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
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
LavanderiApp
Website: www.lavanderiapp.io
Headquarters: Mexico
Country of Operations: Mexico
Women owned / led: Founded by at least one woman
About the organization: LavanderiApp is a platform of high social impact that generates sources of self-employment for women through the provision of laundry services. It aims to reduce the amount of time spent on domestic services and to provide flexible jobs for women. They plan to expand through Latin America and to become a flexible and marked-based solution for both employees and clients.
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)
Pathway to impact: Reduce
Lavapp
Website: www.lavapp.me
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
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
Lazarillo
Website: www.lazarillo.app
Headquarters: Chile
Country of Operations: Chile, Other Countries
Women owned / led: None
About the organization: Lazarillo is a Chilean app that helps people with visual disabilities to improve their independence with information on their routes to access physical or digital services. Lazarillo addresses the lack of affordable solutions to reduce the amount of time spent on care and domestic work by improving the well-being and independence of people with disabilities. They have benefited more than 400,000 people by delivering a simple platform that made it easier for people to have traveled more than 6000 times around the world independently.
Stage of Growth: Mass roll-out/Expansion
Types of Services: Care for persons with special needs (disabled / differently abled persons)
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: Reduce
LivelyHoods Kenya
Website: www.livelyhoods.org
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
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
Website: www.liv-up.cl
Headquarters: Chile
Country of Operations: Chile
Women owned / led: Founded by at least one woman, At least 51% owned by women
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
Nazava Water Filters
Website: www.nazava.com
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
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
Strong Start
Website: www.strongstart.co.ke
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
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
Symplifica
Website: symplifica.com
Headquarters: Colombia
Country of Operations: Colombia, Mexico
Women owned / led: Founded by at least one woman
About the organization: Symplifica is an innovative platform that seeks to provide social security and extralegal benefits to domestic workers and nannies. Their mission is to offer formalization mechanisms through technological tools that allow domestic workers to improve their quality of life. Symplifica has already impacted 15k employers and generated more than 10 million USD in social security payments. They recently received USD 3 million from Open Society Foundations.
Stage of Growth: Mass roll-out/Expansion
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)
Pathway to impact: Reward
The Mother Goose Kenya
Website: themothergoosekenya.com
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
About the organization: The Mother Goose Kenya is a community-based organization (CBO) that focuses on helping communities improve the quality of child-care focusing on the following themes: empowering women and parents, parenting solutions and quality childcare solutions. The entity’s services reduce the burden of unpaid care work families through provision of domestic workers. Furthermore, the entity also empowers domestic workers by providing trainings and placements.
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), Domestic services
Activities in the care economy: Provision of technology & services that train/upskill domestic & care workers
Pathway to impact: Recognize, Redistribute, Redistribute, Reward
Through My Eyes
Website: Not available
Headquarters: Kenya
Country of Operations: Kenya
Women owned / led: Founded by at least one woman, At least 30% women in senior leadership positions
About the organization: Through My Eyes is a social enterprise that trains and accredits caregivers to serve children with special needs. Once caregivers have been contracted, they go through daily inspections to ensure they are presentable and in the most positive state of mind. The trainings are categorized according to the diagnosis and the specific needs of the children. Through My Eyes rewards the accredited caregivers with better placement opportunities on mastering the art of caregiving. The enterprise’s services reduce the burden of care work and improve skills of caregivers.
Stage of Growth: Small scale roll-out/Early stage
Types of Services: Care for persons with special needs (disabled / differently abled persons)
Activities in the care economy: Provision of technology & services that train/upskill domestic & care workers
Pathway to impact: Reduce
Tierra Grata
Website: tierragrata.org/en/home
Headquarters: Colombia
Country of Operations: Colombia
Women owned / led: Founded by at least one woman, At least 30% of women in the Board of Directors
About the organization: It’s a social enterprise that provides access to clean energy, drinking water, and safe sanitation. They design solutions adjusted to rural contexts accompanied by a social intervention process. Tierra Grata’s mission is to accelerate the productivity and economic growth of rural families through access to basic services. They expect to contribute to time reduction in care work and the redistribution of domestic activities to third parties.
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
Tiny Totos Kenya
Website: www.tinytotos.com
Headquarters: Kenya
Country of Operations: Kenya, Rwanda
Women owned / led: Founded by at least one woman
About the organization: Tiny Totos is a social enterprise that aims improve informal daycare by partnering with private, informal daycare entrepreneurs and delivering training and investment to upgrade standards, foster business sustainability and deliver improved care to children in Kenya and Rwanda. The enterprise redistributes care work by providing training and content on how to run profitable childcare businesses, create user-friendly childcare content that ensures child, health, development and nutrition is upheld.
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: Reduce
USAFI GREEN ENERGY LIMITED
Website: usafigreenenergy.co.ke
Headquarters: Kenya
Country of Operations: Kenya
Women owned / led: At least 51% owned by women
About the organization: Usafi Green Energy Limited is a for-profit company that manufactures and distributes cookstoves and biomass briquettes in Kenya. Usafi briquettes are of high carolific value and high heat content therefore make it more viable for household, industrial and institutional use as a fuel. It reduces care work by saving cost and energy. Through the use of the enterprise’s renewable energy products 3 out of 10 trees have been saved and over 4200 households are using the product.
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
Uthabiti Africa
Website: www.uthabitiafrica.org
Headquarters: Kenya
Country of Operations: Kenya
Women owned / led: At least 30% women in senior leadership positions, At least 30% of women in board of directors
About the organization: Uthabiti is a for-profit entity that exists to accelerate early childhood care, education and development (ECCED) in Africa. It accelerates access to quality and affordable childcare services for all. The organization redistributes care and domestic work by coordinate collaboration among childcare actors, facilitates organizing of childcare entrepreneurs and service providers; as well as influences creation of an enabling policy environment that supports child care enterprises and the childcare workforce to thrive. In 2021, the entity has also set up a non-profit entity.
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)
Activities in the care economy: Provision of technology, services & policies/practice that improve conditions for domestic & care worker
Pathway to impact: Recognize, Reward, Redistribute
Xalco Ltd – Trading as “UJUZI FURSA AFRICA” “HOMECARE360” “COMFORTCARE360”
Website: www.homecare-360.com
Headquarters: Kenya
Country of Operations: Kenya, South Sudan
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: Xalco Ltd is a social enterprise that trains and certifies caregivers in Kenya and South Sudan. Its services include provision home health care services such as asssitance to daily living, companionship to elders, post operation/surgery patients, mentally ill elders, among others. The enterprise leverages an online platform to connect caregivers to customers. Its services not only reduce the burden of care work but also provide trainings to caregivers.
Stage of Growth: Mass roll-out/Expansion
Types of Services: Elderly-care (Ages 60 and above), Care for persons with special needs (disabled / differently abled persons), Care for people with illnesses, Labour saving solutions
Activities in the care economy: Provision of affordable services that provide care & domestic work
Pathway to impact: Recognize, Reward, Redistribute