MIT in partnership with Liquid Telecom has announced 12 African startups that will contest the regional finals of the Inclusive Innovation Challenge. The regional finals will take place in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on September 20, 2019.
Twenty regional winners which will be chosen from across Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, US & Canada; will afterwards proceed to MIT where four Global Grand Prize Winners each win $250,000 in the Innovation Challenge and worldwide recognition. The winners will be selected in the following categories Financial Inclusion, Income Growth & Job Creation, Skills Development & Opportunity Matching and Technology Access.
The Inclusive Innovation Challenge is MIT’s premier future of work prize, awarding $1.6 million annually to entrepreneurs using technology to create economic opportunity for workers. The program collaborates with like-minded organizations in five regions to select and celebrate sixty Regional Finalists from across the globe.
Here are the Africa regional finalists
Financial Inclusion
Bloom Impact-Ghana
Bloom Impact is a digital marketplace providing financial education and access to financial services to small business owners in Africa.
Social Lender-Nigeria
Social Lender bridges the gap of immediate fund access for people with limited access to formal credit by harnessing a proprietary algorithm using social reputation on mobile, online, and social media platforms.
Inclusivity Solutions-South Africa
Inclusivity Solutions develops digital insurance solutions for emerging markets with the aim of protecting and enhancing the quality of life of vulnerable people.
Income Growth & Job Creation
Kumwe Solutions-Rwanda
Kumwe is disrupting the East African maize value chain with a technology-backed model for post-harvest processing and aggregation to increase incomes for 40,000 farmers.
Indlu-South Africa
The Indlu app empowers African landowners to manage their back yard rental rooms and build credit scores, providing a pathway to capital access.
Tiny Totos-Kenya
Tiny Totos transforms service standards across Nairobi’s informal childcare market through innovative technology to benefit underserved preschool children and working mothers in slums.
Introducing the 2019 @MIT_IIC Regional Finalists! 60 global orgs representing the best #FOW solutions on the planet will proceed to 5 regional events to pitch LIVE and vie for $1M USD, awarded @MIT on 11/21. https://t.co/Lf8LXMxGP0 #techforall @mit_ide pic.twitter.com/DOtQIe4NWL
— MIT Inclusive Innovation Challenge (@MIT_IIC) July 23, 2019
Skills Development & Opportunity Matching
Forasna.com-Egypt
Forasna.com is a platform that connects middle- and basic-educated workforce and blue-collar workers with matching job opportunities in Egypt.
Taskty-Egypt
Taskty is Egypt’s largest online marketplace for home services, connected workers with work and increasing economic opportunity.
Shortlist-Kenya, Africa
Shortlist empowers job seekers in Africa and India to apply for jobs online by demonstrating their skills and abilities in real-time, regardless of their background.
Technology Access
Flare: Kenya
By building 911 for 60% of the world without an existing system, Flare is helping EMTs do the important work of saving lives every day.
Farmerline Limited: Ghana
Farmerline increases productivity and creates lasting profit for African farmers with technology and field agents that connect farmers to vital information and services.
Shopit (Last Mile for BoP)-South Africa
Shopit digitizes informal grocery stores in low-income communities and links them to the formal economy to create local business opportunities and positive social impact.
