LEAP²: Pilot Innovation Challenge

Posted on Jul 5, 2017 12:00 AM by Close The Gap

For the duration of June, Close the Gap partnered with Nailab and One percent club to pilot the LEAP² Innovation Challengein Nairobi, Kenya: our platform to promote and support entrepreneurs that are creating digital solutions for societal challenges in emerging and developing countries.

From a pool of 42 strong applicants, LEAP² selected 10 successful innovations to partake in the innovation challenge. Aligning with the innovation criteria set out by LEAP², innovations were selected based on their ability to address nation-wide societal issues by applying practical and accessible digital solutions. Innovations addressed a wide-range of societal issues focusing on health, education, transport, farming and agriculture, energy and gender.

With recent figures indicating that 80% of Kenya’s population has access to a mobile phone, a majority of innovations aim to deliver products through mobile-applications to ensure accessibility and mobility of services.

Upon completion of a one day workshop held during June, professional coaches empowered participants with knowledge and tools to launch crowd-funding campaigns for their business case over the course of a month. Innovators were encouraged to discuss and map out individual campaign plans that were tailored to boost innovation support and popularity by addressing key demographic sectors.

The crowd-funding campaign concluded on the 4th of July with a pitch day, where innovators could pitch their business solution to societal issues to potential investors. The results of the LEAP² Innovation Challenge are already online, we will provide you with more details very soon! Learn more about the 10 innovations featured by clicking here.