SafeStart Global Inc.

CUSTOM CHALLENGE; Nigeria

PROVEN INTERVENTION TO BE DISTRIBUTED

Distributing safe water treatment (point-of-use chlorination).

Learn more about the Custom Challenge and why we only fund ideas that focus on distributing proven poverty interventions.

DISTRIBUTION MODEL INNOVATION

SafeStart’s mission is to accelerate proven, cost-effective maternal and child health innovations from evidence to real-world delivery.

SafeStart expands access to safe drinking water through a community-based chlorine access model in rural Kano State, Nigeria. The model combines community engagement and behavior change activities with reliable last-mile access to chlorine products through trusted local distribution points. By addressing both knowledge and access barriers, SafeStart helps households consistently treat drinking water and sustain safer water practices over time.

SafeStart expands access to safe drinking water through a community-based chlorine access model in rural Kano State, Nigeria. The model combines community engagement and behavior change activities with reliable last-mile access to chlorine products through trusted local distribution points. By addressing both knowledge and access barriers, SafeStart helps households consistently treat drinking water and sustain safer water practices over time.

SafeStart was founded in 2026 by Elisa Maffioli and Grant Edmond to help proven global health interventions reach families at scale. Elisa leads research and partnerships while continuing her academic role; Grant serves full-time and leads operations, finance, monitoring and evaluation, and implementation.

PILOT AND SCALING GOALS

• Reach 139,000 people.

• Distribute safe water treatment (point-of-use chlorination).

• Raise ~$700k.

FOUNDING TEAM

Elisa Maria Maffioli - Founder

Grant Edmond - Founder

Miti Mitaani

CUSTOM CHALLENGE; Kenya

PROVEN INTERVENTION TO BE DISTRIBUTED

Reforesting trees and providing work for young people

Learn more about the Custom Challenge and why we only fund ideas that focus on distributing proven poverty interventions.

DISTRIBUTION MODEL INNOVATION

Kiswahili for ‘trees in our neighborhoods’, Miti Mitaani pays urban youth to establish community forests which mitigate the impact of climate change.

Miti Mitaani pays urban youth to establish community forests. By engaging unemployed youth in African cities as tree stewards (they plant and maintain the trees monthly), there is huge potential to rapidly scale tree cover in African cities. Miti Mitaani currently operates in Nairobi, Kenya.

Trees are the most scalable and affordable solution to mitigate the effects of climate change, especially in resource-constrained countries. Community forests can transform cities by making them cooler and greener, in addition to other benefits such as cleaner air, habitat for urban wildlife, improving the rain cycle, reducing flash floods etc.

A youth participant enrolled in Miti Mitaani’s program has the opportunity to earn up to $375 annually. Their pilots to date show that stewardship payments are invested in businesses (ex. light motorcycle transportation) and meeting basic needs such as food and healthcare. 100% of the participants in their initial pilot reported they would join Miti Mitaani again.

PILOT AND SCALING GOALS

• 30 at-risk youth from a low-income neighbourhood of Nairobi will be engaged as tree stewards.

• Each of these 30 hired youth will be responsible for planting and maintaining 500 trees, bringing the total number of trees planted to 15,000.

• Raise an additional $10 - 15,000 USD from new donors within the pilot period.

FOUNDING TEAM

Ronny Mutua - Founder, Strategy & Partnerships Lead

Maria Omulubi - Co-Founder, Program & Operations Lead

Chetechete Sautsa Nyama

CUSTOM CHALLENGE; malawi

PROVEN INTERVENTION TO BE DISTRIBUTED

Sexual and Gender Based Violence Support

Learn more about the Custom Challenge and why we only fund ideas that focus on distributing proven poverty interventions.

 

DISTRIBUTION MODEL INNOVATION

Our mission is to create a Malawi free from Sexual and Gender Based Violence by championing survivor empowerment and transforming societal norms and allow completion of court cases involving SGBV perpetrators.

The model is based on Community Response to SGBV with the understanding that survivors of SGBV do not receive community support when they report abuse such that they end up withdrawing such cases before they are concluded by the courts. The intervention will create survivor clubs in Chinsapo, Lilongwe in Malawi and empower and support these clubs and engage community structures.

Chetechete Sautsa Nyama project with an English version of "Voices Unsilenced" was founded in 2023 by a group of six members who attended 2023 GHC SGBV Hackathon in Lilongwe. The team was led by Frank Chidampamba, who is a Global Health Corps Alum and the other five members are professionals working on gender, youth empowerment and Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights and their names are Susan Chisi, Davis Chunga, Kumbukani Molishu, Everlisto Phiri and Praise Banda.

PILOT AND SCALING GOALS

• Directly reach 5,000 unique customers within three months

• Using 50 high-performing distribution agents, distribute 5,000 products/services in three months

• Fundraise an additional $25,000 USD from new donors or investors within three months

FOUNDING TEAM

Frank Chidampamba - Team Leader

Susan Chisi - Project Coordinator

Kumbukani Molishu - Communications Officer

Davis Chunga - Resource Mobilization Officer

Everlisto Phiri - Finance Officer

Praise Banda - M&E Officer

Sustainable Initiative for Nutrition & Development

CUSTOM CHALLENGE; NIGERIA

PROVEN INTERVENTION TO BE DISTRIBUTED

Nutrition through exclusive breast milk feeding

Learn more about the Custom Challenge and why we only fund ideas that focus on distributing proven poverty interventions.

 

DISTRIBUTION MODEL INNOVATION

Sustainable Initiative for Nutrition & Development (SIND's) exclusive breast milk feeding (EBMF) and support campaign project aims to increase exclusive breast milk feeding rate by improving health facility and community breastfeeding support continuum for lactating mothers in Nigeria.

SIND’s model is training and engaging health workers, traditional birth attendants and community influencers to promote, protect and provide supportive actions as well as uphold learning and practice exchange of exclusive breast milk feeding (EBMF) for lactating mothers sustain EBMF for 6-month. SIND exclusive breast milk feeding (EBMF) and support campaign project creates a synergy for community collective actions to support lactating mothers and shared exclusive breast milk feeding responsibilities

PILOT AND SCALING GOALS

• Reach 1800 mother-infant dyads within six months of pilot

• Train and engage 35 (EBMF support group) champions to promote, protect and ensure lactating mothers practice exclusive breast milk feeding (EBMF) for 6-month

• Fundraise $200,000 from new donors or investors in the first two years of operations

FOUNDING TEAM

Oderinde Michael - Founder/Program Director

Family Empowerment Media

CUSTOM CHALLENGE; NIGERIA

PROVEN INTERVENTION TO BE DISTRIBUTED

Family planning information through radio-based communication

Learn more about the Custom Challenge and why we only fund ideas that focus on distributing proven poverty interventions.

DISTRIBUTION MODEL INNOVATION

Family Empowerment Media (FEM) is an evidence-based non-profit that enables informed family planning decisions through clear, compelling, and accurate radio-based communication.

The FEM model is simple and transferable to many regions in Nigeria and, eventually, other countries. FEM works with local partners to produce and broadcast radio programming that shifts knowledge, attitudes, and behavior around family planning in Nigeria. The FEM solution is cost-effective because (1) radio programming is cheap in West Africa, and (2) the full-time team is lean - but complemented by part-time surge support when needed.

Accomplishments

• Reached ~35 million listeners through short and long campaigns in first three years

• Externally evaluated to be as much as 20-60x as cost effective as cash transfers

• An external evaluator found FEM’s pilot correlated with a 75% increase in contraceptive uptake in the region.

SCALING GOALS

• Reach 50 million listeners in Nigeria by 2030

• Conduct one pilot in a new country and one pilot on a new health topic

• Conduct a randomized controlled trial of their evaluation in 8 states in Nigeria

FOUNDING TEAM

Anna Christina Thorsheim - Director

Kenneth Scheffler - Director

Adolescent Health Champions

CUSTOM CHALLENGE; INDIA

PROVEN INTERVENTION TO BE DISTRIBUTED

Improving health outcomes by distributing a health education program. 

Learn more about the Custom Challenge and why we only fund ideas that focus on distributing proven poverty interventions.

DISTRIBUTION MODEL INNOVATION

Adolescent Health Champions cultivates a network of youth health educators (Champions) in Mumbai, India who lead the health education process in their schools and communities. We use an innovative, evidence-based peer education model that leverages the voices, talent, and leadership of adolescents themselves. Our approach provides adolescents with the knowledge, dialogue, support, and prevention strategies they need to navigate their health needs during this pivotal transition to adulthood.

PILOT AND SCALING GOALS

• Educate 5,000 adolescents during pilot

• Train 625 peer educators during pilot

 

FOUNDING TEAM

Ricky Sharma - Co-Founder

Priya Shankar - Co-Founder

Leaf Global Fintech

CUSTOM CHALLENGE; RWANDA and DRC

PROVEN INTERVENTION TO BE DISTRIBUTED

Improving access to financial services for refugees through mobile phones.

Learn more about the Custom Challenge and why we only fund ideas that focus on distributing proven poverty interventions.

DISTRIBUTION MODEL INNOVATION

Leaf Global Fintech provides digital financial services to refugees so that they can store and transport assets across borders from a feature phone, avoiding cash.

Leaf stores and transports assets across borders from a mobile device—no smartphone required. Refugees and migrants can journey without cash, knowing accounts are safe and accessible globally. Digitizing the process drastically reduces exchange and transfer fees. Friends and family abroad can also contribute into the Leaf customer’s account in a convenient and affordable way. Leaf protects customers’ savings through blockchain technology without exposure to cryptocurrency. By allowing customers to retain more value and increasing accessible funds through contributions from abroad, Leaf gives customers a better start with financial security and lessens their dependence on host countries and foreign aid.

PILOT AND SCALING GOALS

• Serve 10,000 customers during the pilot period

FOUNDING TEAM

Nat Robinson - Co-Founder and CEO

Tori Samples - Co-Founder and CFO

GasforAll Ventures

COOK STOVE CHALLENGE; NIGERIA

PROVEN INTERVENTION TO BE DISTRIBUTED

3kg LPG clean cook stoves. 

Learn more about the Cook Stove Challenge and how clean cook stoves reduce health and safety risks, lower fuel expenses, and help reduce poverty.  

DISTRIBUTION MODEL INNOVATION

Gas4All's mission is to effectively distribute 3kg LPG clean cook stoves to urban slum households in the city of Kaduna, Nigeria in order to drastically reduce mortality from smoke inhalation, especially among women and children. 

Over 22 million households in Nigeria depend on solid fuel for cooking which leads to 80,000 deaths annually. Their intervention of focus is a 3kg LPG stove. However, LPG has significant barriers to adoption, including affordability and distance between homes and LPG refill plants. Gas4All's solution is to create a constant, easily accessible supply of LPG by hiring LPG vendors that will station themselves in communities, and distribute the LPG canisters to their sales agents with a van. The cook stoves will be made affordable through consumer financing, with customers paying in installments for four to six months. By opening up three offices (one in the main market and two around the pilot location of an urban slum), Gas4All will have ample space to use for conducing awareness raising activities and trainings, stock inventory for sales agents, receive installment payments, and conduct after sales services. 

PILOT AND SCALING GOALS

• Provide 21,000 kg of LPG to communities by the end of year 1

• Distribute 10,200 cook stoves by the end of year 1

• Increase number of sales agents by 8 by the end of year 1

 

FOUNDING TEAM

Emeka Umechukwu - Founder

Chidi Umeh - Co-Founder and Sales Director

KopaGas

CUSTOM CHALLENGE; TANZANIA

PROVEN INTERVENTION TO BE DISTRIBUTED

A smart meter to enable micro payments on LPG gas for low-income, rural households. 

Learn more about the Custom Challenge and why we only fund ideas that focus on distributing proven poverty interventions.

DISTRIBUTION MODEL INNOVATION

KopaGas is a pioneer on pay-as-you-go LPG for low-income settings.

Of low-income households in rural Tanzania, 60% want to switch to LPG they can't afford due to upfront costs. KopaGas has developed a smart meter that enables micro-payments for LPG and has demonstrated success in Dar es Salaam. By developing credit-risk scores for low-income rural households, they can bring the technology to rural Tanzanians and help millions access modern cooking fuel. The team will build off of existing infrastructure and community presence in the fishing community on Jibondo island. 

Using human-centered design to create impactful behavioral change marketing campaigns, KopaGas will improve awareness of the benefits of LPG and introduce the community to a pay-as-you-cook solution enabled by a fully functional and mass-manufacture ready smart meter. This is the only commercially-ready smart meter for LPG in East Africa and will be combined with a credit-scoring methodology that they will research and design to create access for the poorest families. 

PILOT AND SCALING GOALS

• Deliver over 50 tons of LPG during the pilot phase

• Connect 400 households during the pilot phase

• Reach over 8,000 people by the end of year 1

• Avoid 6,000 tons of carbon dioxide emitted by the end of year 2

• Avert 381 deaths from smoke inhalation by the end of year 2

 

FOUNDING TEAM

Thomas Disley - Project Lead

Sebastian Rodriguez - KopaGas Chief Executive Officer and Product Lead

Andron Mendes - KopaGas Chief Financial Officer 

Watch Me Go

SCHOLARSHIP CHALLENGE; KENYA

PROVEN INTERVENTION TO BE DISTRIBUTED

Scholarships to help send girls to school. 

Learn more about our current distribution challenges and why we focus on interventions that are proven to impact lives.  

DISTRIBUTION MODEL INNOVATION

Watch Me Go is a crowd-sourced funding platform to provide education scholarships for girls in Kenya. Watch Me Go will allow donors to build a virtual classroom of smart girls in need of secondary school scholarships, track progress online and send more girls to school.

PILOT AND SCALING GOALS

• Raise funds to send 100 girls to attend school during the pilot phase

FOUNDING TEAM

Katie Wood - Founder and Director

Kuisi

PRAZIQUANTEL CHALLENGE; UGANDA

PROVEN INTERVENTION TO BE DISTRIBUTED

Praziquantel, a de-worming drug. 

Learn more about our current distribution challenges and why we focus on interventions that are proven to impact lives.  

DISTRIBUTION MODEL INNOVATION

Kuisi will use mandatory teacher training meetings to train on, inform about, and mass distribute praziquantel, a deworming medicine, to high-risk areas in rural Uganda. Their strategy expands on the tried and tested school distribution model in several ways. First, they plan to distribute praziquantel through district wide, multi-purpose, teacher conferences. In addition to training the teachers on schistosomiasis and the distribution of praziquantel, they want to train the teachers on additional health and sanitation issues, as well as improved teaching methodologies. Kuisi has communicated with four additional institutions (UNESCO, Cherish Uganda, Africa Teacher Foundation, and TASO) that are already conducting teacher trainings and who are eager to provide additional information regarding their initiatives. 

Kuisi addresses cost-effectiveness through incorporating overhead costs into school fees. These fees would go to pay for overhead costs and future scaling of the project. Currently the average school expenditures for primary and secondary schools respectively is $11.04 and $93.49 per student per year. If unable to work through public schools, they plan to increase the fees for private schools to make up the difference. Uganda has one of the highest percentages of students attending private schools. The initial pilot will gauge exactly how feasible school fees are, how much money we can receive, and how long-term they can last. 

PILOT AND SCALING GOALS

• Deworm 50,000 children in the first month and a half

• Treat over 5 million people by the end of year 2

 

FOUNDING TEAM

Bronwen Dromey

Dane Andersen

Ryan Thomas

Spencer Anderson

YouthGlobe

SCHOLARSHIPS CHALLENGE; BURUNDI

PROVEN INTERVENTION TO BE DISTRIBUTED

Scholarships for students. 

Learn more about our current distribution challenges and why we focus on interventions that are proven to impact lives.  

DISTRIBUTION MODEL INNOVATION

Civil war ravaged Burundi from the early 1990s to 2005 with an estimated death toll of 300,000 in a nation of 10 million. The war orphaned tens of thousands of children and shattered the national economy. The country is not able to provide free secondary education in its public schools. However, less than $30 is enough to put a Burundian student through a year of high school which gives Youth Globe the opportunity to be a highly cost-effective platform for donors to make an impact on many young lives.

YouthGlobe sponsors scholarship recipients from six partner high schools in different regions of Burundi. Many of these scholars have recently returned home from refugee camps in Tanzania and are finding ways of reintegrating into their local Burundian communities. YouthGlobe USA will promote and sell the scholarship program to potential patrons, with YouthGlobe South Korea aiding in fundraising efforts. YouthGlobe Burundi will review and admit scholars. 

Scholars are recommended by the headmasters of each partner school. Following the recommendation, YouthGlobe reviews the candidate's academic record and relevant personal information with the consent of the student's parents or legal guardians, or in the absence of a guardian, with the student herself. Applications from candidates who have lost both parents are weighted favorably. YouthGlobe aims fro a 2:1 female-to-male ratio in distributing scholarships. 

 

PILOT AND SCALING GOALS

• Award 100 scholarships within the pilot phase

• Expand to 12 partner schools during the pilot phase

• Collect at least 100 donor pledges to fund scholars during the pilot phase

• Scale to 2,000 scholarships by the end of year 1

• Collect 2,000 donor pledges to fund scholars by the end of year 1

 

FOUNDING TEAM

Salathiel Ntakirutimana - Director 

Miles Graham - Fundraising Manager 

Nicky Kwon - Partnership Manager 

Ding Zhou - Program Manager 

Pulse

CUSTOM CHALLENGE; INDIA

PROVEN INTERVENTION TO BE DISTRIBUTED

A mobile phone deposit system similar to popular talktime top-up methods to help low income families put aside money for household needs. 

Learn more about the Custom Challenge and why we only fund ideas that focus on distributing proven poverty interventions.

DISTRIBUTION MODEL INNOVATION

Through a network of certified Pulse vendors, users can 'save on impulse' and create a buffer of funds that serve as an insurance against emergencies and unexpected expenses. Furthermore, it provides a solution to the common issue of insufficient physical change, in which customers receive their change back in the form of candy rather than cash, a common occurrence in many developing countries. 

Pulse offers an electronic system that is more convenient for beneficiaries. Importantly, since the service is not tied to any particular carrier, it works on any mobile phone, and enables instant access to the service for all users. 

The customer experience: customer deposits leftover change or surplus income by buying a Pulse prepaid scratch card or leaving change with the shop owner and requesting an electronic deposit into the Pulse account; shop owner and customer receive an sms confirmation of the transaction with current balance; customer spends or withdraws their savings at any vendor in the Pulse network when needed. 

PILOT AND SCALING GOALS

• Sign up 1,000 Pulse savers during the pilot phase

FOUNDING TEAM

Karl Oskar Teien - Product Development 

Mandy Vidalis - Business Operations and Finance 

Niketa R. Malhotra - Implementation and Technology 

Saul Alexander Minkoff - Management and Business Development 

Pay2Africa

CUSTOM CHALLENGE; ETHIOPIA

PROVEN INTERVENTION TO BE DISTRIBUTED

An online and mobile platform that provides a fast, reliable, low-cost, and convenient way to send money to loved ones from the United States to Ethiopia. 

Learn more about the Custom Challenge and why we only fund ideas that focus on distributing proven poverty interventions.

DISTRIBUTION MODEL INNOVATION

Due to a lack of competition and a weak knowledge of the market, MoneyGram and Western Union - two major money transfer companies which charge high fees - have continued to dominate the remittance landscape in much of Africa. The only other option for customers looking to send money to Ethiopia is to use illegal hawala operators. 

Pay2Africa's vision is to become the leading online and mobile platform application used by the Ethiopian diaspora to send money from the US to Ethiopia. The website will allow senders to wire funds directly to a recipient's bank account or for cash pickup at one of over 750 partner bank branch locations spread throughout Ethiopia. Pay2Africa is both a website and a mobile platform application that integrates the latest encryption technology with a secure remittance software platform that addresses all Anti-Money Laundering Act and Bank Secrecy Act laws and regulations. The end result is a user-friendly platform designed for the target demographic, the Ethiopian diaspora. 

PILOT AND SCALING GOALS

• Send $300,000 in transfers by 2015

• Save customers $10,000 in fees by the end of year 2

 

FOUNDING TEAM

Zacharias Teshome - Founder and President

EarthEnable

CUSTOM CHALLENGE; RWANDA

PROVEN INTERVENTION TO BE DISTRIBUTED

EarthEnable is helping masons install $30 earthen floors, a much healthier alternative to dirt floors and a much more affordable than concrete alternatives.

Learn more about the Custom Challenge and why we only fund ideas that focus on distributing proven poverty interventions.

DISTRIBUTION MODEL INNOVATION

PILOT AND SCALING GOALS

• Vision to provide floors for at least 1 million individuals by the end of 2015

 

FOUNDING TEAM

CleanTap

CUSTOM CHALLENGE; INDIA

PROVEN INTERVENTION TO BE DISTRIBUTED

"Tippy Tap" handwashing station. 

Learn more about the Custom Challenge and why we only fund ideas that focus on distributing proven poverty interventions.

DISTRIBUTION MODEL INNOVATION

Street food is an integral part of Indian cities. Unofficial government estimates state that there are over a hundred million street food vendors in India. However, lack of infrastructure and awareness about food safety and handling among street food vendors makes it a significant contributor to food borne diseases. Through CleanTap, the organization aims to provide an easy, portable, DIY solution to the sanitation infrastructure challenge and combine it with an effective social marketing strategy to promote behavior change. 

A Tippy Tap is an easy, portable, low-cost device that encourages hard washing and saves water. It can be made with scraps of readily available local material. The apparatus involves a container that holds water with a hole on tap where the water flows out from. The flow of water is controlled by a foot lever. Their design of the Tippy Tap for food carts focuses heavily on portability. On average, a tippy tap involves a $1 investment per person to promote hand washing. It has been successfully deployed as a standalone product in rural areas of India. 

PILOT AND SCALING GOALS

• Launch pilot with 25 street food vendors 
• Provide hand washing for 1500 customers in Mumbai

 

FOUNDING TEAM

Prerna Seth - Co-Founder

Molly Daniell - Co-Founder

Joel Putnam - Co-Founder

SponsorHer!

SCHOLARSHIP CHALLENGE; ETHIOPIA

PROVEN INTERENTION TO BE DISTRIBUTED

A scholarship program via a social fundraising platform. 

Learn more about the D-Prize challenges and why we focus on distributing proven poverty interventions that can help millions. 

 

DISTRIBUTION MODEL INNOVATION

In Ethiopia, 80% of girls are enrolled in primary school but only 30% continue on to secondary school. It costs approximately USD 18 a month to keep a girl in high school, a sum that most families cannot afford. The aim of SponsorHer! is to support poor and bright girls in Ethiopia to go to high school through a scholarship program funded by a network of expatriate (and other) mothers as well as their families and friends at home. Believing that this target group wants to be more than passive donors, SponsorHer! is going to enable them to build a personal relationship with the sponsored girls through a social fundraising network and to easily motivate others to participate. At the same time, SponsorHer! will enable foreign companies operating in Ethiopia to enhance their social responsibility by engaging in corporate sponsorships. Being able to build on the team's experience on the ground, pre-existing networks and social media, SponsorHer! is going to provide a cost-effective scholarship program for girls with extremely low overhead costs to maximize impact. 

PILOT AND SCALING GOALS

• Fund 100 scholarships during the pilot phase
• Sponsor 680 girls by the end of year 1 
• Gain 10 corporate or institutional partners by the end of year 1 
• Support 5,000 girls through scholarships by the end of year 2 

 

FOUNDING TEAM

Viola Csordas - Co-Founder

Maria Zandt - Co-Founder

Asepsis

CUSTOM CHALLENGE; INDIA

PROVEN INTERVENTION TO BE DISTRIBUTED

Low cost and durable squat toilets. 

Learn more about the Custom Challenge and why we only fund ideas that focus on distributing proven poverty interventions.

 

DISTRIBUTION MODEL INNOVATION

The sanitation crisis in India is one of massive proportions and the situation is particularly pronounced in Dharavi - one of the world's largest slums - right outside of Mumbai. With approximately one toilet for every 1,1440 people, it is not surprising that upwards of 4,000 cases of disease are reported every day. 

The goal is to design a fifteen gallon cylindrical toilet - similar in shape and design to the Well WaterWheel, but with an airtight seal to repel odor and lined with a bio-plastic bag - to be distributed to Dharavi families. The toilet, once filled, will be taken to central collection site to be emptied, cleaned, and returned for continuous use. The waste will them be sold to a local sanitation company that turns it into compost. For every barrel returned, the family will receive 1/3 of the price the waste is sold for, providing an economic incentive for doing so. The other 2/3 of the profit will be used to maintain and expand our operations. 

Community hubs that receive these toilets will be an essential forum for allowing partner NGOs a chance to distribute vaccines and health care to Dharavi residents. To determine the location for these sites, Asepsis will team up with the Development Planning Unit of University College London which has pinpointed certain "catalytic sites" within the slum. Using this as reference will ensure that our system is easily integrated into Dharavi. 

PILOT AND SCALING GOALS

• Prototyping toilet design and establishing network during the first 6 months

• Create 1 community hub and distribute 100 toilets to pre-approved families during the pilot phase

• Distribute 400 more toilets by the end of year 2

FOUNDING TEAM

Evan Young - Co-Founder

Mas Obuz - Co-Founder

 

Blueprint International

VACCINE CHALLENGE; SOUTH AFRICA

PROVEN INTERVENTION TO BE DISTRIBUTED

Advanced, low-cost mobile app technology to track and assist vaccine supply chain drivers. 

Learn more about our six Global Health Challenges that address immunization, patient identification, maternal health, and other issues and why we focus on poverty interventions that are proven to save lives. 

DISTRIBUTION MODEL INNOVATION

Blueprint International seeks to improve vaccine distribution within the developing world by implementing VIVE (Vital Improvements in Vaccine Efficiency), a simple and scalable web management platform for a mobile phone. This tool will enable better management, planning, and tracking of vaccine supplies from central stocks of primary-through-tertiary health care facilities. In addition, it will identify vaccine supply chain failures and highlight needed improvements. 

Almost 50% of vaccines are lost in the transition between manufacturer and the desired delivery point. Vaccine supply chains and logistics management capabilities of many countries have been shown to be ill equipped to manage not only the current vaccine supply, but also the increased vaccine volume in the future. Tracking individual vaccine vials is extremely costly and complicated. As a proxy, tracking drivers and collecting data on the vaccine journey will allow for the creation of a customize-able, holistic, and cost-effective approach to fixing supply chains. The technology has already been developed and proven successful within the private sector. The pilot will be rolled out in partnership with Biovac, a vaccine distributor in the Western Cape, South Africa. The model will utilize a three-pronged revenue approach including a monthly rental of the mobile device, advertising, and fees to other suppliers for integration within the system. 

PILOT AND SCALING GOALS

• During the pilot, gain proof of concept with five devices and extend the pilot site to all chains in the target area 
• Track and monitor 50 devices across two sites in South Africa by the end of year 1 
• Identify and target new countries and sites by end of year 1 
• Have 300 devices in the field in at least two countries by the end of year 2 

 

FOUNDING TEAM

• David Clark - Technology Director 

• Catharine Young - Operations Director

• Colin Young - Director of Business Development

Breakfast Revolution

CUSTOM CHALLENGE; INDIA

PROVEN INTERVENTION TO BE DISTRIBUTED

Nutritious foods and other essential nutrition interventions for those facing malnutrition. 

Learn more about the Custom Challenge and why we only fund ideas that focus on distributing proven poverty interventions.

DISTRIBUTION MODEL INNOVATION

The problem of malnutrition is more common in India (~43%) than in Sub Saharan Africa (~26%).  Anemia (low levels of hemoglobin) affects 74% children in India under 3 years, more than 90% of adolescent girls and 50% of women. More than 50% of all childhood deaths in India are attributed to malnutrition. The Breakfast Revolution tackles micronutrient (vitamins and minerals) and protein deficiency in children, adolescents and women from the poorest communities by leveraging proven interventions of food fortification, deworming, and vitamin A prophylaxis. To successfully distribute their fortified products, The Breakfast Revolution ensures they are low-cost, tasty, easily accessible, and evidence based. Their products are: 

• Supercookie: Cookies made of whole wheat and oats, fortified with 70 -100% RDA of vitamins A, D, Calcium, Iron, Folic Acid, naturally rich in protein and fiber.

• Supermilk: Vitamin A and D fortified, organically produced soy milk

• Suberbeans: Air-roasted and flavored soybeans, intrinsically rich in protein

• Superdrink: Similar to tang, fortified with vitamins C and B complex and electrolytes

The manufacturing is outsourced to Indian FDA-approved manufacturers and The Breakfast Revolution focuses on behavior change communication, distribution, and monitoring and evaluation. Consumers / beneficiaries are put on a program that begins with a baseline health evaluation, deworming and vitamin A prophylaxis, and 3-6 months of our food products 3-5 times a week. Health evaluations are repeated 3-6 times monthly. The Breakfast Revolution will utilize several distribution channels including selling directly to consumers through female entrepreneurs based in slums, selling products to NGOs offering meal programs, and through public-private partnerships with government nutrition programs to get their fortified products to the people who need them on a mass scale.  

 

PILOT AND SCALING GOALS

• Serve 1,400,000 meals in the first year

• Reach 60,000 beneficiaries in 2 years

FOUNDING TEAM

Neelam Jethwani - Co-founder, Chief Operating Officer 

Dr. Pankaj Jethwani - Co-founder 

Manasvini Mehta - Director, Business and Micro-Franchise Development