SCALING SOLUTIONS
TO GLOBAL CHALLENGES
EUtop50 Founders
& Tech Festival
Solving billion-
person problems
with the Bayer Foundations
WFP Innovation
on a mission to
#disrupthunger
MORE THAN A MAGAZINE
ISSUE 2
innovate for
ZERO
HUNGER
United Nations World Food Programme
We deliver food assistance to more than 80 million people in 80
countries, but we need your help to identify, support and scale
solutions that can accelerate our progress toward zero hunger.
Apply to the WFP Innovation Accelerator
Submit your innovation for a chance to get access to mentorship,
financial support, and WFP operations and experts.
innovation.wfp.org
GET IN TOUCH
innovatorsmag.com
@innovatorsmag
connect@innovatorsmag.com
innovatorsmag
Amsterdam +310 613 711 239 | Glasgow +44 141 570 0029
Our launch edition said the world needs answers to challenges
including widespread hunger, climate change, ill health and
inequality. Impact programmes and accelerators which
can scale innovative solutions capable of providing those
answers are vital. The World Food Programme Innovation, Bayer
Foundations, Climate Reality Project, EUTop50 Founders and Tech community,
and Solar Impulse Foundation are some of the organisations and platforms
giving social pioneers and founders the launch pads they need to do this.
Connect with them in this edition.
Carlotta De Toni, Engagement Editor, Impact Innovators
We need to step up eforts to develop a single market for
innovation across Europe. EU institutions have been pushing
hard to achieve this in recent years. With the creation of the
European Innovation Council and the European Science Media
Hub, the European Commission and the European Parliament
respectively, have put in place new structures that support science, research and
in particular innovation. Efective communication will be an important accelerator
in advancing these ecosystems, and in mainstreaming innovations and mindsets
that can build a sustainable Europe and world. This is a space where Impact
Innovators can play an important role - I hope you enjoy this edition.
Dr Roland Strauss, MD, Knowledge4Innovation | Founding Partner,
Impact Innovators
Everyone linked to Impact Innovators is passionate about
working hard to build a better world. Digital editions like this
one, along with the social media campaigns and events we
lead, are the types of tools we use to connect the innovation
dots, and inspire the conveyor belt of game changing solutions
we need to tackle global grand challenges. We’re a growing community
of aligned partners striving to maximise the impact that can be achieved
through good communication – I look forward to collaborating with more of
you in the future.
Susan Robertson, Partnerships, Impact Innovators
IN THIS ISSUE
CONTRIBUTING TEAM
Welcome
3 Get ready for Europe’s
anniversary celebration
of innovation
6 Bayer Foundations pave
the way for social pioneers
Q&A
10 Climate Reality’s Ken Berlin
12 Solar Impulse recognises
solutions
Listen
4 Roland Strauss on the EUtop50
Founders + Tech Festival
14 Marc Buckley talks UN Global
Goals
Watch
16 Highlights of Global Game
Changers 2018
Engagement | Editorial Carlotta De Toni
Design | Creative Blair Carrick
Partnerships | Publishing Susan Robertson
Digital | Video Chris Moar
Research | Editorial Ebba Engstrom
Strategy | Editorial Iain Robertson
Commercial | Events James Butler
We accept no responsibility for any efects from errors or omissions. All material is copyright and reproduction is not permitted without express permission. All rights reserved.
urope’s innovation strategy is a
long-term one, and one the 10th
European Innovation Summit this
November will strive to advance. Following
on from last year’s discussions and debates,
participants can expect to connect with the
latest insights on future technology trends,
venture funding and policy developments.
They will also be able to tap into the
knowledge of Europe’s innovation leaders,
and most importantly, have the opportunity
to meet their future business partners
and investors.
It is true that Europe is a great place
to live and work but we are only a small
region on our planet. And while we must
cooperate closely with the rest of the world
on sustainability issues, for example, when it
comes to global competitiveness, leadership
in future and emerging technologies will
be the determining factor, and the race for
the next global technology leaders is on.
Looking around, everybody seems to agree
that AI and big data are the key drivers
transforming the ways we live and work.
Given the amounts of investment made in
China, the best talent hired and big salaries
paid by the big fve US tech companies,
Europe’s position needs strengthening.
For me that means continuing to invest in
science and emerging technologies. Though
to bridge Europe’s innovation gap we will
need to do more than this, we must also join
forces and create better synergies between
our human capital and fnancial assets. We
must support Europe’s innovation leaders
to scale-up quickly at the global level. The
challenge is not only to develop world class
technologies but also keep the business
and talent in Europe. The 10th European
Innovation Summit will be an occasion to
progress these ideas.
State-of-play
Earlier this year the European Commission
tabled several proposals that will determine
the support innovation and innovators
will get during the years between 2021-
2027 from the EU. For Horizon Europe,
the next Framework Programme for
Europe walking
the talk on
innovation
Roland Strauss writes about the 10th
European Innovation Summit - and
EUtop50 Founders & Tech Festival -
taking place in Brussels this November.
>>
research and innovation, €100 billion was
proposed by the Commission, with the
European Parliament likely to suggest an
even higher budget. While the support from
the next European Regional Development
Fund (ERDF) and Cohesion Policy, which
has helped create 140,000 start-ups and
brought 15,000 new products to the
market, is expected to be even more
game changing. The Common Agricultural
Policy, the other big budget line, is likely
to increase with substantial investments in
agricultural innovation.
EUtop50 Founders
& Tech Festival
The EUtop50 annual festival is going to
celebrate and support young founders
from all over Europe by bringing together
the continent’s leading innovation actors,
technology developers, incubators and
accelerators, investors, corporate venture
organisations, family ofces and all those
who contribute to the development of
a globally competitive entrepreneurial
ecosystem. Learning from last year’s
EUtop50 event, and to achieve maximum
impact, the 2018 edition will be built around
young founders, R&D innovators from
Horizon 2020 and university technology
developers from across Europe. A particular
highlight this year will be a selection
of Europe’s future innovation leaders,
young talented entrepreneurs who have
developed breakthrough technologies
and raised substantial amounts of venture
capital. That’s because accessing funds is a
critical step for young pioneers delving into
the jungle of innovation fnancing in Europe
to get right. The challenge is to make sure
enough capital is available during the
diferent cycles of company development;
from the early stages, through growth
stages that can reach the ultimate unicorn
market capitalisation level. This is why
we decided to dedicate an
important part of the
EUtop50 programme
to the subject of
innovation fnancing.
When it comes to
the early stages
of innovation
fnancing, there
are an abundance
of resources in
and across Europe.
The problem is that the various funding
opportunities are scattered around European,
national, regional and local funds making
it very difcult, in particular for SMEs and
start-ups, to fnd their way. What is currently
available just isn’t ft for purpose; a simplifed,
open alternative, is desperately needed. So
we are currently discussing with the European
Commission ways we can efectively join
forces to make it easier for innovators to
navigate through the funding jungle.
Take Silicon Valley type ecosystems, like
we have in places like Berlin, London, Paris,
Stockholm and Madrid. The recipe for their
success is the proximity to, and availability
of, the most important ingredients in the
innovation kitchen cook book: talent,
university technologies, large corporations
and venture capital: all working
together in an atmosphere where
everybody wants to invent
the next Google. In this
sense, Europe still sufers
from a lack of venture
capital and scale-up
capital in general, along
with a reluctance to
take risk. Therefore, the
support and freedom
for Europe’s founders and
young entrepreneurs to try out, fail and start
over again is very important and will be
championed by the EUtop50 festival, which
will take place over two days at the Palais
des Academies, located near the European
Parliament. Event partners can actively
shape the programme. Booth space is made
available for start-ups and corporates, while
1:1 appointments can be made through
our matchmaking application. Start-ups
and tech innovators are invited to apply for
a mentorship programme, run by Europe’s
innovation leaders, throughout the year.
The real strength of our EIS and EUtop50
networks is that we are connecting the dots
across Europe, and along the value chain
through our events, while also providing
intelligence for knowledge owners and on
innovation funding and fnancing sources and
instruments at EU, national and regional levels.
About the author
Dr Roland Strauss is the Co-
Founder and Managing Director of
Knowledge4Innovation, which spearheads
the European Innovation Summit and
EUtop50 festival. An impactful and results-
driven platform, it also brings together
innovation leaders from the private, public
and academic sectors. Roland is also a
business entrepreneur, and managing
partner at Incubator Europe, a knowledge
hub striving to pave the way for solutions to
humanity’s most pressing challenges. He also
runs EU Innovation Trends, a news and events
platform covering EU funding, technology,
innovation and digital transformations.
EU Top 50 2017, European Parliament, Brussels
Listen
to Roland speaking
about the EUtop50
Founders + Tech Festival.
illions of
people in
rural Africa
life more than a day of
traveling away from the
next doctor – with
little to no access to
basic health. BISA “Ask
Your Doctor Online”
gives remote people in
Africa access to health.
In G4I, BISA will
expand the well-
established service
from Ghana into
Senegal with a new
French version of
BISA’s app.
Company
BISA M-Health
Location
Ghana
G4I Pilot
Senegal
Scalability
Africa
NGO Partner
YOU Foundation
Meet your doctor online service app
Goal: Disrupt the way how people in remote areas of Africa gain 1st access to doctors and hospitals.
Bayer
Foundations
Alumni 2018
T
he 2018 Bayer Foundations Alumni day this summer in Berlin included
the inspiring Grants4Impact (G4I) fnal. This is the energiser programme
from Bayer Foundations, which grants one million euros to social impact
pioneers transforming the worlds of health and nutrition. Thimo V. Schmitt-Lord,
CEO at Bayer Foundations, opened the pitches session with stories and insight
on the global roadshow he led with his team to identify innovative solutions to the
world’s most pressing problems.
“If you want to be a start-up billionaire - you have to solve a billion people’s problem,” Thimo said.
From 11 fnalists, the winners were: COOLAR, iBreastExam, SANISOLAR , BISA and SafetyNet.
They will now be ‘connected to knowledge, power and funding in order to grow and transform good
ideas into global game-changer solutions’ as part of a 24-month programme.
The 5 G4I winners
have the collective
power to solve
challenges that over
2 billion people on
the planet are facing!
Alumni 2018
Alumni 2018
Company
COOLAR
Founder
Christoph Göller
Location
Germany
G4I Pilot
Kenya
Scalability
Global
NGO Partner
UNHCR, Médecins
sans Frontières,
Kenyan Ministry
of Health
ood and drug safety is at risk
in large parts of the world
because of a lack of power
supply for cooling devices. Solar
devices or batteries often fail due
to high maintenance need under
harsh climate conditions. COOLAR
is revolutionary new cooling
system based on adsorption
cycle technology involving NO
electricity and no moving parts
whatsoever.
In G4I, Coolar will do intense
feld studies in refugee camps and
medical missions in Africa.
Electricity-free
cooling for drugs
& food
Goal: Secure food/drug safety through
new cooling system based on adsorption
cycle technology
reast cancer is the most
common invasive cancer in
women worldwide. Survival
rates difer largely, depending
on the stage in which a tumor is
detected – making early screening
so important. Women in low-
and-middle income regions are
diagnosed at late stages since
mammograms are not available.
This is why 70% of all breast cancer
deaths occur in these regions.
iBreastExam has the power to
change: it is a revolutionary
handheld breast cancer screening
device with the capability to
providing early breast cancer
screening everywhere in the world.
In the G4I pilot, iBreast will
scale-up in Brazil to reach 10.000
women that have no access to
regular screening.
Handheld breast cancer screening device
Company
iBreast Exam
Founder
Mihir Shah
Location
USA
G4I Pilot
Brazil
Scalability
Global
NGO
Partner
DASA
Goal: Provide breast cancer mass screenings in the remotest areas of the world.
Alumni 2018
Smart nets for
selective fishery
7 million tons of
unwanted bycatch
are thrown dead back
into the sea every year - one
of the main causes for over-
fshing and a big challenge
to stop food waste.
SafetyNet creates Smart
Lightening devices for
Selective Fishery - the
technology uses specifc
light spectrums to attract
and de-attract fsh species
selectively into the nets.
This avoids by catch and
fghts overfshing.
In G4I, SafetyNet will
operate a pilot in Indonesia,
putting 120 lightening
devices to work and
analyzing its success.
2
billion people on the
planet have no access to
sanitation due to a lack
of sufcient infrastructures
such as sewers, water or
latrine maintenance.
Sani Solar is a sun powered
drying toilet providing a
maintenance free and
sewer-independent sanitation
solution for hot climate zones.
In G4I, SaniSolar
implements a pilot with up
to 20 devices in the
Northeast of Brazil.
Company
SafetyNet
Founder
Dan Watson &
Nadia Laabs
Location
UK
G4I Pilot
Indonesia
Scalability
Global
NGO
Partner
Mantawatch
Company
SANI SOLAR
Founder
Dr. Jochen
Scheerer
Location
Germany
G4I Pilot
Brazil
Scalability
hot climate
zones
NGO
Partner
Habitat For
Humanity
Goal: Make fishing smart – avoid bycatch and
fight overfishing the oceans.
Goal: revolutionary new cooling system based on
adsorption cycle technology without any electricity.
Sun-powered
maintenance free
sanitation
Two year program with full access to
Bayer Foundation’s global network of
experts and leaders.
Professional pitch coaching and
storytelling support.
Idea challenging and feedback from
industry research experts and VCs.
Up to 150,000€ in cash per team.
High visibility through PR partnerships
as well as presence at leading events.
Active match-making with VCs and
Bayer businesses for global roll-out and
up-scaling after G4I.
G4I is operated in the Bayer Foundation
and embedded within ‘Grants4-’family.
G4I connects impact pioneers in health
and nutrition to bigger funding pools,
knowledge and power in order to unleash
their scale-up potential for the beneft of
the rising billions in need.
What
participants
gain...
Dan Watson
from SafetyNet