UNICEF StartUp Lab
Accelerator Programme
ABOUT THE ACCELERATOR PROGRAMME
The UNICEF StartUp Lab is a six-month tech accelerator programme for impactful startups and businesses working to advance the Sustainable Development Goals for children and young people across several sectors, including education, health and nutrition, Water, Sanitation and hygiene, and child protection.
HOW WE SUPPORT OUR STARTUPS
The UNICEF Startup Lab accelerates innovative, market-driven, transformative solutions developed by young Ghanaian businesses that aim to address some of the most complex challenges affecting the well-being of children and young people around the world, particularly the most vulnerable.
Funding
Access GHS 75,000 prototyping and GHS 150,000 scale-up funding opportunities for three startups.
Growth
Intense, hands-on business acceleration for startups & business to amplify their impact in Ghana and beyond.
Investment
Networking and investment opportunities for participants and alumni, not limited to the UNICEF Venture Fund.
Resources
Linkages and engagements with KOICA and other development partners; Tech perks including AWS cloud storage credits.
Partnerships
Connect and collaborate with UNICEF programmes including Health, Education, WASH, and Social Protection.
Impact
Opportunity to refine your solution to be a social impact fit and become a UN-recognized Digital Public Good (DPG).
Digital Public Goods: Supporting market-driven open-source solutions
The UNICEF StartUp Lab serves as the central hub for discovering and developing Digital Public Goods (DPGs) in Ghana. This initiative is in line with the UN Secretary-General's Roadmap for Digital Cooperation and is backed by the UNICEF Office of Innovation to promote the DPG agenda in the country.
In 2021, one of the UNICEF StartUp Lab’s graduates was officially registered as a DPG by the Digital Public Goods Alliance, the first DPG registration recognized from a startup in West Africa. Since then, four startups from the lab have become registered Digital Public Goods from Ghana.
OUR CONTRIBUTION TOWARDS ACHIEVING THE SDGs
We have five years to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and we’re committed to making it happen.
The UNICEF Startup Lab supports tech-enabled startups and initiatives that address these challenges, maximizing their positive impact on children and young people. Join us in driving progress towards the SDGs.
AI for Nurturing Care Hackathon
Building a practical, low-connectivity AI solution to empower frontline health workers and caregivers starts with an understanding of the systemic challenges affecting maternal, newborn, and under-five survival in Northern Ghana, the evidence-based solutions for Ghana's context and how to deliver these solutions at scale to accelerate the survival of mothers, newborns and children under five years of age.
Join the UNICEF StartUp Lab Info Session for the AI for Nurturing Care Accelerating Maternal, Newborn and Under-5 Survival in Northern Ghana and explore with UNICEF specialists the practical and responsible application of AI at the community level before applying.
Date: Friday, July 24
Time: 11:00 AM GMT
Ready to apply? If your team can build AI-assisted tools for early risk detection, localised nutrition intelligence, last-mile referral tracking, or smarter CHPS workflows, submit your application.
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Apply for the Hackathon: Pre-Application Form - AI for Nurturing Care Hackathon
Deadline: August 11, 2026