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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48 listings found

Isla Urbana

Headquarters: Mexico

Country of Operations: Mexico
Women owned / led: Information not available
For more information, download the full
business profile here

About the organization: Isla Urbana is a company that strives to make rainwater harvesting an autonomous, sustainable, and resilient alternative for the water supply of the most vulnerable. Its principal goal is to promote sustainable development in water based on rainwater harvesting. Isla Urbana’s main challenge is to create solutions to reduce the amount of time spent on care and domestic work. Its main motivation is that their country (Mexico) is going through a water crisis and millions of people lack dignified and safe access to this service.
Stage of Growth: Small scale roll-out/Early stage
Types of 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

Kanguritos

Headquarters: Colombia

Country of Operations: Colombia
Women owned / led: Kanguritos is an education and care agency that offers teachers at home able to tailor children’s and parents’ educational needs reliably and safely to contribute to kids’ development. Kanguritos focuses on 0-7 years old children for whom they have developed innovative tools, such as the “neurolab kits,” a toolbox with a pedagogical approach that seeks to strengthen the basic and essential elements for children’s learning.
About the organization: Kanguritos is an education and care agency that offers teachers at home able to tailor children’s and parents’ educational needs reliably and safely to contribute to kids’ development. Kanguritos focuses on 0-7 years old children for whom they have developed innovative tools, such as the “neurolab kits,” a toolbox with a pedagogical approach that seeks to strengthen the basic and essential elements for children’s learning.
Stage of Growth: Mass roll-out/Expansion
Types of Services: Child-care (Ages 6 and above)
Pathway to impact: Reduce, Redistribute

Kingo

Headquarters: Guatemala

Country of Operations: Guatemala
Women owned / led: At least 30% women in senior leadership positions
About the organization: Kingo is a company that provides decentralized solar energy services to families and businesses in off-grid villages around the world, igniting their lives towards a better future. Its main challenge is to create disruptive clean energy technologies that are affordable to all families that need this service.
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 (e.g. product that makes washing, cooking more efficient)
Pathway to impact: Reduce

Lavapp

Headquarters: Argentina

Country of Operations: Argentina, Mexico, Other Countries
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: Lavapp is the first App in Latin America that connects people with the best laundry stores in their neighborhood, allowing them to manage their orders from their smartphones without leaving their homes and with free delivery. Lavapp’s team’s goal is to become an economic alternative for thousands of people who need an additional income. They are addressing the challenge of the lack of affordable solutions to reduce the amount of time spent on care and domestic work, and the limited redistribution of care and domestic work to other actors in the care economy. The app has been recognized as a dignified and rewarding work tool that helped more than 100 families in 2020.
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 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)
Pathway to impact: Reduce, Redistribute

Lavuro

Headquarters: Argentina

Country of Operations: Argentina
Women owned / led: At least 30% women in senior leadership positions
About the organization: Lavuro is a trusted community marketplace in Argentina that combines artificial and human intelligence to provide cleaning and other domestic services. Customers post their tasks to be solved by “lavurantes,” who generate extra income doing what they know best. Lavuro´s primary goal is to offer a product that resolves multiple issues in the range of the care economy so that their users have a multipurpose platform to find solutions to their care needs.
Stage of Growth: Small scale roll-out/Early stage
Types of Services: Domestic services, Labour saving solutions
Pathway to impact: Reduce, Redistribute

LivelyHoods Kenya

Headquarters: Kenya

Country of Operations: Kenya
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: Livelyhoods Kenya is a non-profit social enterprise that provides last-mile distribution of essential items in slum communities of Kenya. Livelyhoods Kenya trains women who work as sales agents in the community. Through its intervention, Livelyhoods has enabled women to purchase products that have reduced their care work, including cookstove and solar lights. Adoption of these products has reduced household expenditures and drudgery for women.
Stage of Growth: Mass roll-out/Expansion
Types of Services: Domestic services, Labour saving solutions
Activities in the care economy: Provision of affordable services that provide care & domestic work
Pathway to impact: Reduce, Reward

LivUp

Headquarters: Chile

Country of Operations: Chile
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: LivUp is dedicated to prolonging and protecting the vitality of the elderly. This Chilean platform promotes prevention to decrease the need for intensive care. LiveUp is addressing the limited redistribution of care and domestic work and creating affordable solutions to reduce the amount of time spent on caring f and domestic work. Between 2018 and 2020, LivUp has impacted 97 families with the innovative figure of autonomy’s promoter and by employing people over their 50s.
Stage of Growth: Mass roll-out/Expansion
Types of Services: Elderly-care (Ages 60 and above)
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: Reduce, Redistribute

Made To Clean Pvt Ltd

Headquarters: Zimbabwe

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

About the organization: Made To Clean is a for-profit company that aims to standardize domestic work in Zimbabwe, by providing training and placements to domestic workers. Through its operations, it seeks to reward domestic workers for their work by increasing their skills.
Stage of Growth: Small scale roll-out/Early stage
Types of Services: Domestic services
Activities in the care economy: Provision of technology & services that train/upskill domestic & care workers
Pathway to impact: Reward

Mi Dulce Hogar

Headquarters: Mexico

Country of Operations: Mexico
Women owned / led: Founded by at least one woman, At least 51% owned by women
About the organization: Mi Dulce Hogar provides formal jobs for domestic workers in Mexico through a quick and efficient hiring process to recruit reliable keepers and cleaners. Mi Dulce Hogar’s work relies on three pillars: safety through a rigorous hiring process, quality training programs, and formal jobs that provide legal and social benefits. Their objective is to connect and formalize as many employees ad they can.
Stage of Growth: Established/Mature
Types of Services: 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)
Pathway to impact: Reduce, Reward, Redistribute

Nanas & Amas

Headquarters: Peru

Country of Operations: Peru
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: Nanas & Amas connects domestic workers, such as babysitters, home helpers, and elderly caregivers, with families that require their services. This Peruvian agency aims to transform domestic work into a platform so that women who did not have the opportunity to do it at the time can grow, living the happy and prosperous lives that they deserve. Through its platform, Nanas & Amas work to promote domestic work and decent conditions as a tool to build prosperity for the people who do the work. The agency has achieved the approval of a law key to advance domestic workers’ formalization by granting economic incentives to employers. Also, they have started the Student Worker Movement, getting competitors to join them.
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), Domestic services
Pathway to impact: Reduce, Reward

Nazava Water Filters

Headquarters: Indonesia

Country of Operations: Ethiopia, Indonesia, Kenya
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: Nazava is a for-profit enterprise that produces affordable gravity based ceramic household water filters, replacing the need to boil water on wood or LPG. It reduces care work as women save 139 hours per year on boiling and collecting fuel using the water filters. Nazava purified water is 3 times cheaper than boiling and 9 times cheaper than buying water from refill-kiosks.
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

OneSky

Headquarters: United States of America

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

About the organization: Onesky is a non-profit that trains women operating daycares out of their homes in Vietnam’s industrial zones. These daycares serve children of women labouring in nearby factories who do not have access to quality care for their children. It empowers caregivers to establish a responsive relationship with children and create a safe and nurturing learning environment, thereby redistributing care and domestic work whereby young mothers leave their children in the care of onesky trainees to pursue employment or education. Onesky has trained over 75,984 caregivers and impacted 247,753 children.
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
Pathway to impact: Recognize, Reward

Oolu

Headquarters: Senegal

Country of Operations: Nigeria, Senegal, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Cameroon
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
About the organization: Oolu Solar is a for-profit company that provides affordable solar home systems to rural households in Nigeria, Senegal, Mali, and Burkina Faso. These solar home systems provide households with brighter, more efficient lights and in-home chargers at a small fraction of their standard monthly energy expenditure. Its products have helped reduce and eliminate the need for rural people to travel kilometers to nearby electrified villages to charge their phones. Lighting from the solar home systems allows children to study an average of one to two hours longer each night. The company has sold over 60,000 solar home systems to customers in the region. 91% of solar light users who previously used kerosene lamps experienced an improvement in their health.
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

Paz Mental

Headquarters: Mexico

Country of Operations: Mexico
Women owned / led: At least 30% women in senior leadership positions
About the organization: Paz Mental is a company with a team of professionals committed to improving the lives of adults with physical or cognitive impairments. Their mission is to help and give peace of mind to family members of dependent adults, the caregivers who support them, and the physicians who care for seniors. Paz Mental aims to impact the quality of life for the elderly by providing high-quality services and excellent working conditions to caregivers.
Stage of Growth: Mass roll-out/Expansion
Types of Services: Elderly-care (Ages 60 and above), 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 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), Awareness raising on the care economy through marketing, information campaigns & programmes that raise awareness & increase motivation
Pathway to impact: Recognize, Reward, Redistribute

Pillar Health Sdn Bhd

Headquarters: Malaysia

Country of Operations: Malaysia
Women owned / led: At least 30% women in senior leadership positions
About the organization: Pillar Health Sdn Bhd is a for-profit company that provides caregiver services, caregiver training and technology for care providers in Malaysia. The company helps families find the best elderly care services and products they need in the fast, transparent and convenient way. Pillar Health is a network of elderly home care professionals, and related service and product providers. The company also provides skilling for the care givers and redistributes the care work burden for households.
Stage of Growth: Established/Mature
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 technology, services & policies/practice that improve condition for domestic & care worker (e.g. apps that calculate decent remuneration)
Pathway to impact: Reduce, Redistribute

Prosperia

Headquarters: Mexico

Country of Operations: Mexico
Women owned / led: Founded by at least one woman, At least 51% owned by women
About the organization: PROSPERIA is a social impact spin-off from the MIT Media Lab created to massify early detection and treatment of chronic diseases in emerging markets through solutions based on Artificial Intelligence
Stage of Growth: Small scale roll-out/Early stage
Types of Services: Care for people with illnesses
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: Redistribute

SerCuidado APP

Headquarters: Mexico

Country of Operations: Mexico
Women owned / led: Founded by at least one woman
About the organization: Ser Cuidado App is a digital platform that offers care services for dependent and non-dependent people who require home care. Their mission is to satisfy the social and physical needs of any person that requires care: children, the elderly, people with illnesses, and people with special needs or disabilities. Ser Cuidado APP provides training to care workers to guarantee good service delivery. Ser Cuidado APP aims for care caregivers to be recognized, better rewarded, and ultimately improve their economic situation.
Stage of Growth: Conceptualization/Design
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 (e.g. technology that links employers to domestic/care workers)
Pathway to impact: Recognize, Reward, Redistribute

Strong Start

Headquarters: Kenya

Country of Operations: Kenya
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: Strong Start is a for-profit company that provides caregivers and domestic staff in Kenya with technical skills training in early childhood development, household management, self advocacy and job search training. It connects with caregivers and domestic staff through community micropods and blended trainings to support them in advancing their technical and advocacy skills at their workplaces. The enterprise has trained 144 caregivers via live blended trainings and worked with 634 caregivers in micropod & playgroup programs. The company’s services not only reduce the burden of care work but also upskill caregivers and domestic workers.
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), Domestic services
Activities in the care economy: Provision of technology & services that train/upskill domestic & care workers
Pathway to impact: Recognize, Reward

Sustainable Energy Technologies Limited (SETECH)

Headquarters: Ghana

Country of Operations: Ghana
Women owned / led: At least 30% women in senior leadership positions
For more information, download the full
business profile here

About the organization: SETECH is a for-profit entity based in Ghana that provides clean cooking and solar lighting solutions to households and women dominated agro-industries in rural and peri-urban communities. It not only reduces the time spent by women and girls on sourcing fuel for cooking but also contributes to reduced energy expenditures.
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

TeleCuidado

Website: telecuidado
Headquarters: Chile

Country of Operations: Chile
Women owned / led: Founded by at least one woman, At least 51% owned by women
About the organization: Telecuidado is a telemonitoring system for the elderly. The innovative service consists of a wearable device connected 24×7 to a monitoring center, which receives the user’s vital signs, location, and signals from the patient. If an emergency is detected, the user, their family members, and health emergency professionals are immediately contacted if necessary.
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 (e.g. affordable daycare services in rural areas)
Pathway to impact: Reduce, Redistribute