Three African startups have won $4.5 million in the 2019 Skoll Awards for Social Entrepreneurship. The startups were announced a week before the 16th Annual Skoll World Forum.
The African startups are Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator (South Africa), mPedigree (Kenya) and mPharma (Ghana). These startups will each receive $1.5 million in core support investments to scale their work and increase their impact.
The Skoll Awards distinguish transformative leaders whose organizations disrupt the status quo, drive sustainable large-scale change, and are poised to create even greater impact.
“These brave entrepreneurs are on the frontlines of solving the world’s most pressing problems. They all share a relentless pursuit of impact and the desire to create a more just world.” — Our founder @jeffskoll on this year's Skoll Awardees. https://t.co/LVUOIfj9NA pic.twitter.com/kjKjJcVv3K
— Skoll Foundation (@SkollFoundation) April 1, 2019
“These brave entrepreneurs are on the frontlines of solving the world’s most pressing problems,” said Jeff Skoll, Founder and Chairman of the Skoll Foundation. “Each social entrepreneur may have a distinct approach, but they all share a relentless pursuit of impact and the desire to create a more just world.”
“These leaders have demonstrated how to spark transformative change to improve health, protect vulnerable individuals, and provide new opportunities for young people,” said Richard Fahey, Interim President of the Skoll Foundation. “We are thrilled to welcome these passionate problem solvers into the Skoll community.”
Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator: Nicola Galombik and Maryana Iskander
Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator confronts South Africa’s youth unemployment crisis—among the world’s highest—with its innovative job training methodology, business partnerships, and opportunity matching.
mPedigree: Bright Simons and Selorm Branttie
mPedigree fights drug and agricultural seed counterfeiting with a product identification marker that consumers use to determine authenticity immediately with a mobile phone.
mPharma: Gregory Rockson
mPharma fixes the broken drug supply chain in Africa to make medicine accessible and affordable by eliminating the inefficiencies and price fluctuations that keep drugs from sick people.
