We reviewed over 200 businesses worldwide*, and have identified over 165 businesses operating in the care economy across Latin America, Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia who met the following 4 criteria: 
1. Geography focus: operating in project target countries.
2. Care economy impact: business activities recognize, reduce, reward or redistribute care work.
3. Proof of concept: care economy activities at least at the launch stage (none of the businesses are at concept stage).
4. Market-based intervention: already or planning to be financially profitable or to generate income in the medium term.

Out of the mapping we selected 60 businesses to conduct a full profile and showcase potential investment opportunities. These profiles have been created from information and data provided by the business itself. Use the filter on the left to access the businesses profiled.

* Disclaimer: The data presented in the business mapping and profiles is based on information provided by the businesses and has not been independently verified

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45 listing found

Acacia Innovations Ltd

Headquarters: Kenya

Country of Operations: Kenya
Women owned / led: Founded by at least one woman
About the organization: Acacia Innovations is a for-profit, women-led social enterprise specializing in the manufacturing and sale of biomass briquettes (branded under Kuni Safi). It reduces care work by saving time, money & energy spent by women in cooking and fuel collection. Acacia manufactures and distributes affordable cookstoves & briquettes, a nearly smokeless alternative to firewood, made of sugarcane waste. The enterprise’s work has helped reduce deforestation and the risk of respiratory illnesses due to indoor air pollution. Acacia’s customers save an average of 35% compared to firewood and 50% compared to charcoal.
Stage of Growth: Mass roll-out/Expansion
Types of Services: Labour saving solutions, Child-care (Ages 6 and above)
Activities in the care economy: Provision of affordable time and labour saving technology and products
Pathway to impact: Reduce

Aide

Headquarters: Philippines

Country of Operations: Philippines
Women owned / led: Founded by at least one woman
About the organization: AIDE provides reliable and affordable home care services to clients in Philippines. It offers a digital marketplace for healthcare service at home, patients can book an appointment for health care service such as nursing care and doctor home visit. This for-profit company reduces the burden of care work by providing affordable and standardized home-care services.
Stage of Growth: Mass roll-out/Expansion
Types of Services: “Infant-care (children younger than 1-year)
Child-care (Ages 1 to 5) Child-care (Ages 6 and above) Elderly-care (Ages 60 and above) Care for persons with special needs (disabled / differently abled persons) Care for people with illnesses”
Activities in the care economy: services & policies/practice that improve condition for domestic & care worker (e.g. apps that calculate decent remuneration)
Pathway to impact: Reduce

Arogga

Headquarters: Bangladesh

Country of Operations: Bangladesh
Women owned / led: Founded by at least one woman
About the organization: Arogga is a a for-profit digital pharmacy and healthcare startup in Bangladesh. It has developed an app that enables patients to manage, order and track the delivery of medication and healthcare products in and around Dhaka. Arogga increases affordability and availability of medicines by buying in bulk and passing a percentage of the manufacturer’s discount to its customers. The platform also provides services such as doctor consultations, laboratory testing and insurance. Its services reduce the burden of unpaid care work involved in taking care of family members with chronic illnesses that require frequent follow-ups and medications. It enables customers to sources all prescribed medications from a single source.
Stage of Growth: Small scale roll-out/Early stage
Types of Services: “Care for persons with special needs (disabled / differently abled persons) Care for people with illnesses”
Activities in the care economy: Provision of affordable services that provide care & domestic work
Pathway to impact: Reduce

AYAT Care

Website: ayatcare.com
Headquarters: Bangladesh

Country of Operations: Bangladesh
Women owned / led: Founded by at least one woman, At least 30% women in senior leadership positions
For more information, download the full
business profile here

About the organization: AYAT Care provides personnel for care services which are tailored to the needs of the care receiver and includes health monitoring, mental health support and medical advice, in addition to traditional care for children and the elderly. It makes professional care services available to its customers by providing training for its care-givers. It provides employment opportunities to mostly female youth, who have dropped out from school, while serving customers who find it difficult to find trained and dependable caregivers. Although profit oriented, AYAT care is not profitable yet. It plans to become profitable in the next 3 years.
Stage of Growth: Small scale roll-out/Early stage
Types of Services: Child-care (Ages 6 and above), Elderly-care (Ages 60 and above), Care for persons with special needs (disabled / differently abled persons), Care for people with illnesses
Activities in the care economy: Provision of technology & services that train/upskill domestic & care workers
Pathway to impact: Recognize, Reward, Redistribute

Bidhaa Sasa

Headquarters: Kenya

Country of Operations: Kenya, Uganda
Women owned / led: Founded by at least one woman, At least 51% owned by women
For more information, download the full
business profile here

About the organization: Bidhaa Sasa is a for-profit company that supplies a range of products to customers in rural communities of Kenya. Its products include solar lamps, systems and radios, efficient cookstoves, LPG cylinders and cooking accessories, as well as water tanks and agricultural tools. More than 70% of the company’s customers are women. Bidha Sasa products enable women to operate in cleaner and safer environments and reduce the drudgery associated with domestic work. The company also provides nano-credit to its customers to make the products affordable.
Stage of Growth: Mass roll-out/Expansion
Types of Services: Labour saving solutions
Activities in the care economy: Provision of affordable time and labour saving technology and products
Pathway to impact: Reduce

Brightgreen renewable energy

Headquarters: Kenya

Country of Operations: Kenya
Women owned / led: Founded by at least one woman
About the organization: Brightgreen Renewable Energy produces and distributes safe and smokeless charcoal made from recycled urban waste. This for-profit company is operational in Kenya. It delivers clean and sustainable energy to customers through B2B and B2B2C models. The company aims to reduce the costs associated with cooking by up to 50% and reduce the reliance of African households on wood fuel. This in turn reduces the drudgery associated with wood collection and cooking for many African women.
Stage of Growth: Small scale roll-out/Early stage
Types of Services: Labour saving solutions
Activities in the care economy: Provision of affordable time and labour saving technology and products
Pathway to impact: Reduce

Earlybird Educare

Headquarters: South Africa

Country of Operations: South Africa
Women owned / led: Founded by at least one woman
For more information, download the full
business profile here

About the organization: Earlybird is a social enterprise that seeks to address the shortage of high-quality early childhood development (ECD) services in South Africa. The entity uses multiple delivery channels to provide children from across the socio-economic spectrum with the tools that they need to thrive at school and beyond. Earlybird has helped reduce the career-family trade-off that particularly affects women as 61% of non-working women in South Africa cite ‘family responsibilities’ as the primary factor that curtails their labour force participation.
Stage of Growth: Established/Mature
Types of Services: Infant-care (children younger than 1-year), Child-care (Ages 1 to 5)
Activities in the care economy: Provision of affordable services that provide care & domestic work
Pathway to impact: Reduce

Eau et Vie

Headquarters: France

Country of Operations: Bangladesh, Philippines
Women owned / led: Founded by at least one woman, At least 30% women in senior leadership positions, At least 30% of women in board of directors
For more information, download the full
business profile here

About the organization: Eau et Vie is a non-profit that develops water networks in slum areas to provide affordable and sustainable tap water at home. The organization is able to serve tap water in locations where operators of municipal systems are unable to reach. This enables time savings for women and reduces drudgery in accessing water from inconvenient locations. Furthermore, it not only promotes urban inclusion but also has impacts on aspects such as hygiene (personal and menstrual), fire-fighting, waste management and sanitation.
Stage of Growth: Small scale roll-out/Early stage
Types of Services: Domestic services, Labour saving solutions
Activities in the care economy: Provision of technology, services & policies/practice that improve conditions for domestic & care worker
Pathway to impact: Recognize, Reduce

ElleSolaire

Headquarters: Senegal

Country of Operations: Senegal
Women owned / led: Founded by at least one woman
About the organization: ElleSolaire is a solar social enterprise in Senegal. This non-profit enterprise bridges the gap between international manufacturers of breakthrough solar technologies and those who most need their products in remote off-grid communities. ElleSlaire has developed a woman led distribution network and supply chain for products like solar lamps, home solar systems and clean cookstoves. ElleSolaire’s solutions help reduce the amount of time women spend on domestic work, enable children to study after dark and help families to stay connected by mobile phones. So far, the enterprise has helped over 3,500 people and over 125 children with access to affordable electricity.
Stage of Growth: Mass roll-out/Expansion
Types of Services: Labour saving solutions
Activities in the care economy: Provision of affordable time and labour saving technology and products
Pathway to impact: Reduce

Eshururu Training Center (ETC)

Headquarters: Ethiopia

Country of Operations: Ethiopia
Women owned / led: Founded by at least one woman
About the organization: ElleSolaire is a solar social enterprise in Senegal. This non-profit enterprise bridges the gap between international manufacturers of breakthrough solar technologies and those who most need their products in remote off-grid communities. ElleSlaire has developed a woman led distribution network and supply chain for products like solar lamps, home solar systems and clean cookstoves. ElleSolaire’s solutions help reduce the amount of time women spend on domestic work, enable children to study after dark and help families to stay connected by mobile phones. So far, the enterprise has helped over 3,500 people and over 125 children with access to affordable electricity.
Stage of Growth: Established/Mature
Types of Services: Infant-care (children younger than 1-year), Child-care (Ages 1 to 5), Child-care (Ages 6 and above)
Activities in the care economy: Provision of technology & services that train/upskill domestic & care workers
Pathway to impact: Recognize, Reduce

Fair Employment Foundation

Headquarters: Hong Kong

Country of Operations: Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand
Women owned / led: Founded by at least one woman
For more information, download the full
business profile here

 
About the organization: Fair Employment Foundation has hybrid model that consists of a social business and a registered charity. It has a recruitment agency that supports fair and transparent international migration of caregivers from the Philippines, Thailand, and Indonesia. Its non-profit entity provides training programs for domestic workers. Through this hybrid model, it has brought recognition to debt bondage issues within international migration and increased incomes of workers through fair pay.
Stage of Growth: Mass roll-out/Expansion
Types of Services: Domestic services
Activities in the care economy: Provision of technology & services that train/upskill domestic & care workers, Provision of affordable services that provide care & domestic work
Pathway to impact: Recognize, Reward

Folia Water

Headquarters: United States of America

Country of Operations: Bangladesh
Women owned / led: Founded by at least one woman
For more information, download the full
business profile here

About the organization: Folia Water is a for-profit company. It provides affordable and effective water filtration systems to communities that lack access to safe and potable water. Its patented silver-infused filter papers kill bacteria and viruses and filter out dirt and larger parasites. Its water filteration systems reduce the drudgery in collecting water from inconvenient places, especially for women. Other associated impacts include reduced negative health impacts from unsafe water and associated time and capital costs for low-income households.
Stage of Growth: Small scale roll-out/Early stage
Types of Services: Domestic services, Labour saving solutions
Activities in the care economy: Provision of affordable time and labour saving technology and products
Pathway to impact: Reduce

Green Girls Organisation

Headquarters: Cameroon

Country of Operations: Cameroon, Central African Republic, DRC
Women owned / led: At least 51% owned by women, Founded by at least one woman, At least 30% women in senior leadership positions, At least 30% women in board of directors
For more information, download the full
business profile here

About the organization: Green Girls Organization is a non-profit organization that trains women and girls across African rural communities on generating energy from the sun and waste. The entity create markets for these women to sell the solar lanterns and organic fertiliser obtained from the biodigesters. Through its work, the entity helps women make their lives safer, healthier and more secure, by providing access to livelihoods and through the provision of clean energy to customers. Its products reduce the time spent by women on domestic work.
Stage of Growth: Established/Mature
Types of Services: Labour saving solutions
Activities in the care economy: Provision of technology & services that train/upskill domestic & care workers
Pathway to impact: Reduce

Happy Helpers

Headquarters: Philippines

Country of Operations: Philippines
Women owned / led: Founded by at least one woman, At least 51% owned by women, At least 30% women in senior leadership positions, At least 30% of women in board of directors
For more information, download the full
business profile here

About the organization: Happy Helpers is a for-profit, women-led enteprise that provides domestic cleaning services to households and companies in Manila, Philippinnes. These services are provided through a team of locally trained and hired domestic workers. The service provided by Happy Helpers reduces the time spent by women on cleaning at home. It also increase recognition of work done by domestic workers. Happy Helpers has led to increase in income, skills and efficiency among domestic workers.
Stage of Growth: Mass roll-out/Expansion
Types of Services: Domestic services
Activities in the care economy: Provision of affordable services that provide care & domestic work
Pathway to impact: Reduce, Reward

Hasu

Headquarters: Vietnam

Country of Operations: Vietnam
Women owned / led: Founded by at least one woman, At least 51% owned by women, At least 30% women in senior leadership positions, At least 30% of women in board of directors
For more information, download the full
business profile here

About the organization: Hasu is a for-profit start-up in Vietnam that caters to the physical, mental and emotional needs of elderly. Through the app, Hasu aims to aggregate the various services that are required by elderly people. It services include nursing, nutrition, games and exercises. The business contributes to the redistribution and reduction of care work within households, as well as greater digital awareness and technology use amongst the elderly.
Stage of Growth: Small scale roll-out/Early stage
Types of Services: Elderly-care (Ages 60 and above)
Activities in the care economy: Provision of affordable services that provide care & domestic work
Pathway to impact: Reduce, Redistribute

I.A.B. – Institut Academic of Babies

Headquarters: Senegal

Country of Operations: Senegal
Women owned / led: Founded by at least one woman, At least 51% owned by women, At least 30% women in senior leadership positions, At least 30% of women in board of directors
For more information, download the full
business profile here

About the organization: I.A.B is a social business that trains care workers in early childhood care. In Senegal, day care centers are not regulated and there is no school that is specifically focused on training related early childhood. As a result, children are less likely to go to nurseries. Through it’s training programs I.A.B has increased the skills of childcare workers, resulting in higher incomes for these workers. I.A.B’s impact includes improved health conditions among toddlers, decent work opportunties for care workers, and increased productivity of parents who are assured that the care and development of their children is in expert hands.
Stage of Growth: Mass roll-out/Expansion
Types of Services: Infant-care (children younger than 1-year), Child-care (Ages 1 to 5), Domestic services
Activities in the care economy: Provision of technology & services that train/upskill domestic & care workers
Pathway to impact: Recognize, Reward

Jazza Centre Limited

Headquarters: Kenya

Country of Operations: Kenya
Women owned / led: Founded by at least one woman
For more information, download the full
business profile here

 
About the organization: Jazza Centre is a for-profit social enterprise that trains and places domestic workers in Kenya. The enterprise formalizes the employment process for domestic workers by ensuring that domestic workers and employers sign employment contracts. Jazza Centre increases recognition and reward for domestic workers by negotiating fair terms of employment and skill development. It reduces the burden of care work in households through provision of trained domestic workers.
Stage of Growth: Mass roll-out/Expansion
Types of Services: Infant-care (children younger than 1-year), Child-care (Ages 1 to 5), Child-care (Ages 6 and above), Elderly-care (Ages 60 and above), Care for persons with special needs (disabled / differently abled persons), Domestic services
Activities in the care economy: Provision of technology, services & policies/practice that improve conditions for domestic & care worker
Pathway to impact: Recognize, Reward, Redistribute

Kiddocare Sdn Bhd

Website: kiddocare.my
Headquarters: Malaysia

Country of Operations: Malaysia
Women owned / led: Founded by at least one woman
About the organization: Kiddocare is an on-demand babysitting platform in Malaysia. It conveniently connects parents with trained and vetted Malaysian babysitters based on their preferred time and location. The for-profit company reduces the burden of care work by providing affordable and standardized home-care services.
Stage of Growth: Mass roll-out/Expansion
Types of Services: Infant-care (children younger than 1-year) Child-care (Ages 1 to 5) Child-care (Ages 6 and above)
Activities in the care economy: Provision of affordable services that provide care & domestic work (e.g. affordable daycare services in rural areas)
Pathway to impact: Reduce, Reward

Kidogo

Headquarters: Kenya

Country of Operations: Kenya
Women owned / led: Founded by at least one woman
For more information, download the full
business profile here

About the organization: Kidogo is a non-profit social enterprise that improves access to high-quality, affordable early childhood care & education in Kenya’s low-income communities. Kidogo supports women entrepreneurs to initiate or improve the quality of their own, community-based childcare micro-businesses. Kidogo reduces care work as parents have access to quality childcare service at the centres. 82% of Kidogo kids hit developmental goals. Kidogo kids receive health and nutrition interventions, that have also led to a 41% reduction in stunting.
Stage of Growth: Mass roll-out/Expansion
Types of Services: Infant-care (children younger than 1-year), Child-care (Ages 1 to 5)
Activities in the care economy: Provision of affordable services that provide care & domestic work
Pathway to impact: Recognize, Reward, Redistribute

Kiidu

Headquarters: Thailand

Country of Operations: Thailand
Women owned / led: Founded by at least one woman, At least 30% women in senior leadership positions
For more information, download the full
business profile here

 
About the organization: Kiidu’s model empowers domestic workers and care givers with jobs and helps parents find personnel such as nannies, tutors, maids, senior caregivers, nurses and drivers in Thailand. The solution has led to reduced care work through provision of domestic services. This for-profit company intends to expand its services to the Philippines.
Stage of Growth: Mass roll-out/Expansion
Types of Services: Infant-care (children younger than 1-year), Child-care (Ages 1 to 5), Child-care (Ages 6 and above), Elderly-care (Ages 60 and above), Care for persons with special needs (disabled / differently abled persons), Care for people with illnesses, Domestic services, Labour saving solutions
Activities in the care economy: Provision of technology & services that train/upskill domestic & care workers
Pathway to impact: Recognize, Reduce, Redistribute