FINCA International is launching the FINCA Ventures Prize to support social entrepreneurs who share FINCA’s steadfast commitment to ending global poverty.
The FINCA Ventures Prize will launch its online application that is open to social entrepreneurs with bold visions, disruptive business models, or new products or technologies that can create meaningful impact for poor and low-income people in developing markets.
The FINCA Ventures Prize will culminate in an event in March 2024 in Washington DC. The event will feature in-person pitch presentations by the finalists to a jury and a celebration of the top winners in the categories of environment and health.
Through the FINCA Ventures Prize, FINCA also seeks to elevate awareness among donor and investor networks of the powerful potential to catalyze startups seeking to deliver impactful and scalable solutions to poor and low-income customers.
In the health category, the FINCA Ventures Prize will prioritize social entrepreneurs who are developing and scaling solutions that improve access and decrease cost for people with limited or no access to quality healthcare.
They expect a range of applications from entrepreneurs building out brick and mortar facilities, to digital platforms and medical devices that increase access to healthcare, to B2B and B2C financial solutions tailored for the healthcare sector.
In the environment category, the FINCA Ventures Prize is focused on agricultural solutions that drive climate adaptation specifically in the agriculture sector.
Enterprising applicants might be building local processing capacity that gives smallholder farmers better market access and stimulates the adoption of improved farming practices, delivering ag tech and digital extension service, or creating financial solutions that help farmers weather climate shocks and crop failures.
Categories
Agriculture (American Founder or C-Suite)
Agriculture (Local Founder)
Health (American Founder or C-Suite)
Health (Local Founder)
Benefits of participation
In each category,
The grand prize winner will receive a grant award of $70,000.
The second receives: $20,000
Third-place finalists will receive grant awards $10,000,
Criteria for participation
They are looking for companies with a significant presence in sub-Saharan Africa and whose solution fits into one of the following two categories: global health and environment.
To win a grant award, participants must be able to travel to Washington DC (with costs covered by FINCA) to present at the pitch event.
