Entrepreneurs for Resilience Award

The Swiss Re Foundation Entrepreneurs for Resilience Award recognises entrepreneurial initiatives that take innovative approaches to building resilient societies and realising the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. While resilience is the core theme of this annual programme, its specific focus changes from year to year.

Our 2019 award will focus on innovative solutions that offer more and better access to healthcare for households in low-income communities. We’re looking for business-minded organisations that leverage technology to successfully tackle the behavioural, knowledge, infrastructure, financial and/or other barriers to such households’ access to healthcare solutions – from prevention to treatment.

Ventures that address one or more of the following areas are welcome to apply: access to information for patients and healthcare professionals, capacity-building of healthcare professionals, distribution and supply chain integrity, upgrading healthcare facilities and access to appropriate medical equipment and access to financing for patients. A more detailed description of the approaches targeted by the award can be found in the appendix "Scope".

Selection Criteria

We encourage enterprises that fit the above-described scope and meet the following criteria to apply:

Level of maturity:

Are established as formal start-ups, growing and on a clear path to full or partial financial sustainability (eg if only some operations are commercially based) but still dependent on grants (or other support) to improve their business model and/or reach full financial sustainability

Innovation and technology focus:

Leverage technology or an innovation in product or service delivery to deliver value to underserved populations at scale.

Mission and purpose:

Have a strong social purpose while using commercial mechanisms to achieve sustainability and scale.

Target group:

Serve moderately to very poor communities in rural and/or urban areas. Poor and vulnerable populations should be a clear focus and priority and/or represent more than 30% of people served. Candidates should have a deep understanding of their end users' specific circumstances and address barriers to healthcare that they face.

Geography:

Ideally, operate in low-income communities with limited/no access to quality healthcare.

For more information please check the Link