Path-breaking technology startups recognized for linking finance to sustainable development

7 Apr

The organizers of the RFI Summit 2018 and its second annual Support Disruption for Good Challenge are excited to announce this year’s winners whose leadership and entrepreneurial efforts connect innovation to sustainable finance.

The three winners — AID:Tech, INBONIS and thirdACT — highlight how creatively different segments of the financial sector can orient their activities towards positive social impact. The winners of the Challenge have been invited to share their stories on the second day of the RFI Summit 2018, which runs from April 26-27, 2018 in Zurich, Switzerland.

Healthcare: AID:Tech revolutionizes how governments, corporates and NGOs deliver digital entitlements across the world. They are first company to successfully deliver international aid using Blockchain technology (to Syrian refugees in Tripoli, Lebanon). They equip the undocumented and unbanked with access to welfare, aid, remittances, healthcare and donations by providing individuals with a unique, secure and enduring digital identity.

Agriculture: INBONIS, a certified B Corp, improves access to finance for micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), including those in the agricultural sector, by extracting and analyzing structured and unstructured data to quickly and accurately understand and quantify credit worthiness, improving the ability of financial institutions to serve MSMEs.

Sustainable Cities: thirdACT is a women-founded and led Public Benefit Corporation. The have created a new way to invest in small commercial real estate through financing of property improvements. Their truly unique non-debt financing removes barriers to energy efficiency and clean energy technologies while leveraging the advances of blockchain, digital ledgers and smart contracts to enhance returns for investors.

Blake Goud, CEO of the Responsible Finance & Investment (RFI) Foundation commented: “We were very impressed with the caliber of entrants and nominations we received for the Support Disruption for Good Challenge this year. We see tremendous potential for technology companies to play a role in connecting the financial sector’s activities closer to the global objectives outlined in the Sustainable Development Goals.”

Mounir Khouzami, Co-Founder & President of Swiss Arab Network said: “We congratulate all of the 2018 winners. We look forward to providing them a forum to share their companies with the leaders from across the financial sector that come together at RFI Summit 2018 later this month. We see great potential for the winners of the Support Disruption for Good Challenge to be key motivators for financial institutions in recognizing the value of increasing their attention to the Impact Finance sector. This is the kind of thought-leadership that is a key outcome of the RFI Summit 2018.”

For more information about the RFI Summit 2018 and to register, please visit www.rfisummit.org.