At the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) 2023 Meeting, a range of startups competed to receive grant support for new social enterprises, along with partnerships with Fortune 500 companies, large private and corporate foundations, investors, and funders
NEW YORK – At the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) 2023 Annual Meeting this year, three startups received grants to support the launch of new social enterprises aimed at addressing a major global challenge. The total grant of $75,000* was awarded after a day-long program, the CGI Greenhouse, where 28 entrepreneurs presented their ideas to a panel of judges representing global foundations, and venture capital firms.
The awardees included entrepreneurs with innovative, intersectional, and forward-thinking solutions to global challenges like climate change, health equity, and building a more inclusive economy. Alex Berkowitz of Coastal Protection Solutions; Alex Fisher of Saturn Bioponics; and Eva Mwai of North Star Alliance were each awarded $25,000 to support the scale and expansion of their work; while Byran Dai of Daivergent was awarded an honorable mention to acknowledge his work.
CGI officials praised the caliber of entrepreneurs in this year’s cohort, and their determination to drive action on critical issues.
“These global innovations and new voices are exactly what’s needed to push new approaches to long-term global challenges ahead,” said Cheyenne Ellis, Senior Community Manager at CGI. “This lineup of social entrepreneurs is pioneering new, strategic, intersectional approaches that will help drive positive change in the years and decade to come.”
Those recognized following the CGI 2023 Greenhouse include:
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- Coastal Protection Solutions, Inc, which is adapting the existing concept of the speed bump to create an important tool to fight coastal flooding and rising sea levels.
- North Star Alliance, which is connecting mobile workers to health care through a network of clinics in Africa.
- Saturn Bioponics, which is working across three of CGI ‘s pillars – inclusive economic growth and recovery, health equity, and climate resilience – to help farmers with financing, better yield, and better-quality produce.
- Daivergent, which received an honorable recognition, is supporting growth of a more inclusive economy through its AI software, which maximizes job-readiness for the disability and autism communities, ensuring those within the neurodivergent communities are ready for 21st century employment.
This is the second cohort of the CGI Greenhouse program, which supports entrepreneurs from growth-stage social impact companies across the globe working to introduce innovative technologies and business models that aim to solve critical global challenges. Members of the CGI Greenhouse cohorts are providing new voices, perspectives, and proven approaches that shift power, change the status quo, and are ready to implement. The CGI Annual Meeting provides a platform for Greenhouse entrepreneurs to present their work and access the social capital needed to grow their businesses and accelerate mission-driven partnerships.
Since 2005, CGI has brought together established and emerging global leaders to create and implement solutions to the world’s most pressing challenges. CGI works with partners to develop Commitments to Action — new, specific, and measurable actions in climate resilience, health equity, humanitarian response, inclusive economic recovery and growth, and women and girls. Since its inception in 2005, more than 4,000 Commitments to Action have been launched through CGI, making a difference in the lives of more than 500 million people in over 180 countries.
This year’s cohort included 28 startups and entrepreneurs including, Dr. Blessings Animasahun of HelpMum; Avinash Ambale of Daara Bio; Kunjpreet Arora of Angirus Ind Pvt Ltd; Nicky Benn of LifeNet International; Aadhar Bhalinge of Audirivision Technologies Private Limited; Danielle De La Fuente of Amal Alliance, Inc.; Dan Deviri of CarbonBlue; Sanjay Gupta of EnglishHelper Inc; Shweta Jaju of Punam Energy Pvt. Ltd. (ONergy Solar); Helge Jørgensen of 7Analytics; Sikander Sonny Khan of Paani Project; Moka Lantum of CheckUps Medical; Lorraine Muluka of Malaica; Oyungerel Munkhbat of Airee Felt LLC; Carlos Ramos of Isobloco; Idda Saera of Lifepackage/MaishaPackage; Gurashish Sahni of ReCircle; Shelley Saxena of Sevamob; Rahul Shah of Achuk Environmental Solutions Pvt Ltd; Lori Shao of Finli Inc; Sam Warach of NextStep Health; Philip-Michael Weiner of Recapture; Jonathan Fife of Bright Feeds; and Danny Wright of Gravity Water.
Since the 2022 Meeting, CGI Greenhouse alums like MedHaul have worked to bridge the transportation divide by partnering with biopharmaceutical company Merck to help address transportation barriers for cancer patients. Alum Broxel, a Mexican FinTech banking app, partnered with the Mexican government agency, Finance for Well-Being (Finabien), to establish the Broxel-Finabien program, a program in which Mexican workers can send remittances in seconds, reducing time and costs of transactions between the United States and Mexico.
CGI’s Greenhouse entrepreneurs from 2022 included Melissa Diamond of A Global Voice for Autism; Carter Malloy and Garrott McClintock of AcreTrader; Ryan Bowers and co-founder Napoleon Wallace of Activest; Saar Safra of Beewise; Jose Anton of Broxel; Will Pallister of ChargeNet Stations; Kameale Terry of ChargerHelp; Tunde Adeyemi of D-Olivette Global Enterprise; Wemimo Abbey and Samir Goel of Esusu; Dave Levin of Hala Systems, Inc.; Ari Goldfarb of KANDO; Ed Agnew and Sagun Saxena of KOKO Networks; Sea F. Briganti of Loliware, Inc.; Nathalie Occean of MedHaul; Ady Beitler of Nilus; Tom Green of Project Vesta; Ivelyse Andino of Radical Health; Chioma Ukonu of RecyclePoints; Tinia Pina of Re-Nuble; Nidhi Pant of S4S Technologies; Richard Hanbury of Sana Health Inc; Rexanne Martin and Victoria Raiser of Sankari Studios; Lyle Adams of Spry; Tiffanie Stanard of Stimulus Inc; Ibrahim Rashid and Rahim Rasool of Strong Haulers; Jed Dutton of TemperPack; Naveen Sikka of Terviva; Josh Hester-Goralski of Unlocking Communities; Michael Barnes of Viva Equity Fund; Paul Senaye Siabi of WorldTech Consult; and Daniele Jean-Pierre of Zimbali Networks.
*The $75,000 grant was funded by a private CGI partner.