Fostering Youth-led Tech-innovations in the SRHR space: the Promise of IPPF’s Youth Social Venture Fund
By FPA India
Technology has immense potential in the health domain. Telemedicine, point of care technologies, non-invasive diagnostic aids have all shown an improvement in the overall access to healthcare among different population segments, including the marginalized.
In 2019, FPA India won a bid to develop and host the new IPPF Social Venture Fund, which forms part of the larger Business Plan solution system. the organisation has had a strong focus on Young People over the last four decades. And, in its 2016-2022 strategic plan, FPA India has a focus on technology as a catalyst to provide solutions for young people.
As host for the new Social Venture Fund, FPA India will be supported by a robust entrepreneurial ecosystem in major cities where entrepreneurship, creativity, technology solutions and development has been on the rise.
The ambition of the new fund, will be to play a catalytic role in fostering innovation and enabling entrepreneurship among the MAs and their partners globally. During the first phase, the fund undertook a ‘Proof-of-Concept’ collaboration in India, in partnership with Villgro Innovation Foundation.
The collaboration centres on a 12-week long Innovation Challenge in India which recognized start-ups and innovators devising solutions in sexual and reproductive health space.
Through the Innovation Challenge, 15 start-ups and individual youth innovators with technological solutions to specific SRHR/FP problems were identified and given technical support via a virtual immersion programme to help them refine their ideas into viable business solutions.
A variety of hardware and software based solutions in various stages of development were presented by the participating start-ups and young innovators at the end of the immersion programme. These included a multi-lingual app-based CSE programme, a rapid test for very early detection of pregnancy (even before missing of periods), non-invasive point-of- care diagnostic tests for detecting PCOS and ovulation monitoring and eco-friendly solutions to dispose of sanitary pads.
The Innovation Challenge has opened up a new avenue of collaboration between the SRH fraternity and the world of innovators and start-ups. As we gear up to launch a global youth-led Youth Social Venture Fund, under the Solution 3 initiative of the IPPF Business Plan, we look forward to build upon this collaboration in the process of addressing the sexual and healthcare issues, particularly experienced by young people, not only in India, but across the globe, in the subsequent months.
Given the enormous potential for innovation in the SRHR sector, the use of technology therefore offers a multitude of opportunities to promote youth sexual and reproductive health, awareness on sex and sexuality, prevention of unplanned pregnancies and better management of menstrual hygiene and menstruation related disorders in young girls.
The need for innovation has only been deepened by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Tech-driven solutions in the SRHR domain are limited in number, scope and scale. There is immense scope for development. The versatility of technology in responding to the deeper, concealed SRH issues of young people has not been explored to its fullest potential yet. This is especially true for sexual and reproductive health services and information for and by young people.
FPA India has over the last year been working to set up a new Social Venture Fund, which forms part of the IPPF Business Plan. If you want to know more about the Social Venture Fund, please contact fpai@fpaindia.org.