Sh100m at stake for Chivas Regal The Venture winner
Chivas Regal on Thursday unveiled the winner of the Chivas Regal The Venture competition who will represent Kenya in New York for a chance to win $1 million in funding.
Sanivation was selected as one of 30 startups from across the world to be a finalist of Chivas Regal’s The Venture competition; a global search to find and support the next generation of start-ups that want to succeed while creating a better future for society.
“We are honored to be Kenya’s Finalist for The Venture Competition. At Sanivation, we work hard to provide cost-effective sanitation services to realize sustainability in urbanizing communities: what UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon has described as one of the most important aspects of the post-2015 development framework. Should we win the global competition, we will scale our work and reach 1 million people over the next five years, help tackle the sanitation crisis in Kenya and shift the paradigm about sanitation” said Dickson Ochieng, Director of Government Relations, Sanivation
Sanivation was founded after a realization that sanitation is a crisis in Kenya and East Africa with statistics showing that seven out of 10 people lack access to a toilet and also that 95 percent of fecal sludge is disposed into the environment without treatment.
They then came up with a solution to install toilets in homes for a monthly subscription fee; after which they collect the waste, treat it and recycle it into charcoal briquettes that are sold at an affordable price.
GLOBAL FINALIST
“The judges felt that Sanivation is a truly scalable social impact business and addressed huge health and environmental challenges that are currently faced by millions of people all over the world. We look forward to see them compete with social startups from across the world” said Mikul Shah Director Eat Out who spoke on behalf of the judges.
Chivas The Venture was first launched in 2014 and over 3,500 social enterprises applied for the chance to receive a share of the annual Sh100 million fund.
In 2015, Kenya’s WEFARM, a farming information platform, came 2nd and secured Sh20 million for their social enterprise.
This year, Kenya is among 32 countries across 6 continents which will be taking part and applications will be accepted from any for-profit-startup that creates both financial value and a positive impact on the lives of others.
Only the most promising from each country will be selected as a global finalist for the chance to take part in an Accelerator Week programme and travel to Oxford, UK and will represent Kenya at The Venture final event in the USA, July 2017.
