UNICEF Innovation Fund is inviting early-stage startups to participate in the programme. The innovation programme is a $17.9 Million sourced fund that invests in early stage and emerging technology to impact children on a global scale.
The programme invites startups working in VR/AR, blockchain domain, and drones. It is seeking for the frontier technology startups to apply for funding and become part of the open source solutions. The organization is looking to make $50K-$90K equity-free investments to assist early-stage finance in profiting startups.
Addition to this, UNICEF Innovation Fund also offers product and technology assistance, access to a network of experts, and business growth. The fund has invested in 33 startups in UNICEF programme countries out of which 5 of them are Indian startups such as Avyantra, TeliportMe, StaTwig, Veative Labs, and Ninaad.
Startups Eligibility to participate
- A startup should be working on open source technology solutions or willing to be open-source provided the following licenses- BSD (software), CERN (hardware), or CC-BY (content);
- The applicant should be a registered private company
- Should have an existing prototype of the product or solution.
- A promising solution to positively impact the lives of children.
Selected Startups gets the following from UNICEF Innovation Fund
- Seed Funding- The Fund renders $50K- $100K in equity-free seed funding which is intended for prototype testing and validation.
- Business growth- The fund is provided to a network of mentors who helps startup teams develop their business model and strategy to grow their company.
- Product and technology development- Selected startups receive technical assistance from the UNICEF Ventures team.
- Data networks and platforms- UNICEF Ventures has a promising Data Science team hosting and sharing data platforms, and access to corporate partnerships and use cases startups can benefit from.
The application deadline varies for Startups working on different categories
- Blockchain – June 30, 2019.
- Virtual and Augmented Reality– April 30, 2019
- Drones– August 31, 2019
