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

Filter Your Results

Filters

76 listing found

4Home

Headquarters: Colombia

Country of Operations: Colombia
Women owned / led: Information not available
About the organization: 4Home is an enterprise that leverages a collaborative culture to provide hourly domestic services. 4Home offers services of household cleaning, laundry, and ironing. The company aims to reduce the time invested in domestic chores while positively impacting the lives of domestic workers through formalization and social security benefits.
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 (e.g. technology that links employers to domestic/care workers), Provision of affordable time and labour saving technology and products (e.g. product that makes washing, cooking more efficient)
Pathway to impact: Reduce, Reward, Redistribute

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

Ace Cambodia

Headquarters: Cambodia

Country of Operations: Cambodia
Women owned / led: Information not available
About the organization: ACE is a for-profit entity with operations in Cambodia, Lesotho and Uganda. The ACE One energy system is an integral energy solution for off-the-grid households in the developing world. It provides a device that uses a combination of thermal and electric generation to provide a clean, smokeless cooking experience for its users, a high quality solar-biomass hybrid enabling users to cook using significantly less fuel and offers access to electricity for mobile charging and lighting. The entity’s product helps reduce harmful indoor smoke emissions which can cause significant health problems and reduces the drudgery associated with care work.
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 (e.g. product that makes washing, cooking more efficient)
Pathway to impact: Reduce

ACOMPAÑAMIENTO COLOMBIA

Headquarters: Colombia

Country of Operations: Colombia
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
About the organization: The company brings solutions for the supply and demand of the care economy sector. They offer elderly care, care for people with illnesses or disabilities, childcare, and domestic services while addressing formalization challenges of care workers. Simultaneously, the organization positively impacts women’s employment, providing them with opportunities to get social protection and fair rewards. This model is suitable for women who might need flexible jobs. They also receive training and can monitor their progress through a platform that uses gamification techniques.
Stage of Growth: Launch/Pilot
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
Activities in the care economy: Provision of technology & services that train/upskill domestic & care workers (e.g. technology that links employers to domestic/care workers), Provision of technology, services & policies/practice that improve condition for domestic & care worker (e.g. apps that calculate decent remuneration), Provision of affordable services that provide care & domestic work (e.g. affordable daycare services in rural areas), Awareness raising on the care economy through marketing, information campaigns & programmes that raise awareness & increase motivation
Pathway to impact: Reward

aeioTU

Headquarters: Colombia

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

About the organization: aeioTU is a social enterprise created and led by women that develops the full potential of children to transform communities in an innovative and sustainable way. aeioTU partners with public and private actors to provide comprehensive, high-quality care to children from 0 to five years of age, reducing the time families, especially mothers, dedicated to caregiving activities. Through their business model, aeioTU wants to impact the lack of remuneration for care and domestic workers.
Stage of Growth: Mass roll-out/Expansion
Types of Services: Child-care (Ages 1 to 5)
Activities in the care economy: Provision of technology & services that train/upskill domestic & care workers (e.g. technology that links employers to domestic/care workers), Provision of affordable services that provide care & domestic work (e.g. affordable daycare services in rural areas)
Pathway to impact: Reward

AgeWatch Africa Foundation

Headquarters: Kenya

Country of Operations: Kenya
Women owned / led: Not women owned or led
For more information, download the full
business profile here

About the organization: AgeWatch Africa Foundation (AAF) is a non-profit social enterprise whose mission is to provide compassionate and high-quality care to the elderly in rural Kenya. AAF provides a variety of care services including home care, group day-care, palliative care and a full-service residential care facility. AAF’s customers include economically disadvantaged, those in poor health, people living with disability, and those living alone.
Stage of Growth: Small scale roll-out/Early stage
Types of Services: 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 affordable services that provide care & domestic work
Pathway to impact: Recognize, Reward, Reduce, Redistribute

Aliadas

Website: aliadas.co
Headquarters: Colombia

Country of Operations: Colombia
Women owned / led: Information not available
About the organization: Aliadas is an organization committed to using technology and communications in favor of domestic workers and their training processes. Aliadas is a mobile app at the service of domestic workers in Colombia that will soon be available to download. Through 8 functions, Aliadas seeks to contribute to recognizing domestic workers and their labor rights. Employers are also invited to take advantage of this tool to learn about their responsibilities and the labor rights of their domestic workers.
Stage of Growth: Small scale roll-out/Early stage
Types of Services: Labour saving solutions
Pathway to impact: Recognize, Reward

Aliviamos

Headquarters: Colombia

Country of Operations: Colombia
Women owned / led: Information not available
About the organization: Aliviamos is a Colombian company that cares and works to give patients a better quality of life. Their goal is to contribute to patients’ physical, emotional, and psychological recovery while providing support to their families. Aliviamos offers nursing home services, nursing for COVID patients, care for the elderly and people with illnesses, and personnel selection for third-party organizations.
Stage of Growth: Established/Mature
Types of Services: Elderly-care (Ages 60 and above), Care for people with illnesses
Pathway to impact: Reduce, Redistribute

Aqua Clara Kenya

Headquarters: United States of America

Country of Operations: Kenya
Women owned / led: At least 30% of women in board of directors
For more information, download the full
business profile here

About the organization: Aqua Clara is a non-profit entity that provide communities with affordable, easy-to use filters, so they can access safe water at home. Aqua Clara’s products are used by households, schools and health centres. The entity’s products have reduced care work as families no longer have to boil water over smoky fires to remove impurities. This has not only reduced illnesses but also has reduced the time and money spent on collecting and buying fuel.
Stage of Growth: Established/Mature
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

Asistta

Headquarters: Colombia

Country of Operations: Colombia
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: Asistta is a Colombian platform that connects health professionals with users who require home services, medicine administration, physiotherapy, respiratory therapy, psychological services, nutrition, speech therapy, and nursing. Around 90% of its workforce are women. The Asistta platform is focused on supporting informal caregivers to enter the economy through an academic support network. In addition, it provides caregivers with the necessary training to enter the labor market by giving them the possibility of learning from home.
Stage of Growth: Small scale roll-out/Early stage
Types of Services: Infant-care (children younger than 1-year), 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 (e.g. technology that links employers to domestic/care workers), Provision of technology, services & policies/practice that improve condition for domestic & care worker (e.g. apps that calculate decent remuneration), Provision of affordable services that provide care & domestic work (e.g. affordable daycare services in rural areas)
Pathway to impact: Reward, Redistribute

Babysits

Headquarters: Netherlands

Country of Operations: Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Mexico, Peru, Other Latin America Countries
Women owned / led: At least 30% women in senior leadership positions
About the organization: Babysits is a company that offers families in Latam a platform for childcare so they can feel their children are in the best hands. The safety and comfort of children are Babysits’ top priority. The tool allows parents to take mandatory government measures and other activities to eliminate parental concerns in taking care of their children. In addition, Babysits offers multiple resources, such as childcare tips and craft activities, designed for parents to spend quality time with their kids. Their mission is to empower communities regarding childcare worldwide.
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)
Pathway to impact: Reduce, Redistribute

Baobab +

Headquarters: France

Country of Operations: Senegal
Women owned / led: At least 30% women in senior leadership positions
About the organization: Baobab+ is a social business committed to providing clean, affordable and reliable energy to people living off-grid and in rural areas by offering them quality products with adapted financial solutions. They sell small, high quality, easy to use, solar PV home systems to customers on credit with flexible payment terms. The entity’s solar solutions reduce the amount of time spent on domestic work and significantly improve lives by prolonging the activity hours of the population by enabling them to cook, study and work beyond the hours of daylight. In 5 years, Baobab+ has equipped 220,000 households, more than 80% of whom live in rural areas, with domestic solar solutions and enabled people to have access to light. Baobab + has assisted in increasing study time for students by 75%, has increased users’ income by 25%, and has saved 210,000 tonnes of CO2.
Stage of Growth: Established/Mature
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

BBOXX Ltd

Headquarters: United Kingdom

Country of Operations: Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, Pakistan, DRC, Togo, Ivory Coast, Guinea, Mali, Rwanda, Burkina Faso
Women owned / led: Information not available
About the organization: BBOXX provides affordable, reliable, and clean electricity and other utility services to those who are living without them. It designs, manufactures, distributes and finances decentralised energy solutions. It is a for-profit company that operates in 11 countries in Asia and Africa. It has provided clean, reliable and affordable electricity to households, communities and businesses. The services provided by BBOXX have improved the quality of life for millions of customers, especially women and children, by providing them access to lighting.
Stage of Growth: Mass roll-out/Expansion
Types of Services: Domestic services
Activities in the care economy: Provision of affordable time and labour saving technology and products
Pathway to impact: Reduce

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

BURN Manufacturing

Headquarters: Kenya

Country of Operations: Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Philippines, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Vietnam, Zambia, Somaliland, Somalia, Tanzania, DRC, South Sudan, Puntland, Sierra Leone, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Rwanda, Burundi, Australia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Canada, Germany, Ivory Coast, India, Thailand, Malawi
Women owned / led: At least 30% of women in board of directors
For more information, download the full
business profile here

About the organization: BURN is a for-profit company that manufactures affordable clean cookstoves for households in sub-Saharan Africa. To date, BURN has sold over 1.2 million stoves. BURN’s cookstoves save money, fuel and time for its customers and help reduce harmful indoor smoke emissions which can cause significant health problems. The company’s products are instrumental in reducing the burden of collecting firewood, which typically falls on women, and potentially exposes them to risk of physical and sexual violence.
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

CarePlus Ghana

Headquarters: Ghana

Country of Operations: Ghana
Women owned / led: Information not available
About the organization: CarePlus Ghana is a home & family care and support agency that specialises in providing personalised at-home and community care and support services. It specializes in providing care services for people living with disability, the elderly and children. It is a for-profit company based in Ghana that reduces the burden of care-work on famiy members, predominantly women.
Stage of Growth: Small scale roll-out/Early stage
Types of Services: “Elderly-care (Ages 60 and above)
Care for persons with special needs (disabled / differently abled persons)
Child-care (Ages 1 to 5)
Child-care (Ages 6 and above)
Care for people with illnesses
Domestic services”
Activities in the care economy: Provision of affordable services that provide care & domestic work
Pathway to impact: Reduce

Casalimpia

Headquarters: Colombia

Country of Operations: Colombia, Other Latin America Countries
Women owned / led: Information not available
About the organization: Casalimpia is a Colombian company that employs more than 10,000 people in domestic and office cleaning services. Casalimpia’s social responsibility approach contributes to the well-being and good working conditions of employees while offering a quality service to clients. They aim to provide clients with comprehensive solutions in the provision of domestic, business cleaning and cafeteria services, specialized services, locative technical maintenance, asset management, all of them with high standards of quality and opportunity, rigorously fulfilling their promise of value. Casalimpia is based on efficient processes with cutting-edge technology and a team passionate about service.
Stage of Growth: Established/Mature
Types of Services: Domestic services, Labour saving solutions
Activities in the care economy: Provision of technology, services & policies/practice that improve condition for domestic & care worker (e.g. apps that calculate decent remuneration), Provision of affordable time and labour saving technology and products (e.g. product that makes washing, cooking more efficient)
Pathway to impact: Reduce, Reward, Redistribute

Comfort the aged

Headquarters: Ghana

Country of Operations: Ghana
Women owned / led: Information not available
About the organization: Based in Ghana, Comfort For the Aged is a for-profit aged-care home facility that aims to provide care to the elderly and the infirm. It provides at-home services including meal preparation, medication reminders, housekeeping/home management, grocery shopping and errands, thus it reduces the burden on family members, especially women.
Stage of Growth: Launch/Pilot
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

Corporación Unión Cristal – IMA Limpia

Headquarters: Colombia

Country of Operations: Colombia
Women owned / led: 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: IMA Limpia is a social enterprise administratively and operationally led by women who have served as domestic workers, perform cleaning, care, cooking, and washing jobs. These women are certified in the professionalization of domestic service and have access to social security and other benefits that improve their lives. Their priority is the human being, both within the organization and abroad, seeking a warm, responsible, and reliable service.
Stage of Growth: Small scale roll-out/Early stage
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), Domestic services, Labour saving solutions
Activities in the care economy: Provision of technology & services that train/upskill domestic & care workers (e.g. technology that links employers to domestic/care workers), Provision of technology, services & policies/practice that improve condition for domestic & care worker (e.g. apps that calculate decent remuneration), Provision of affordable time and labour saving technology and products (e.g. product that makes washing, cooking more efficient), Provision of affordable services that provide care & domestic work (e.g. affordable daycare services in rural areas)
Pathway to impact: Recognize, Reduce, Reward