It will be a hybrid learning experience for social and environmental innovation UNLEASH Plus is a leading global incubation program for solutions aiming to have a positive impact on the United Nations’ SDGs. The program is co-hosted by Lead Scale Partner, Chemonics International, and supports youth accelerate the launch and scale of disruptive solutions to address major sustainability challenges. UNLEASH is launching the fourth iteration of this program this week, aiming to gather +150 young participants from around the world. This year, UNLEASH Plus comes with a significant surprise: a hybrid model combining 6-months of online learning with a one-week physical bootcamp for top teams during the UNLEASH Global Innovation Lab in India in November 2022. UNLEASH Plus 2022 will support up to 70 teams of talented youth through the program’s three phases: an exciting basecamp to kick-off the program, meet peers from around the world, and best prepare for the months ahead, a 21-week practical online learning program focusing on solution development, and a one-week physical bootcamp during the UNLEASH Global Innovation lab in Karnataka (India) at the end of the year.   Throughout the program, teams will build a comprehensive strategy to launch their solution for large-scale impact, including subjects related to lean management, go-to-market, financials, impact measurement, fundraising and designing for scale. Their growth will be based on a combination of online learning, practical workshops and targeted mentoring from world-class experts. In addition, team members will benefit from critical leadership and team effectiveness training through Potentialife, a transformational program based on positive psychology and neuroscience.  “It is always very inspiring to follow the transformational journey of UNLEASH Plus teams during the 6 months that the program lasts. This year it will be even more exciting to welcome the teams to the Global Innovation Lab in Karnataka (India), where they will be able to culminate their virtual learning by spending a week getting ready to pitch their solutions at Dragons’ Den”, says Chairman of UNLEASH Professor Flemming Besenbacher.  

Chemonics International and Potentialife, core partners of the UNLEASH Plus Incubator Program  

As the Lead Scale Partner of UNLEASH, Chemonics International has provided strategic and programmatic input across programs by seconding members of its Innovation team to the UNLEASH Secretariat. Chemonics has been an important contributor to the creation and implementation of UNLEAS Plus since its inception, in 2019.   Chemonics supports the program’s endeavors drawing from their own expertise, inviting their global network of experts to deliver specialized workshops to make the program more robust and practical, and providing targeted mentorship for teams.   “Chemonics commitment to co-designing and co-hosting the UNLEASH Plus Incubator reflects our deep belief that global development and sustainability solutions must be community-driven. We also know that local innovators, and particularly youth, are in need of support structures, partnerships, capital, and pathways to scale in order to achieve impact at the level needed to attain the Sustainable Development Goals. We are excited to continue offering this critical support to young social entrepreneurs around the world through the Plus program, and I look forward to meeting the top teams in Karnataka this November!” says Chemonics CEO & President James Butcher, and Chair of the UNLEASH Global Advisory Board.   UNLEASH Plus 2022 has also renewed its partnership with Potentialife, who is committed to bring their expertise in positive psychology and neuroscience so that Plus teams can adopt the behaviors that characterize highest performing teams.  

3 years making an impact with disruptive solutions 

Ever since the program started three years ago, UNLEASH Plus has supported over 150 impactful early-stage initiatives from more than 50 countries around the world.   One of the first Dragons’ Den finalists, from the 2019 program, was Permalution – a cleantech women-led startup who fight water scarcity by implementing fog harvesting systems in Mexico. After participating in the program, they won a Catalyst Grant from the Roddenberry Foundation. In collaboration with the Secretariat of Sustainable Development of the State of Nayarit and a group of expert biologists, they are currently using their technology to save two endangered species of orchids, and are now looking to expand the project even further.  Test At Home Pte Ltd. (TAH), one of the teams from UNLEASH Plus 2020, is a Singapore-Indian based startup that aims to simplify medical diagnostics with convenient home-based testing. Last year, they pivoted their technology to recreate lollipop-like testing devices for Covid19, with 95% of accuracy.   UNLEASH 2021 hosted the largest number of teams, with +100 teams initially enrolled in the program. During Dragons’ Den last February, Wander Woman, a Bangladeshi venture focused on breaking the stigma around solo female travelers in the country (and soon enough internationally) became the receiver of $22,500 for funding support.   Now, UNLEASH Plus 2022 is looking for the next cohort of teams building impactful solutions that address the SDGs. Are you one of them?  

Applications open on March 11 and close on April 10.  

Learn more at www.unleash.org/plus

For more information, contact: 

Ana Jiménez,  UNLEASH Communications Lead  [email protected]