About the Program
WFP is launching the Digital Health Innovation Accelerator Program, powered by WFP Innovation Accelerator, and the digilab, jointly led by BMZ – Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, KfW – Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and the GIZ. We are in search of scalable digital solutions using open standards and approaches towards the creation of global goods, with a focus on building and supporting pandemic preparedness capabilities in low- and middle-income countries. As the COVID-19 vaccination campaign continues globally, we aim to leverage these digital solutions to accelerate the vaccination campaign, thereby maximizing its impact and the recovery of communities and health systems in low- and middle-income countries.
The programme will select mature start-ups and solution providers who will receive financial, technical and methodological support from the WFP Innovation Accelerator, and other partners. Together with the brightest and best minds globally, we will be able to support the COVID-19 vaccination campaign.
What WFP Offers
The WFP Innovation Accelerator has a track record of organizing over 38 flagship innovation bootcamps, supporting over 369 teams to rapidly refine their innovations, field testing over 100 projects, and bringing disruptive innovations to scale, reaching more than 3.7 million people in 2020 alone.
Funding
Projects will also be considered for the WFP Sprint Program, a six-month acceleration programme with access to up to US $250,000 in equity-free funding, mentorship, and access to a global network of relevant partners in the public health space
Scaling
Mature innovations that have proven their concepts and value for social impact may qualify for further funding and support.
Hands-on Support
Selected teams will be invited to participate in a fully virtual WFP Innovation Bootcamp in January 2022
Eligibility Criteria
- Your organization must be an established legal entity (for-profit, non for profit, social enterprise).
- The proposed solution should follow open standards, open-source or open data approaches towards creating global goods (e.g. OSI approved licenses, Creative Commons licenses).
- The developed or implemented solution should use data and information exchange mechanisms based on global standards (e.g. openHIE).
- The applicant organization must have a presence in the country of implementation (country office or other permanent presence, subsidiary, long-term operations, or partnerships in the country, specifically with the relevant Public Health government agencies).
- Your innovation addresses one or more of the priority topics related to building pandemic preparedness in low- and middle-income countries. Your innovation should have a demonstrated proof-of-concept with initial traction and a clear path to scale.
Evaluation Criteria
- Impact & Scalability: Applicants should have a defined vision, an identified target group, and be able to demonstrate the potential to solve the posed challenge(s).
- Team: Applicants should be able to demonstrate they have a diverse, non-discriminatory, gender-balanced organization with demonstrated leadership and entrepreneurial mindset.
- Novelty: Applicants should be able to show how their solution and business model are innovative while being technically suitable, and viable.
- Traction: Applicants should be able to present evidence of feasibility and adoption by the target group.
- Business Model: Applicants should demonstrate the viability of their business model, how they intend to achieve a sustainable business, pricing, and financial model.
Grant Size: USD 250,000 (Equity-free funding)
Deadline: November 21, 2021