Solve Challenge Finals 2019

Bridging the SDG Innovation Gap

In the past few decades, the world has made great progress on complex global challenges: more than 1 billion people have been lifted out of extreme poverty, child mortality has dropped more than 50 percent, and the number of children out of primary school has nearly been cut in half. However, to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030, we will need to bridge an estimated funding gap of $2.5 trillion per annum as well as a vast innovation gap. We cannot solve today’s challenges by relying solely on scaling today’s solutions—we must invest in new innovative technologies and business models. In doing so, we may also be able to reduce the unit cost of achieving the SDGs. How can we encourage more early-stage prototyping and piloting to develop and validate innovations that are ready to scale?

Join Solve to learn how we can create innovation ecosystems that will help build a pipeline of world-changing ideas to achieve the SDGs.

How can citizens and communities create and improve social inclusion and shared prosperity? Learn about our Community-Driven Innovation Challenge and the finalists pitching their solutions in this session.

How can urban residents design and live in environments that promote physical and mental health? Learn about our Healthy Cities Challenge and the finalists pitching their solutions in this session.

How can all children under five develop the critical learning and cognitive skills they need to reach their full potential? Learn about our Early Childhood Development Challenge and the finalists pitching their solutions in this session.

How can people create and consume goods that are renewable, repairable, reusable, and recyclable? Learn about our Circular Economy Challenge and the finalists pitching their solutions in this session.

Inclusive Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Talent and ingenuity are equally distributed around the globe, yet opportunities to unlock them are not. A person’s zip code, skin color, nationality, and gender still overly determine their access to education, healthcare, and economic opportunity. The same is true of securing funding and support as an entrepreneur. Since 2012, the percentage of women-founded, venture-backed companies globally has stayed stagnant at 17 percent. Further, 72 percent of all venture capital in the United States is invested in tech startups in the San Francisco Bay Area, New York, and Boston, while philanthropic and VC funding for social entrepreneurs in Africa remains minimal. How do we support and invest in diverse innovators who can leverage community insight to address complex global challenges?

Join Solve to learn how we can close these opportunity gaps and support innovators and entrepreneurs—wherever they come from.