STARTUPS FOCUSED ON SOCIAL IMPACT OR ADDRESSING GLOBAL CHALLENGES

INTRODUCTION 

Nowadays, there has been a marked development in the number of start-ups that aim at social innovation. Such types of startups are solving some of the global challenges, including climate change, healthcare, education, and many more.

THE RISE OF SOCIAL IMPACT STARTUPS

As it was historically seen, the major motivation of organizational entities was and still remains financial. But generally, as the years go by, the structures of startups are also shifting considering that many business gurus are learning the impact that can be brought about by companies that are formed for the purpose of changing society. Such a startup’s primary purpose is to tackle some of the pressing issues affecting the world in the long run with sustainable business practices and profit. Organizations that adopt this strategy are on the rise, particularly from baby boomers and the younger generation in matters of corporate responsibility.

KEY AREAS OF FOCUS

Environmental Sustainability:

It is a sensitive area in which social impact startups are already making considerable enhancements. The purpose of these startups is to save, avoid as much waste as possible, and counter climate shift.

·         Too Good To Go: This app helps consumers’ purchase food that would otherwise go to waste from restaurants and grocery stores and also combat food waste. The purpose of this startup is to make sure that cuts and overripe food items that normally would be discarded are instead used to avoid food wastage.

·         Carbon Clean Solutions: This a startup battling climate change as it’s involved in providing carbon capture technology necessary for industrial firms to minimize their emission of carbon.

Healthcare Access and Innovation:

As the reshaping of world healthcare already suggested, even in the contemporary world, it is a problem in many countries to access healthcare services. Modern startups came to close this gap and offer high-quality health care by implementing modern technologies and radical solutions.

·         Zipline: Zipline assists in the delivery of medical items, that is blood, and vaccines to areas that may be hard to reach or some few tricky areas by drones. This will see to it that vital medical commodities get to the intended clients a this crucial stage.

·         Babylon Health: This startup leveraging AI along with telemedicine and is focused on the provision of accessible and affordable healthcare. Thus, the platform enables persons to receive medical advice and receive prescriptions or study their health state without going to the healthcare facility.

Education and Skill Development:

Education being sought by everyone in today’s scenario is a very strong tool for bringing change in society and today start-ups are also trying to utilise technology for providing education and skill development.

·         Khan Academy: It is a non-profit, education-focused organization that provides free courses, lessons, and practice exercises on numerous disciplines which helps deliver quality education for the learners.

·         Andela: It mainly concentrates on fostering software developers in Africa and assists in identifying and match qualified people to organizations that require such expertise for their technological needs thus promoting the development and generating employment in Africa.

Financial Inclusion:

Another very essential level is financial inclusion as a measure to eliminate poverty and as a factor to foster economic growth. Currently, startups in today’s world are targeting the sector and are also attempting to offer them a chance to compete for financial services and be part of the economic market.

·         Kiva: Kiva gives small loans to businessmen and women in the developing nations and thus enables them to create or enhance their stands hence helping them improve on their survival standards and those of their employees.

·         Branch: Those who cannot work within the frame of a conventional banking system, The Branch fulfils their need by offering services including lending a small amount of money through the use of mobile devices.

Clean Energy:

In today’s environment the translation to clean energy is very important for managing the effects of climate change. Most of the startups in this area are working towards coming up with efficient strategies that can be used to increase the utilization of renewable energy sources.

·         Tesla: Tesla is identifying solutions outside of automotive transport including solar energy for power and storage which is useful in sustaining the environment.

·         OFF Grid Electric: This startup is goals for giving people in homes, and also in companies in Africa inexpensive solar power electricity, which cuts the utilization of fossil power and empowers clean energy.

Water and Sanitation:

Water is basic need to every living creature, Therefore, fresh water and proper sanitation are key determinants of health status. The discussed critical issues are being solved by social impact startups.

·         Aqua Safi: This start up is designing kind Uganda water solutions and intends to supply those in dire need of clean and purified drinking water.

·         Sanergy: It is developing sustainable sanitation technologies for the thousand of people residing in urban slums where something as basic as sanitation is still a luxury, transforming waste that is valueless to useful products such as organic fertilizer and renewable energy.

Agriculture and Food Security:

The firms in the agriculture industry are trying to make an effort to achieve high yields given that the issue of food insecurity is a vice around the world.

·         AgFunder: It is a venture capital which means it finances companies or projects that are in development on different technological, managerial or financial fields, so this VC invests in companies which are ‘working’ and ‘creating’ in agriculture field, to improve food produc­tion and diversify it.

·         FarmCrowdy: This assists farmers in getting associated with investors, it works to enhance the yields and profitability of agriculture in Nigeria hence food security is enhanced.

Social Equality and Human Rights:

 Thus, it can be summarized that equality and human rights form the basis of a fair and just society. Yes, there is a number of startups that aims to develop the applications and systems for advocacy of equal rights of the people.

·         Benetech: This is a non-profit company that builds technology for the common good of society and it consists of tools for education and differently abled, and human rights.

·         Sama source: That increases the digital work among the poor communities that are in need of such earnings to support themselves and at the same time delivering positive work to those companies.

CHALLENGES FACED BY SOCIAL IMPACT STARTUPS

 The phenomenon of Social Impact Startups is challenging since there are various barriers that negatively affect the performance of the startups regardless of the fact that the primary mission is to create a positive social impact.

·         Funding: One of the problems when running such organizations is finding investment that is compatible with the mission. Most usual investors Meyer and Rowan (1978) only consider profits that they can reap from these investments without any regard for the social benefit that startups can bring to the society.

·         Measuring Impact: In particular, it is very important for the social impact startups to show the beneficiary social or environmental value added to key stakeholders. While capturing and reporting on impact is a highly valuable process it can also be quite time consuming and expensive.

·         Balancing Profit and Purpose: Meeting the target while not widening the financial gap as a result of pro bono cases can be quite a task for many organizations of this nature. This means that while the business and social models are intertwined, the social impact startups cannot afford to ignore the market factors in an endeavor to make profound social change without worrying about the viability of the business ideas.

·         Regulatory Hurdles: There are always issues with different regulatory systems, particularly for the international business. Public interest startups have to meet the legal requirements and often the rules differ quite much from one region to another.

CONCLUSION

Social impact startups are innovative organizations creating a positive difference on society and solving some of the world’s most pressing problems. These startups are proving that business for good is possible, with sectors ranging from environmental sensitivity, health, teaching, financial complication, pure power and energy, water and sanitation, food and farming, social justice, build environment, and waste management. Despite they encountering numerous challenges, the young social entrepreneurs are receiving support from impact investors, incubators, accelerators, and nonprofit organizations to overcome the existing challenges and scale their impact. With time, more people will embrace the movement of social impact startups to solve challenges affecting human beings across the globe.