Safaricom aims to grow local social innovation via Kshs 50 million fund

Safaricom Foundation has established a Kshs 50 million Technology for Good Innovation fund aimed at growing social innovation locally.

The fund targets investors in the social innovation field who may need technical and entrepreneurship support to develop and deploy mobile technology solutions.

The Fund is expected to be a transformational fund that will empower young innovators with the potential to deliver significant and impactful solutions that leverage mobile technologies.

“Our overall aim is to enable transformational innovation for young developers who may not have access to the technical support they need to bring their ideas to life. Successful applicants will have to demonstrate that they have viable and sustainable ideas that are commercially viable for them in the long term,” Safaricom Foundation Chairman Joseph Ogutu said.

He said the application process is open for the next 21 days, ending October 1, 2015 adding that forms are already available on the Safaricom Foundation website.

The selected projects will be incubated at Strathmore University’s iLab for three months and successful applicants will receive technical support, mentorship and expert training relevant to the success of their innovation.

After the incubation phase, five innovations will progress to the next phase of the program, which will seek to identify tangible ways that they can be scaled for success.

The innovations must be mobile-based, of public benefit, demonstrate sustainable scalability, offer value for money and be in line with Safaricom Foundations strategic pillars which include health, education, economic empowerment, arts and culture, water, environment and disaster relief.

“We believe mobile technology can be used to address some of the world’s most pressing humanitarian challenges. It is transformative and can enable us put relevant, impactful services in the hands of underserved communities,” Ogutu said.

The Technology for Good fund is in line with the 2014-2017 Safaricom Foundation strategy that seeks to scale up development and use of mobile technology for development.