Frontier Futures for Children: A UNICEF Office of Innovation Podcast
What does it take for promising technology to reach the children and communities who need it most?
Frontier Futures for Children is a six-part podcast series from the UNICEF Office of Innovation which explores what it takes to turn a promising idea into impact at scale. Hosted by freelance tech journalist Maddy Savage and UNICEF’s Yemi Lufadeju, the podcast brings together 29 thought leaders, innovators and decision makers from 17 countries, working at the intersections of frontier technology, equity and social impact.
From promising idea to real impact
In rural India, CareNX’s portable monitor helps health workers check a baby’s heartbeat far from the nearest hospital. In Lao PDR, AirGradient’s sensors help schools decide when it is safe for children to learn and play outside. In Timor-Leste, Similie’s early warning systems give communities time to prepare for flooding. The founders behind these solutions join the series to discuss what it took to put them to work, and what it will take to reach more people.
The conversations go beyond the technology itself to examine the decisions that determine whether it succeeds in the real world. Who pays for a solution after the pilot ends? What makes investors take a chance on technology built for underserved markets? How do communities shape the tools intended for them? And what happens when a promising idea meets the realities of infrastructure, regulation, funding and scale?
Across the series, guests explore scaling the hardest places, the health of women and girls, blockchain in vaccine and food supply chains, crisis preparedness, AI in education, and classrooms built to withstand heatwaves and air pollution. Guests draw on what they have built, backed, researched and observed to explore where innovation succeeds, where it stalls, and what can help good ideas go further.
Episode 1: Scaling where it’s hardest: High-tech dreams in low-resource realities
What does it take to move from a ten-person pilot to a scaled tech solution that improves the lives of thousands? In this debut episode of Frontier Futures for Children, we deconstruct the “scaling wall” for social impact innovations that help children and their communities. The focus is on frontier technologies—advanced solutions including AI and blockchain. Which startups are truly breaking boundaries, what are the biggest challenges for scale-ups, and which trends are shaping the work of innovators, investors, and public institutions? Guests from impact tech ecosystems in Europe, Africa and Asia discuss the hard truths and opportunities of building ventures that improve children’s lives at scale.
Guests
Lina Ng'inja – Head of Partnerships, East Africa, Norrsken
Helen Samuelsson – Innovation Advisor, The Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida)
Divya Gupta – Former Chief Business Officer, Global Health, Qure.ai
Paul Miller – Managing Partner and CEO, Bethnal Green Ventures
Mimi Billing – Europe Editor, Sifted
UNICEF-supported projects or partners featured are clearly highlighted.
UNICEF does not endorse any company, brand, product or service.
This episode was recorded in summer of 2026.
Episode 2 | Femtech: Is 50 per cent of the population still a venture "niche"?
Femtech is one of health innovation's most promising frontiers. The Boston Consulting Group sees a major market opportunity in meeting the health needs of women and girls, yet those needs receive only 6% of global investment, according to the World Economic Forum. In this episode, the founders behind CareNX, which brings pregnancy monitoring to remote communities, and Oky, a period tracker co-created with girls, join an investor and an author to unpack what it takes to build, fund and scale femtech that reaches women and girls everywhere.
GUESTS
Aditya Kulkarni – Founder and CEO, CareNX
Gerda Binder – Senior Advisor to UNICEF Office of Innovation and founder of Oky
Marina Gerner – Author of The Vagina Business
Malin Frithiofsson – CEO of Daya Ventures
UNICEF-supported projects or partners featured are clearly highlighted.
UNICEF does not endorse any company, brand, product or service.
This episode was recorded in summer of 2026.
About Frontier Futures for Children
Frontier Futures for Children is a UNICEF Office of Innovation podcast recorded in Stockholm. With guests joining from around the world, it brings different parts of the innovation ecosystem into the same conversation: the people building technology, the people financing it, the people studying its impact, and the communities it is intended to serve.
Watch or listen wherever you get your podcasts, including:
