To help scale bold ideas to tackle the world’s big social, environmental and economic issues, TRANSFORM, the joint initiative between Unilever and the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID), is now calling on social enterprises to apply. To invite ideas and promote collaboration to further catalyse impact, TRANSFORM uses Exago’s open innovation software.

TRANSFORM was founded in 2015 to support social enterprises that meet low-income household needs in developing countries. The partnership is currently supporting 19 projects across nine countries, which have so far benefited over 400,000 people.

TRANSFORM’s aim is to enable 100 million people in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia to gain access to products and services that have been shown to improve health, livelihoods, the environment or wellbeing by 2025. To achieve this, earlier this year, the partnership announced the expansion of the joint commitment from £10 million to £40 million and is now welcoming new ideas and projects.

Do you have an idea TRANSFORM can help scale?

TRANSFORM is looking for social entrepreneurs and innovators with ideas for market-based solutions in three areas:

• Delivering products in hard-to-reach rural locations, with a particular interest in Nigeria, Ethiopia, India, Bangladesh and Myanmar.
• Providing sanitation to low-income urban and rural communities in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.
• Raising awareness and demand for safe, affordable drinking water in highly dispersed rural households across South Asia, with a particular interest in Bangladesh and India.

Projects must demonstrate the potential to be financially sustainable, target low-income household needs in an innovative way and focus on one of DFID’s priority countries. TRANSFORM offers grant funding up to £300,000 and bespoke business support to take ideas to scale.

For more information and to share your ideas, visit www.transform.global.