Overview : Innovation Challenge UNDP & Koç Holding BOOST: Women Innovators (Turkey) Procurement Notice: UPDATE: 03 March 2022 Due date extended until 15 of March 2022. Financed by Koç Holding through the UNDP-implemented Development Service Agreement, and in partnership with the STEM4ALL network, BOOST: Women Innovators (Turkey) (https://boostimpact.org/challenges/boost-women-innovators-turkey/) is an open call for women-led startups to develop and boost technology-driven innovations that can create replicable and scalable social impact. Selected participants – a maximum of 10 startups – will take part in BOOST, an intensive 16-week online acceleration program, receiving world-class trainings and mentorship to develop, reimagine and scale their innovations. At the end of the program, participating organizations pitch their innovations in front of an international just, and compete for equity-free capital (grant) of US$10.000. Applicants: Women-led startups Geography of operations: Turkey Innovation area: Technology-driven innovations that can create replicable and scalable social impact. Example innovation areas include but are not limited to; artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), Internet of things (IoT), Software as a Service (SaaS), cloud computing, blockchain, wearables, augmented/virtual reality (AR/VR), robotics, cybersecurity, fuel cell, battery technologies, nanotechnologies, and material technologies. Business model innovations and social innovations are also eligible if technology is used or developed. The call also encourages applications from startups developing and scaling innovations that address gender inequality and its underlying challenges, through one or more of the calls’ special themes: - Women and digital access and use: Innovations that help bridge the gender digital divide, enabling women and girls to equally access and use digital technologies – from affordable tech and enhancing digital literacy skills to tackling gender stereotypes.
- Women in the digital economy and STEM: Innovations that help increase women’s active participation in digitally transformed economies or boost opportunities for women to be creators/drivers of innovation – for instance by leveraging the amplifying effect of emerging technologies, or by facilitating access to affordable finance.
- Women in data: Innovations that help close the gendered data gap, using gender-sensitive data to improve research, planning, design and monitoring in any field or industry to create better products, services, and policies.
Terms of Reference for the open call and Selection Criteria for assessment and selection of participants to the BOOST Acceleration Program and for grant awards are found attached, as well as the Agreement Template which will be used to issue grants to winning innovations. Expected contract start date: August 2022 Expected contract length: up to 9 months Maximum prize award: Up to US$10,000, the applicants provide co-funding of at least 50% of the total cost of the innovation project. Applicants must submit their proposals through the Gust platform: https://gust.com/programs/boost-2 The application should be submitted by Tuesday 01 March 2022, 15 March 2022 Central European Time (CET), 23:59. |