cent of his or her life only in office commute.”
http://www.mydigitalfc.com/miscellany/delhis-office-commute-time-highest
Donnel Baird has a more complex business than most start-up founders. His company BlocPower aims to scale green energy across American inner cities by updating millions of older buildings while hiring from vulnerable populations. It’s a public benefit corporation, so it’s for-profit and focused on the bottom line but also committed to energy efficiency, renewable energy, greenhouse gas reductions, and economic development and job creation in low income communities.
https://www.eater.com/2018/11/9/18072638/start-to-sale-donnel-baird-blocpower
Nona Yehia, co-founder and CEO of Vertical Harvest, the Wyoming-based company partnering on the project, said it has the potential “to create a model that can affect communities all over the globe.”
https://lancasteronline.com/news/local/plans-advancing-for-m–m-high-tech-greenhouse-along/article_b7cfadfa-ad6a-11e8-b865-9367abb1fe46.html
With the energy boost came the realization that raising moringa as a crop could not only improve local nutrition but also provide sustainable livelihoods. To fulfill that vision, Curtis and three colleagues started Kuli Kuli to sell moringa-based energy bars and shots, herbal tea, and powder supplements. “I knew that introducing moringa to the U.S. market was a venture that would be successful,” she says. “I just wanted to make sure it was done in a way that helps support women moringa farmers around the world.”
https://www.inc.com/magazine/201809/bill-saporito/2018-inc5000-kuli-kuli-foods.html
Modarres now hosts a series of large Shabbat Salaam interfaith dinners in San Francisco, Washington, D.C., and New York City, all of which have sold out. An observant Jew oversees the kosher process, and there’s always a separate kosher kitchen. A Muslim certifier makes sure the animals have been sacrificed in a way that’s acceptable. Abe’s Meats is not a brick-and-mortar operation: It’s more about rigorous sourcing of poultry, goat, and even black-bellied ram.
https://www.specialtyfood.com/news/article/12-under-35-mohammad-modarres-founding-director-interfaith-ventures-and-founder-abes-meats/
Organizations like Uncommon Cacao say they aim to “build a more fair and sustainable specialty cacao supply chain.” Uncommon Cacao issues a yearly transparency report that details the realities of growing cacao in each region and supplies information including annual farmer revenue, flavor notes and prices at each point of sale.
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/fancy-chocolate-expensive_us_5b7d8c4de4b07295150f25c6
Energy Harvesters brings a disruptive technology to the wearable market. Our Walking Charger™ patented technology gives users the ability to “charge their mobile device batteries anytime anywhere from their own walking”. We harness the energy of human motion providing an on-demand power source satisfying the growing energy demands of Smartphone users, Wearables and mobile electronic devices to power billions of batteries and sensors.
http://www.starthub.org/startups/energy-harvesters-llc
Until recently, there was no overlap: Meats were either kosher, halal, or neither. A new brand seeks to change that. Abe’s Meats, from Interfaith Ventures, reports that it is producing “the first-ever Interfaith Meat products that are both Halal and Kosher.” Founder Mohammad Modarres says, “Brands that offer dual Kosher and Halal food products do exist. However, meat is one of the most complicated and expensive products to produce as ‘Interfaith’ because of the production process, cost, and need to collaborate.
https://www.restaurantbusinessonline.com/advice-guy/can-meat-be-both-kosher-halal?utm_source=Marketing%20Cloud&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=RB-Daily_07-19-18&sfmc_s=1591418
CleanChoice Energy, a renewable energy company providing 100% clean electricity to customers across the country, has launched the CleanChoice Energy Broker Program. The new program allows energy brokers and consultants to make CleanChoice’s 100% regional solar and wind power and Community Solar products available to both their business and nonprofit customers.
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cleanchoice-energy-launches-renewable-energy-broker-program-300682722.html
Two young engineers have found an opportunity amid a collapsing economy in Venezuela – inside a garbage dump full of broken electronic hardware.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-plastic/venezuelan-engineers-turn-plastic-trash-into-car-parts-amid-crisis-idUSKBN1K81UH
Today, the community of Lahanda in Keonjhar, Odisha in India commissioned a water system delivering safe drinking water on tap to 206 residents. The community is treating the water using an invention called the Hydrodoser, developed by New York State nonprofit AguaClara Reach. The Hydrodoser is a gravity-based, sensor-and-pump-free technology that delivers an accurate amount of chlorine to disinfect water, making it safe for human consumption. The simple yet sophisticated technology is making it a viable drinking water treatment option for remote communities that cannot afford conventional, electric-powered water treatment.
https://www.aguaclarareach.org/latest-press-release
Koe Koe Tech’s app is called “Maymay,” meaning “mother.” It’s a health support service for pregnant women and mothers.
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/editors/1/myanmarsstartuprevolution/index.html
“I saw women around me whose potential was not being recognized,” said Bai, which stoked a desire to give back to those she cared so deeply about.
https://biz.source.colostate.edu/ending-maternal-mortality-gsse-mba/
Saathi began in 2015, when its co-founders came together on a mission to create fully eco-friendly, compostable sanitary napkins using locally sourced banana fiber from the state of Gujarat, where Saathi is based. Saathi pads are Biodegradable & Compostable, using plant-based materials for the leak-proof outer layers of the napkin. Saathi pads are made with banana fibre because of its highly absorbent properties, and the environmental and social benefits of its supply chain.
https://www.biospectrumindia.com/news/69/11162/mapping-women-hygiene-through-innovation.html
All Market Inc (AMI), the parent company of Vita Coco, purchased natural energy drink Runa, according to FoodBev Media. The brand’s organic beverages are made from guayusa leaves, which are found in the Amazon rainforest.
https://www.fooddive.com/news/vita-cocos-parent-company-acquires-natural-energy-drink-runa/526328/
Headquartered in Santa Monica, California, Tala was founded by Shivani Siroya, an Indian-origin entrepreneur in 2012. The startup aims to broaden access to credit and financial services by harnessing non-traditional data. Tala’s proprietary credit model leverages alternative data and state-of-the-art machine learning techniques to assess the creditworthiness of thin-file customers.
https://www.peoplemattersglobal.com/news/hiring/fintech-startup-tala-opens-first-engineering-hub-in-india-in-bengaluru-18590
In the realm of capital, Shivani Siroya’s micro-finance venture Tala is funding developing-world business owners who would usually be considered too risky by the traditional standards of credit bureaus or who would not be tracked at all. Tala landed on Forbes’ Fintech 50 2018 list of disrupters, with $109 million raised and 4.5 million loans initiated, with a repayment rate of 90%.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/katherinelove/2018/06/20/for-success-beyond-the-bottom-line-these-women-executives-lead-with-purpose/#5f133cf740ca
SolePower’s integrated, self-powered device in its footwear provides real time location and data tracking of the workforce. Beyond the obvious accountability and emergency response features, this wearable can preemptively identify fatigued employees by the change in their gait along with a few other parameters.
http://constructionexec.com/article/wearables-for-construction
Atul believes in taking feedback from multiple people. He goes to the Sarpanch, meets the best farmer in his taluka, and then travels 70 kms to meet the Agri dealers at the market place. He ends up getting confused. The dealers talk to him about a new product being launched by a well-known company. They also try to convince him to buy a few low-priced unbranded products which are supposed to give bumper yields.
http://www.destaglobal.com/the-farmers-smartphone-to-impact-the-agriculture-ecosystem/
India has some of the worst air pollution in the world and smog levels often spike during its sweltering summers, when smoke-belching diesel generators are used to offset power shortages, as air-conditioners and fans stoke consumption.
https://www.devdiscourse.com/Article/21766-chakr-innovation-figures-out-how-to-turn-generator-exhaust-into-ink
Jaan Pak is a clean energy initiative, founded in 2014, and recipient of various local and international accolades since then. Jaan Pak won the Rwanga Social Startup Competition in October 2014, bringing home USD 20,000 to kick start operations.More recently, Jaan Pak was a finalist in the UNIDO Global Cleantech Innovation Program, Winner of the Shell Tameer Bright Energy Ideas Award, and again the only Pakistani company to date to win USD 100,000 at the Innovation Impact Dubai Expo Live program.
https://www.techjuice.pk/inaara-impact-ventures-invests-in-jaan-pak-in-a-revenue-sharing-model/
Impact investment fund Menterra Venture Advisors, announced a new round of investment in Biosense Technologies alongside its investment partner Artha Venture Challenge.
https://www.thehindu.com/business/Economy/biosense-technologies-raises-1-million/article23495927.ece
Access Afya Kenya is developing and testing a revolutionary approach that aims to put nutrient monitoring into the hands of mothers using the non-invasive technique of near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS). Fingernail scanning can be done by mothers at home, and results are instantaneous and easy to interpret. With the 1000 Day Nutrient Monitor, each mother can repeatedly analyse her and her baby’s nutrient levels, informing proactive diet changes.
https://globenewswire.com/news-release/2018/05/31/1515272/0/en/100-Bold-Ideas-to-Improve-Women-and-Children-s-Health-and-Rights-in-the-Developing-World.html
Because we believe in technology as a resource to build sustainable future, me as a part of Nedraki’s team felt very excited for our conference on may 10th and the commitment proved by the innovator’s who attended the event. They were so grateful to be an important piece in this day, they were able to connect with others that are doing similar things and is exactly this what liked them the most, the opportunity of doing networking, that I could see clearly. I also felt pleased to gather almost a hundred people in the event and felt very motivated to repeat this experience because almost another eighty people at least stay on the selection process that couldn’t be present in this conference.
https://medium.com/@astridjhc/lets-innovate-with-nedraki-6c34faad36e1
In 2010, Brown University student Tyler Gage took a course about the languages and religions of the Amazon that blew his mind. Gage, who had grown up in the comfortable Bay Area suburbs, became enthralled by the rich, complex world of Amazonian tribespeople. Soon, it wasn’t enough for him to just read about these cultures; he wanted to see it all for himself. So, with some guidance from his professor, he packed his bags and moved to the Ecuadorian rainforest for two years.
http://www.fastcompany.com/3046136/how-two-liberal-arts-students-created-a-million-dollar-rainforest-saving-tea-company
Take, for instance, Husk Power Systems, a social enterprise that was just awarded some hefty funding. Husk develops affordable, environmentally efficient minigrids that supply on-demand power to rural parts of Asia and Africa. The utility distributor recently garnered $20 million in a funding round led by Shell Technology Ventures with an eye toward expanding into India and Tanzania and potentially serving an additional 100,000 customers with affordable renewable power.
https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/310240
Prerna Mukharya’s social-impact startup Outline India gathered data from 3 million people for academic institutions, government agencies and corporates.
https://www.fortuneindia.com/people/the-data-collector/101764