UNICEF Innovation Fund is Offering up to $100k Equity Investments to Drone Startups

The United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) has launched a UNICEF Innovation Fund for drone startups, an initiative looking to provide early-stage finance to for-profit technology startups with open-source solutions that can benefit the world through the use of drones.

Great feature via @Reuters. UNICEF has been exploring how to integrate drones & the various opportunities it can bring — from connectivity, imagery and delivery.
Have a solution? https://t.co/6ViYacr9lE

**Have a solution? APPLY FOR SEED FUNDING today: https://t.co/zW434xKmZ8 pic.twitter.com/zMB6RdMF50

— UNICEF Innovation (@UNICEFinnovate) June 13, 2018

Related Post: Looking for Seed Funding? Apply for UNICEF’s $90,000 Equity-Free Innovation Fund

If you own a registered drone startup in any of the UNICEF’s programme countries (Nigeria is one) with an already existing prototype or service showing promising results with a potential to positively impact the lives of children, and that can take advantage of the platforms the Fund offers, then you should apply for the UNICEF Innovation Fund.

Startups should also ensure that they are working on open source technology solutions or willing to be open-source under the following licenses or any other equivalent: BSD (software), CERN (hardware), or CC-BY (content).

Also, the fund for drone startups is focused on solutions such as Software to collect, share and analyse data from UAVs (for low-connectivity areas); Software to manage flight and delivery operations; Business models and sustainable drone services in emerging markets; Air Safety; risk management tools; and Unmanned Traffic Management (UTM) Systems.

The @UNICEF Innovation Fund is looking to make up to $100K equity-free investments to provide early stage (seed) finance to for-profit technology start-ups that have the potential to benefit humanity through the use of #drones | https://t.co/jlmyW9bqyh | #sUAS #UAV #PrecisionAg pic.twitter.com/KY2pNwsym7

— Drones for Agriculture (@UAV4Ag) June 18, 2018

In return for their innovations, selected startups would be provided with a network of expert mentors to help them grow their business as well as technical assistance from UNICEF Ventures team to help validate and improve their solutions. In addition to the equity-free investment/ seed funding of $50k- $100k, startups would be connected to UNICEF’s network in order to assist in scaling and maximizing impact and they would also have access to UNICEF Drone corridor in Malawi that provides the physical space for testing their solutions.

Does your startup meet the above requirements? Are you looking for seed funding for your open source tech startup? You can click here to apply. Applications close on Sunday, July 22, 2018.