Impact Shakers

Opportunities for Impact Businesses 📯 1) The WFP Innovation Accelerator's WFP Innovation Challenges are open for applications and in search of game-changing innovations that deliver relief, foster, resilience and end hunger. Current priorities are 1) Emergency Preparedness and Response, 2) Supply Chain and Delivery, 3) Nutrition and School Meals, 4) Food Systems and Smallholder Farmers, 5) Resilience and Sustainable Livelihoods, and 6) Social Protection. Selected organisations will receive support and up to US$100,000 equity-free funding to test the venture’s scalability potential. Deadline: July 30 (some are rolling all year long) 2) Social Shifters Global Innovation Challenge is designed to support young people (18-30 years), from anywhere in the world, who want to take action on the social and environmental issues that impact them and their community. The programme is designed for young people with an idea or project at a very early stage, however, they welcome social entrepreneurs and businesses at a more advanced stage of their startup journey. Grant funding awards of up to $10,000. Deadline: 31 July 3) Brainforest invites nature solutions entrepreneurs and startups to join their Nature Solution Venture Program. They seek innovative, nature and biodiversity-positive startups, especially those connected to forests, focusing on AI for biodiversity, soil regeneration, coastal ecosystems, and Web3. Benefits include dedicated coaching, mentorship, network access, and up to $150,000 in financial support. Deadline: 23 Aug 4) Virgin StartUp's investment readiness programme, #Empower100 is open for applications for London-based founders. Deadline: 29 Aug 5) Purpose Earth is a grant and mentorship program empowering leaders and their transformative solutions to our global challenges. They support purpose-driven projects that are finding creative solutions within the areas of environmental protection, community activation and cultural collaboration. Grant funding is up to $10,000 per recipient. Deadline: 31 Aug #opportunities #calls #deadlines

This week's 'Impact Startups to Watch' are focused on developing #femtech solutions, specifically for #pregnancy and #postpartum care. Giving birth is a demanding experience, both physically and mentally, and many mothers need additional support during the period following the birth of their child. These apps and services adopt a holistic approach to supporting postpartum mothers. LEIA Health is on a mission to redefine postpartum health through a combination of science, AI and the lived experience of motherhood. Momsanity App is an app that supports mothers in dealing with postpartum depression (PPD). CARÁ Health provides an all-inclusive health and wellness platform tailored to nurture and empower women throughout their maternity experience. Postpartum Plan is revolutionising postpartum care for parents, corporates and our society. Through online membership, employee benefit offerings, corporate training and partnerships, they bring together all the experts that new parents should have access to: from mindset to movement, recovery to recipes. Parentally is the go-to platform for new and future parents looking for extra care and support at any stage of their parenthood journey, pregnancy, birth, postpartum and parenthood. #impactentrepreneurship #femtech

Opportunities for Impact Businesses 🏝 1) The #F100 Growth Fund programme of Black Equity Organisation in partnership with Sky is accepting applications from Black founders for its upcoming cohort. Selected founders can pitch for up to £15,000 in equity-free funding, gain access to supply chains, connections and insights from world-class operators, participate in a bespoke 10-week programme of workshops, present your business to investors and VCs and receive mentorship and coaching from renowned business leaders. Deadline: 21 July 2) Grow F by Female Founders is a 5-week investment readiness program for gender-diverse ventures. Deadline: 28 July 3) The Climatebase Fellowship is a career accelerator designed to help ambitious mission-driven professionals supercharge their careers in climate, land their next job, or start their own projects and ventures. Deadline: 1 Aug 4) Google.org's Impact Challenge: Strengthening Democracy in Europe - Google is launching a €15M open call for European nonprofits, civic entities, academic institutions, and social enterprises to help scale initiatives promoting democratic resilience in the region, including through the use of advanced technology and AI. Successful applicants may receive anywhere between €250K up to €1M in funding and additional support to accelerate their project. Deadline: 9 Aug 5) #Fit4Start by Luxinnovation GIE offers entrepreneurs and startups intensive coaching and mentorship, co-working space, and access to key networks and resources to grow and scale their business. Startups selected for the programme and that incorporate in Luxembourg receive €50,000 equity-free seed funding each from the Luxembourg Ministry of the Economy. Those that graduate, successfully raise funds and employ at least two employees may receive an additional €100,000 in state aid. Deadline: 12 Aug #opportunities #calls #deadlines

This time of the year again! 🏝 Don't miss out on our special Summer Opportunities #newsletter next week with 20 calls for applications, awards, prizes, challenges, fellowships and funding opportunities for #impact startups! Subscribe to our newsletter now: https://lnkd.in/ddGhDiu4 #opportunities #impactentrepreneurship

This week's 'Impact Startups to Watch' are focused on addressing #addiction and other #disorders, which are systemic and persistent challenges affecting modern society. These innovative startups are leveraging technology to develop solutions that promote healthier habits, provide support for individuals and target the underlying causes of these issues. KLAVA Innovation is a DeepTech/Medtech startup that creates accessible, digital therapeutics (DTx) for addictive disorders by combining deep learning with evidence-based psychology to deliver digital medicine apps to people suffering from tobacco addiction. coobi's mission is to use technology to make treatment and help for addiction more accessible and efficient. To achieve this, they are developing a novel, ML-based algorithm that leverages digital biomarkers from smartphones and wearables to calculate the individual risk of relapse and provide objective insights into addictive behaviour. Progress Me helps young people who are suffering from eating disorders and contributes with simplified tools for good help. By working to strengthen self-esteem and self-image, they not only help people who have an eating disorder but also reduce the risk of developing one. Wellspent offers a digital training program to build a healthy relationship with the smartphone in a personal, non-judgemental and playful way that fits into everyday life. Their training app is based on methods from behavioural psychology and helps users overcome unhealthy habits and replace them with healthy ones that last. Juniver delivers on-demand help, specialist care, and a supportive community for lasting recovery from eating disorders. #impactentrepreneurship #addiction #mentalhealth

Opportunities for Impact Businesses 🌻 1) The Black Ambition #Paris Prize competition seeks to empower and uplift aspiring entrepreneurs from diverse backgrounds. The competition is open to underrepresented innovators in France, including those of African and Caribbean descent, scaling high-growth ventures in consumer products & services, healthcare, media & entertainment, technology, and AI. Deadline: 17 July 2) The 100 Accelerator is an open innovation program designed to source, validate, and scale technologies to transform corporate value chains with the most sustainable solutions possible. Partnered with AB InBev, Unilever, The Coca-Cola Company, Colgate-Palmolive, and Danone, they offer up to $100,000 to pilot your service or product. Additionally, the program includes a mentorship component and the opportunity to pitch to investors at the end of the piloting stage. Deadline: 18 July 3) Sie Ventures' Catalyst is an 8-week programme to build strong relationships with investors and founders with hands-on support from Sie team and Venture Community, and small group sessions with industry-leading experts. Deadline: 29 July 4) The Hello Tomorrow Global Challenge provides deeptech startups with opportunities for equity-free funding, global visibility, and connections with key players in the deeptech ecosystem. Deadline: 31 July 5) The Amazon Sustainability Accelerator is an equity-free programme supporting startups that are driving sustainable innovation and helping them to grow their skills and scale their businesses so they can maximise their climate impact. Deadline: 31 July #opportunities #deadlines #calls

Learn about the next investment of Impact Shakers Ventures, Fortifai in our latest newsletter! 📩 https://wix.to/cX0gH4Z Sign up here to stay in the loop and get exciting opportunities & news in your mailbox! https://lnkd.in/d9Dc3_3c

This week's 'Impact Startups to Watch' are working on #circular solutions. These innovative startups are addressing the challenges of waste by developing novel business models, technologies, and systems to encourage the reuse, recycling and upcycling of materials. By embracing the principles of the circular economy, these startups are enabling a transformation within industries towards circular supply chains. koorvi (former numi.circular) is accelerating the circular transformation of our economy by building the technical infrastructure for brands to set-up, manage and track their own take back programs. CIRCULIFE ➰ helps organisations transition to circular asset management through value chain optimisation, for consistent sustainable profit, using a customised tracking methodology. MATR® is a circular economy company offering an innovative mattress-as-a-service solution to hotels. MATR® mattresses never end up as waste and always go back into the material cycle, resulting in a carbon footprint 50% less than conventional mattresses. THE UPCYCL built a B2B material exchange platform that makes waste from one company accessible as valuable resources for another. It fosters a tight-knit community where industrial waste materials are shared and circulated between the production and development stages, maximising existing resources' value, and enabling companies to rely on a circular supply chain. Human Material Loop transforms human hair – waste from hair salons – into natural, durable, and traceable textile fibres. For salons, this means a solution to hair waste. For the textile industry, this means a repurposed, ethical, and high-performing source. #impactentrepreneurship #circular #waste

Opportunities for Impact Businesses 🔔 1) The Ufi VocTech Trust Challenge Impact Network Grant Fund is looking for bold, tech-led approaches to tackle one of three specific challenges: Employer integration; Pathways into and within work; and Vocational language barriers. Successful grant fund applicants will each receive between £200k and £250k to refine and deploy their ideas. Deadline: 8 July 2) Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation, is offering up to 50 Women in Innovation Awards to women entrepreneurs within SMEs across the UK. The winners will receive a £75,000 grant and bespoke business support. Deadline: 10 July 3) Mercy Corps Ventures is launching a call for proposals focused on Artificial Intelligence (AI) for Climate Resilience. This initiative seeks startups or organizations deploying innovative AI-based solutions for climate resilience in emerging markets. Up to $100,000 grant is available. Deadline: 21 July 4) The Energy Starter programme supported by Beta-i • collaborative innovation is looking for new solutions that support the consumers in their decarbonisation path, facilitate the global transition to electric mobility and boost the development of distributed generation solutions. Deadline: 25 Aug 5) Nordvegen Vind, a partnership between Corio Generation and Å Energi through the NOW Accelerator programme challenges innovators to develop advanced monitoring technologies for floating offshore wind farms. The primary goals are to measure microplastic pollution, noise pollution, and biodiversity impacts in real time. Deadline: 26 Aug #opportunities #calls #deadlines

This week's 'Impact Startups to Watch' are working on #heat resistance and #cooling solutions. With the increasing frequency of extreme heat waves worldwide, there is a growing need for new products and services to help mitigate their effects. These startups are developing solutions for the industry and for workers alike. Epicue is working on heat stress management for workers in high-heat environments via low-cost wearable sweat monitoring to reduce the effects of heat stress and dehydration. Coolar’s innovative cooling system enables doctors to preserve lifesaving medicines such as vaccines in a reliable and eco-friendly way by providing refrigerators that run independently from the power grid and are close to carbon neutral by utilising solar heat. UniSCool aims to revolutionise the cooling of current electronic systems through a new patented innovative liquid cooling system that allows increased thermal performance with a significant reduction in energy consumption. Koolboks makes refrigeration accessible and affordable through solar-powered freezers, equipped with Pay-As-You-Go technology and offered through an innovative Cooling-as-a-Service model enabling eco-friendly and accessible refrigeration to everyone who needs it. Cooling Photonics provides passive cooling solutions that reduce energy consumption, with zero carbon emissions, increasing systems performance whilst decreasing operating costs. #impactentrepreneurship #heat #cooling