Tips, News & Views / 166 posts found
Reflow turns plastic waste into 3D print filament to lift waste pickers out of poverty
Amazing idea. Waste mountains are a growing issue in many developing countries. Reflow, a Dutch company, has created a process to turn plastic waste into ethical filament for 3D printing. Place this in, say, Tanzania where shanty towns spring up around waste with poorly paid waste pickers, and a virtuous cycle is created where pickers are better paid to find plastic that can be recycled into ethical filament, the waste mountains reduce, demand for imported material for filament goes down, and local…
The Landmine Boys: Canadian startup aims to defuse deadly bombs
The Landmine Boys have set up a company that makes robots which detonate landmines. You’d at once wish them success, and a diminishing market! See more here.
With Dirt And A Vision, Palestinian Architects Break The Mold
Sustainable houses with recycled furniture in Jericho. Love what these Palestinian architects are doing. Mud, vision, history and necessity. See more here.
New incubator targets, low, middle-income entrepreneurs
Incubators *can* be very helpful to get a startup going when done well. This Columbus incubator has taken a slightly different approach and aims to target low to middle income earners and give them a leg up. Really great idea for those who often feel that it’s too expensive for them to be an entrepreneur. Yes, it’s only one part of the cost of starting to do business, but perhaps more could be bundled in? A model to replicate elsewhere? See more here.
Funding Community Workshops with Fashionable, Locally Produced, Sustainable Products
Starting with Ecaudor, Project Latitude is sourcing sustainable local materials, employing local staff, and sending all sale proceeds back to the local community that inspired the products to build a local workshop. What a neat model! See more here.
The Egyptian Health Startup Scene – Great Initiative, Little Cash
Healthcare in Egypt is a huge issue, and a commensurately large opportunity. There are a number of startups having some early success, but funding is becoming a real issue if they are to continue. See more here.
Can Sean Parker Hack Cancer?
He disrupted the music industry with Napster. He was President of Facebook. He helped get Spotify going. And now, Sean Parker is looking to “hack” cancer. By supporting the use of immunotherapy, and finding a model to get 6 titans of cancer immunology research to collaborate, this looks like a pretty heavyweight attempt to get to a cure by alternative means. See more here.
How social entrepreneurs can use lean startup principles for better impact
Great to see Social Enterprise getting the Lean treatment. The context is different, but the approach is transferrable. “Making change is different from making money, and startups in the social sector have to worry about far more than revenue” See more at http://snip.ly/kzr9b
Ottawa tea startup gives Syrian refugees a place to work, aims to aid settlement
Surai Tea in Ottawa sells Syrian tea, employs Syrian refugees to do so, and donates to their resettlements from profits. What a wonderfully coherent and humane idea! See more at http://snip.ly/rcj1c
Start-up company donates 100% profits to charity
Irish company ONE Water donates all profit from selling water in Ireland to providing clean water in Ethiopia. See more at http://snip.ly/3jh3b