The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), École Polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (the EPFL), Orange and SAP, has selected two Nigerian entrepreneurs, Powerstove and ColdHubs as parts of its Growth Stage Impact Ventures.
UNDP, in a statement on Wednesday announced the selection of 12 finalists of the Growth Stage Impact Ventures (GSIV) for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) initiative in health, energy and waste management in developing countries.
According to the statement, “as the second cohort of the initiative, the selected finalists represent the most innovative and investment-ready ventures that are transforming access to health, energy, and waste management in developing countries.
“A highly competitive selection, the process starts with nominations from impact investors and UN agencies. Finalists represent the best 5% of the 240 recommended enterprises that met the criteria across the world.
Powerstove made it in the Energy category alongside Iluméxico (Mexico), Kingo (Guatemala), Easy Solar (Sierra Leone) while Coldhubs made it in the Waste Management category alongside GARV toilets (India), Sinba (Peru), Saathi (India).
Other entrepreneurs selected in the health category, Livox (Brazil), Bempu Health (India), Vula Mobile (South Africa), Mamotest (Argentina).
The statement noted that all ventures will participate in a virtual pitching event on June 3rd, 2021, then attend the SDG Finance Geneva Summit, during the Building Bridges Week in late November 2021.
“The GSIV is one of the most rigorous selection processes to identify Post-series A ventures focusing on solutions that empower people at the bottom of the pyramid and actively contribute to poverty reduction in developing countries. The quality of the pipeline was exceptional, with ventures from the Global South presenting solid business models and impact track records. This edition was highly successful as we received almost twice the amount of nominations we did last year, which also shows the appetite from the investment community to share deals.”
“Altogether our 12 finalists represent USD 48 million investment opportunities, as they impact the lives of 1,240,000 people in need and serve 22,300 businesses.”, noted Alessandra Rojas, Sustainable Entrepreneurship Manager at EPFL Tech4Impact.
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