Cartier Women’s Initiative Awards Finalist
“change:WATER Labs allows me to contribute to solving water sustainability and empowering girls.”
https://www.cartierwomensinitiative.com/candidate/diana-yousef
Takamoto Biogas creating jobs with Biogas Manufacturing
Takamoto Biogas- Is in the business of creating employment for through biogas manufacturing. Located in Githunguri, Kiambu County, local farmers in the region are the main beneficiaries of the technology. However, the company is striving to expand its clientele base across the country.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MPR2_Mckr8
This Toilet Vaprizes Poop to Solve Sanitation Problems
Yousef is the founder and CEO of change:WATER Labs, which has developed a waterless toilet that can basically vaporize your poop.
https://www.fastcompany.com/40550779/this-toilet-vaporizes-poop-to-solve-sanitation-problems
Startup Spotlight: Node offers airy energy efficient homes that aim for easy, pre-fab installation
It’s pretty ambitious to launch a business that’s trying to address one of the big challenges confronting the world. A Seattle startup called Node hopes to help tackle two of them — climate change and affordable housing — through its innovative home designs.
https://www.geekwire.com/2018/node/
Employee Transportation Startup MoveInSync Raises $8 Mn In Series B Funding
Bengaluru-based employee transportation startup MoveInSync Technology Solutions has raised $8 Mn in Series B funding round led by Nexus Venture Partners. Existing investors including Inventus Capital Partners, Saama Capital and Qualcomm Ventures also participated in this round.
https://inc42.com/buzz/employee-transportation-startup-moveinsync-raises-8-mn-in-series-b-funding/
These Entrepreneurs are Changing the Face of Energy in West Africa
Three entrepreneurs, however, want to change that narrative. Alexandre Tourre, Nthabiseng Mosia and Eric Silverman founded Easy Solar with a vision to transform the face of energy in a country that’s been in the dark for too long. Today, only 11 percent of Sierra Leone’s 7 million people have access to electricity. Easy Solar’s mission is to bring new hope and opportunity to the country by making high-quality solar energy available and affordable for all.
https://acumen.org/energy-video-series/
Land of a Thousand Ideas
Volantio, which makes software to help airlines with marketing automation and booking optimization, and Vayando, which offers an online platform connecting travelers with experiences offered by social entrepreneurs internationally, are headed to Toulouse as part of a program launched last year through Atlanta’s sister-city relationship Toulouse.
https://www.forbesafrica.com/entreprenuers/2018/03/28/land-thousand-ideas/
Woman of the Cloth: Diverting fabric from landfills one pair of pants at a time
Texiles, the business she founded to bring “new life to old clothes,” is her one-woman attempt to relieve that burden. The distinctive name reflects her objective of halting the flow of “exiled textiles” to the refuse heap.
http://www.renewalnews.org/2018/03/23/woman-of-the-cloth-diverting-fabric-from-landfills-one-pair-of-pants-at-a-time/
BroadPoint, a Gold-Certified Microsoft Dynamics partner serving nonprofit and commercial clients, announces acquisition of The Jitasa Group’s nonprofit technology practice.
The merger of these two highly respected partners provides the nonprofit community with a single, trusted source for their technology solutions, services and support. Both companies are excited about the expanded opportunities the acquisition brings to nonprofits.
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/broadpoint-announces-major-acquisition-to-benefit-nonprofit-community-300614616.html
Life After Amazon: Why Whole Foods Will Not Become a ‘Conventional Grocery Store’
It is difficult to overstate the importance of Whole Foods to a generation of natural food and product startups. In the early 1990s, the retailer was instrumental in transforming a sleepy industry comprising dreary mom-and-pops into a $50-plus billion colossus incorporating eye-pleasing design and head-spinning variety. It also emerged as an essential bridge to the mass market. Ask an organic food entrepreneur about the watershed moment when she knew her business would succeed. More often than not she’ll respond: the day I got into Whole Foods.
https://www.inc.com/leigh-buchanan/some-vendors-still-love-whole-foods.html
Cricket consolidation: Aspire Food Group acquires Exo
Aspire Food Group, which produces the Aketta cricket food products and owns the world’s first automated cricket farm, has acquired Exo.
https://www.foodnavigator-usa.com/Article/2018/03/16/Cricket-consolidation-Aspire-Food-Group-acquires-Exo#
Revolutionary communication innovations
Start-ups like Speak Shop, a web-based marketplace of Latin America Spanish tutors, allow anyone, anywhere to brush up on their Español via Skype.
https://www.speakshop.org/revolutionary-communication-innovations/
NASA Licenses Gear Bearing Technology to Bahari Energy for Urban Wind Power Generation
The Strategic Partnerships Office (SPO) at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, has signed a partially exclusive license agreement for gear bearing technology with Bahari Energy LLC, of Rockville, Maryland, for use in its Energy Wind Tower designed for the urban environment.
https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/goddard/2018/nasas-goddard-space-flight-center-licenses-gear-bearing-technology-to-bahari-energy
We raised funding from Greentec & Village Capital, Henri Nyakarundi
Henri Nyakarundi is the founder of Rwanda-Headquartered ARED Group. ARED stands for African Renewable Energy Distributors. The company describes itself as a HaaS, a “Hard-tech as a Service”. It recently expanded to Uganda making it its second market.
https://digestafrica.com/greentec-village-capital-henri-nyakarundi/#.XBPE0FVKiyo
Dechets a l’or
Dechets a l’or was awarded 1st place for the 2018 Richard Heinberg Sustainability Prizes sponsored by the Foundation for a Sustainable Future. They are a tech enabled solid waste management solution …
Three Boston area entrepreneurs finalists in Cartier global businesswomen’s competition
change:WATER’s CEO, Diana Yousef, is named a Cartier’s global businesswomen’s competition, the Cartier Woman’s Initiative Award, finalist
https://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2018/02/21/three-boston-area-entrepreneurs-finalists-cartier-global-businesswomen-competition/aXO8VT4SInRrezjtm7VBdM/story.html
When a robot duck stole hearts
When Aaron Horowitz was a child, he had human-growth-hormone deficiency and was administered daily injections for five years in order to grow. It left a big enough impact for him to start a company called Sproutel, a company that collaborates with brands for better health. When Aflac, a supplemental insurance company in the US that has funded the Aflac Cancer Center in Atlanta, asked for a product to be a companion to children with cancer, they developed My Special Aflac Duck, a robot that interacted and responded intuitively. At the Consumer Electronics Show 2018, they won the Best Innovation in the Tech for a Better World category.
http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/technology/when-a-robot-duck-stole-hearts/article22656114.ece
MyTelemedicine Forms Strategic Partnership with PACEMD to Leverage the Power of Telemedicine across Latin America
Digital health care technology leader MyTelemedicine has partnered with PACEMD, an international organization focused on supporting health initiatives in Latin America, to provide telehealth services to Spanish-speaking patients in the United States and Mexico.
https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/mytelemedicine-forms-strategic-partnership-with-pacemd-to-leverage-the-power-of-telemedicine-across-latin-america-1016021028
These Entrepreneurs Are Taking Back Your Credit Score From The Big Credit Bureaus
Siroya began Tala in 2012 by lending out about $80,000 of her own money. She says she did it pretty much blindly just to collect data so she could begin to establish patterns that might predict creditworthiness.
https://www.fastcompany.com/40528750/these-entrepreneurs-are-taking-back-your-credit-score-from-the-big-credit-bureaus
Make Money by Wearing it Out
Americans throw out 80 pounds of clothing every year on average, even though 95% of that content is recyclable. I started Texiles not only to prevent usable material from ending up in the trash but to educate consumers about the harmful impact of the fashion industry on the environment and factory workers and the role they play when they make purchasing decisions.
http://thefrugalcatholic.com/the-frugal-catholic-make-money-by-wearing-it-out-by-kaveri-marathe-february-2018/
Acumen Makes First Investment in Sierra Leone in Easy Solar
New York, NY (February 13, 2018) — Acumen, the nonprofit global venture fund, and Gaia Impact Fund, a venture fund specializing in clean energy, announced today their investment in Azimuth (trading as Easy Solar), a pay-as-you-go solar distribution company operating in Sierra Leone. Easy Solar is the second investment under Acumen’s Pioneer Energy Investment Initiative, an effort to bridge the funding gap in off-grid energy and accelerate access across the developing world. Launched in April 2017, the initiative aims to impact 8 million lives by 2026.
https://acumen.org/blog/press-releases/acumen-makes-first-investment-in-sierra-leone/
This Millennial Is Leading Africa’s Tech Revolution
Nigerian-American Maya Horgan Famodu is solving a big problem for Silicon Valley: Investors want to invest in Africa, but lack the know-how or local partners to help them get on the inside. Enter Famodu. She is the 26-year-old gatekeeper between tech investors and the Africa entrepreneur ecosystem.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/maryannreid/2018/02/11/this-millennial-is-leading-africas-tech-revolution/#4c08fc0c5c28
Saving Mothers Announces Innovative Partnership With Maternova, Inc. to Advance Maternal Health
“The partnership with Maternova will enable Saving Mothers to reach a far broader number of pregnant women in need within underserved communities around the world,” stated Dr. Shirazian, “Providing this access will ensure that Saving Mothers can continue its efforts to reduce maternal morbidity rates, bringing us closer to our goal of eradicating preventable death during childbirth within the next decade.”
http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/3653073
John Legend Gives Grants to Ex-Convicts Turned Entrepreneurs
Will Avila employs 15 people full-time, all ex-convicts. Avila pays above minimum wage—an important move in the Washington, DC, area where he operates, as the cost of living is high and a person on a minimum wage might still need additional income—a dangerous temptation for an ex-con.
http://www.fox5dc.com/entertainment/john-legend-helping-support-former-inmates-turned-entrepreneurs-with-their-startup-businesses
Teysha Announces Collaboration with Shoe Designer Selena McCartney and The Whole Planet Foundation
Teysha, www.teysha.is is pleased to announce their first installment of a collaboration with shoe designer, Selena McCartney bringing her 15 years of shoe designing experience to their Guatemalan craftsmen. Selena and Sophie Eckrich, the 29-year-old co-founder of Teysha, are both born and raised in Central Texas with Latina mothers, so the collaboration has been full of cultural exchange and has brought new techniques to the artisan groups in Guatemala.
http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/3825962
FREDsense Technologies Selected by the Built in Canada Innovation Program to Deliver Water Testing Solutions
“Water is our most critical resource and having rapid methods to understand what is in our water, is critical to safeguarding our communities and environment”
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180208006496/en/FREDsense-Technologies-Selected-Built-Canada-Innovation-Program
No bull: PharmaSecure, NDDB arm in pact to crackdown on fake bovine semen
To stem this rot, PharmaSecure, a provider of brand protection, consumer loyalty and engagement solutions, has joined hands with NDDB Dairy Services (NDDB-DS), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB), to provide a tool to help safeguard this population of high-quality breeds of cow, both indigenous and mixed.
https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/economy/agri-business/no-bull-pharmasecure-nddb-arm-in-pact-to-crackdown-on-fake-no20180208allan-f-a-lasradochennai0inno-bovine-semen/article22694069.ece
Verde: Energy Efficiency Experts partner with Tackle box to tell brand’s story
Jamie Johnson realized he could save the fire department money on their utility bill by retrofitting light bulbs to more efficient LEDs. Jamie slowly built on this concept, contracting customers and handling everything from sales to installation himself.
http://www.verde.expert/verde-energy-efficiency-experts-partner-with-tackle-box-to-tell-brands-story/?imval=0
The World’s First Living Backyard Umbrella
“The world’s first living backyard umbrella” — that’s what they’re calling Living Canopies’ patio-sized umbrella. It’s a steel pole and frame that can accommodate a variety of different plants and flowers — including a built-in irrigation system to keep the plants healthy — all soaking up the sun that would otherwise beat down on the heads of those enjoying the backyard.
https://aquamagazine.com/features/the-world-s-first-living-backyard-umbrella.html
How ex-UN staff got data for credit app Tala
Today, the micro lender has serviced more than 4.5 million loans and has lent out Sh25 billion ($250 million) to its customers in Kenya, Tanzania, Philippines and Mexico. “Repayment rates are at 92 per cent with eight per cent accounting for the slow payers. Interestingly, 95 per cent of our clients are repeat customers,” said Ms Siroya, a graduate of Columbia University.
https://www.businessdailyafrica.com/corporate/tech/4258474-4286464-o0sgn9z/
Pharmacy lifeline in Kenya
Newsday’s Alan Kasujja visited an organisation which is trying to change that. ‘Access Afya’, runs three micro clinics and two pharmacies which service thirty thousand people in Nairobi’s informal settlements.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p05wmd67
4 Sustainability-Driven Startups Vie for $50K in Women Who Tech Challenge
Re-Nuble will pitch its patent-pending process to transform food waste into chemical-free, organic nutrients for both soil-based and hydroponic cultivation.
http://www.sustainablebrands.com/news_and_views/product_service_design_innovation/sustainable_brands/4_sustainability-driven_startups
How Innovative Business Models Can Bring Cheap Energy to Poor Communities
For Nikhil Jaisinghani, co-founder of Mera Gao Power, a provider of low-cost, off-grid solar power to villages in India’s Uttar Pradesh state, a prime challenge is attracting investors who are used to large, publicly funded grid-based power projects with government subsidies, and are unfamiliar with projects like those of Mera Gao Power. “We’re trying to put this into a model where we’re serving ultra-poor customers without public funding, and we’re trying to create a profitable model with a three- to four-year payback period on infrastructure,” he said.
http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/how-innovative-business-models-can-bring-cheap-energy-to-far-flung-poor-villages/
These 14 businesses are growing money on trees
Companies around the world are branching out into forest conservation, finding that restoring deforested and degraded land yields high returns for investors, entrepreneurs and the environment.
https://www.greenbiz.com/article/these-14-businesses-are-growing-money-trees
WeSpire Adds New Extensions to its Solutions Portfolio, Enhancing Employee Health and Well-Being
WeSpire, the employee engagement measuring/monitoring solutions provider is looking at extensions to its core product offerings.The company’s industry-recognized SaaS platform will now include two new modules – Positive Culture and Wellbeing – helping progressive firms enhance worker well-being, and envision a sustainable organizational value/culture/behavior ecosystem.
https://www.hrtechnologist.com/news/employee-engagement/wespire-adds-new-extensions-to-its-solutions-portfolio-enhancing-employee-health-amp-wellbeing/
Husk Power Systems raises $20m from Shell, Swedfund, ENGIE to scale renewable mini-grid business
“Together with our strategic partners, we are now confident of achieving our vision of becoming the world’s largest rural utility company providing 24/7, 100 percent renewable and affordable power to drive inclusive and sustainable development in growth markets.“, said Manoj Sinha, CEO and co-founder of Husk Power Systems. “We believe that mini-grids are the most capital efficient way to help reach 100 percent national electrification goals“.
https://techmoran.com/2018/01/20/husk-power-systems-raises-20m-shell-swedfund-engie-scale-renewable-mini-grid-business-africa-asia/
Runa Steers Towards Natural Energy, Away from Tea
Nothing drives impact like dollars. It’s a simple idea, but, for Runa, it represents the seed of an entirely new business-focused outlook.The Brooklyn-based company, founded in 2009 by college roommates Tyler Gage and Dan MacCombie, produces ready-to-drink iced teas and energy drinks made with guayusa, a plant traditionally used as a natural source of caffeine by indigenous groups in South America. Through its vertically aligned supply chain— in which it sources organic crops from Fair Trade Certified partner farms in Ecuador— Runa has made ethical business practices and sustainable farming a key part of its identity.
https://www.bevnet.com/news/2018/runa-steers-towards-natural-energy-away-tea
LabourNet to promote Tata, Google-backed ‘Internet Sathi’ program in rural India
LabourNet, a Bengaluru-based social enterprise, has been roped in to expand Tata Trust and Google India-backed internet awareness program, ‘Internet Sathi’ in the states of Maharashtra and Haryana, said a top official of the company in Hyderabad on Friday.
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/internet/labournet-to-promote-tata-google-backed-internet-sathi-program-in-rural-india/articleshow/62573096.cms
The Aflac Duck and Chemotherapy: How One Company Is Creating a Companion to Help Children with Cancer
Sproutel is a company that has been creating ‘companion robots’ for a few years. Their first robot is called ‘Jerry the Bear’ and was created to help children with type 1 diabetes better understand their disease and management. The children take care of Jerry, feeding him, checking his blood sugar, and giving him insulin. In many ways, it helps children understand why they need to do certain things. By taking care of Jerry, they can better take care of themselves.
http://www.pharmacytimes.com/contributor/timothy-aungst-pharmd/2018/01/the-aflac-duck-and-chemotherapy-how-one-company-is-creating-a-companion-to-help-children-with-cancer
Huge tract of prime land near Walla Walla sold to San Francisco group
Farmland LP was formed in 2009 “to add value to farmland by converting it to organic, sustainable agriculture,” according the release. It manages more than 12,000 acres in Northern California and Oregon’s Willamette Valley. In 2015, the group purchased 6,000 acres in the Willamette Valley from Olsen Agricultural Enterprises, an entity controlled by a pioneer farming family.
http://www.goodfruit.com/huge-tract-of-prime-land-near-walla-walla-sold-to-san-francisco-group/