Entrepreneurs Lead the Charge to Advance the Sustainable Development Goals
Social Entrepreneurs and startups spotlighted at the 2023 Clinton Global Initiative Meeting, MIT Solve Pitch Competition, Business Fights Poverty Global Goals Summit, and Gates’ Goalkeepers Awards.
The importance of innovation and entrepreneurship was clearly on display during September’s United Nations General Assembly and connected side events. Brave and visionary entrepreneurs are spurring the most exciting and practical on-the-ground solutions to advance the SDGs.
They deserve the world’s attention and support.
Inspired by the Moving Worlds blog 51 Reasons to Believe We Can Still Achieve the SDGs by 2030, which showcases social entrepreneurs from its TRANSFORM Support Hub global network, we decided to shine a light on entrepreneurs who were featured during:
- Clinton Global Initiative Greenhouse Sessions held during CGI2023
- MIT Solve Pitch Competition
- Business Fights Poverty’s Catalysing Female Entrepreneurship Session
- Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Goalkeepers Awards
Learn more about, connect with, and support these inspiring entrepreneurs and their innovative startups via their LinkedIn profiles. (Links are embedded)
Clinton Global Initiative Greenhouse Sessions
CGI 2023 Greenhouse sessions, led by CGI University CEO Ragina Arrington, highlighted entrepreneurs tackling critical global challenges in CGI’s three content pillar areas.
Each of these sessions included a panel discussion followed by brief pitch presentations to a panel of judges and to the audience of Fortune 500 companies, large private and corporate foundations, family offices, and impact investors.
Below are the featured entrepreneurs by content area:
Inclusive Economy
- Sonny Khan, Paani Project
- Danielle De La Fuente, Amal Alliance
- Kunjpreet Arora, Angirus Ind Pvt Ltd
- Aadhar Bhalinge, AudiVision Technologies
- Jonathan Fife, Bright Feeds
- Byran Dai, Daivergent
- Sanjay Gupta, EnglishHelper Inc
- Lori Shao, Finli Inc
- Gurashish Sahni, ReCircle
- Alex Fisher, Saturn Bioponics
Climate Resilience
- Helge Jorgensen, 7Analytics
- Rahul Shah, Achuk Environmental Solutions Pvt Ltd.
- Oyungerel Munkhbat, Airee Felt LLC
- Alex Fisher, Saturn Bioponics
- Dan Deviri, CarbonBlue
- Alex Berkowitz, Coastal Protection Solutions, Inc
- Danny Wright, Gravity Water
- Carlos Ramos, Isobloco
- Shweta Jaju, Punam Energy Pvt. Ltd.
- Philip-Michael Weiner, Recapture
Health Equity
- Moka Lantum, CheckUps Medical
- Avinash Ambale, Daara Bio
- Dr. Blessing Animasahun, HelpMum
- Nicky Benn, LifeNet International
- Idda Saera, MaishaPackage
- Lorraine Muluka, Malacia
- Regina Kline, Smartjob
- Sam Warach, Nextstep Health
- Eva Mwai, North Star Alliance
- Shelly Saxena, Sevamob
A fourth Greenhouse session featured a panel of ecosystem builders for Entrepreneurs of Color. They discussed how to grow diverse funding sources and expand traditional investment circles to be more inclusive of nontraditional founders using case studies to demonstrate how equity and diversity is truly a growth strategy.
Panelists included:
- Jaques-Philippe Piverger, Goodlight Capital
- Felix Chevalier, Urban Capital Network
- Dr. Kelly Burton, Black Innovation Alliance
MIT Solve Pitch Competition
MIT Solve announced its 2023 Solver class of 31 tech-innovators tackling global challenges during its annual pitch event, which took place in New York City ahead of the UN General Assembly Week.
This cohort shares in a prize pool of over $1.5 million and participates a nine-month support program. Startup recipients include:
- Natives Rising
- Ma Ka Hana Ka ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi
- La Firme
- Build up Nepal ECO2Brick
- Kartik Sawhney, Patricia Mativo, Benedicta Oyewole, Charlotte Young, Tim Harte of Global Network of Young Persons with Disabilities (GNYPWD) Accessible Connect
- Mapping Justice
- Climate Health Vulnerability Mapping
- Carlos Pereira of Livox
- BeeLine Reader
- Weird Enough Productions
- Tiny Totos Kenya
- PesaKit
- NaYa
- Rahat Beema
- Synnefa
- Lucrefy
- Rology
- Elythea
- Savyn
- SAVE by Briota Technologies
- Omiflo
- GeoAirCon
- Nelplast
- Faircap Clean Water
- Utiva
- Hello World
Additionally, the winners of the 2023 Horizon Prize, administered by Solve, were announced during the 2023 Concordia Annal Summit. This global innovation challenge focuses on the rare disease health space.
Congratulations to winners:
- MendelScan (Mendelian)
- Vula Mobile
Business Fights Poverty: Catalysing Female Entrepreneurship
Entrepreneurship took center stage during many of the discussions at the Business Fights Poverty Global Goals Summit. One of our favorite sessions focused on the importance of supporting female entrepreneurship, especially in the health sector.
Session panelists included Zahid Torres-Rahman, CEO of Business Fights Poverty; Patricia O’Hayer Global Head Government Affairs & Co-Founder of WiNFund Reckitt; Corinne Hart, Senior Gender Advisor and Team Lead, Energy, Environment and Climate at USAID; Corinne Momal-Vanian, Executive Director at Kofi Annan Foundation; and Pradeep Kakkattil, Founder, HIEX and Co-Founder, WiNFUND.
They were joined virtually by the pioneer cohort of WiNFUND Entrepreneur Winners:
- Dr. Shamim m Nabuuma Kaliisa, Chil Femtech Center Inc.
- Belinda Shaw, Cape Biologix
- Adeola Ayoola, Famasi Africa
- Dr. Mercy Ashaba, Peleyta Health
- Judith Oketch, Ambulex Solutions Ltd.
- Koburongo Olivia, MamaOpe Medicals
Highlights, summaries, and recordings of this and many other sessions are available on the Business Fights Poverty website.
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Goalkeepers Awards
Prior to its annual Goalkeepers event, the Gates Foundation announced its 2023 award winners, which includes these exceptional entrepreneurs:
- Aidan Reilly, Ben Collier, and James Kanoff of The Farmlink Project (Campaign Award)
- Ashu Martha Agbornyenty, For Mom & Baby Foundation (Changemaker Award)
- Eden Tadesse, Invicta (Progress Award)
Conclusion
These entrepreneurs and startups were featured during some of the nearly 1,750 sessions that took place in and around Global Goals and Climate Week, but we know that they represent just a fraction of the innovative work social entrepreneurs do on a daily basis. We remain committed to supporting their fresh approaches to social impact through our efforts at StartingUpGood and SDGCounting.
Have we missed Global Goals and Climate Week sessions that featured impressive social entrepreneurs? Let us know and we will add them to our list.
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