Innovation accelerator for rural sanitation launched in India

Published on: 21/03/2016

A new dedicated Innovation Accelerator for rural sanitation is reaching out to all entrepreneurs in India. Applications open on 22nd March, World Water Day. The 20-week inaugural programme will identify, start-up, finance, and scale six early-stage entrepreneurial innovations across the sanitation value chain.

India tops the list of countries where open defecation and unimproved sanitation problems persist. Two-thirds of those who defecate in the open are in India and over 625 million Indians lack access to toilets.

In 2014, India launched the ambitious Swachh Bharat programme to make sanitation facilities available to all by 2019. The government is boosting investments in the programme through a special sanitation tax, corporate social responsibility funding and a new US$ 1.5 billion World Bank loan. The market for rural sanitation is anticipated to be worth up to US$ 25 billion, US$ 10-14 billion for toilet construction and US$ 6-9 billion for customer financing (Monitor Deloitte, 2013).

Entrepreneurs, investors and corporations are increasingly interested in contributing towards improved sanitation. However, systemic challenges impede the breakthrough of new for-profit sanitation solutions. The Sanitation Innovation Accelerator 2016 intends to overcome these challenges by providing a platform to identify, start up, finance and scale sanitation innovations.

The accelerator is a collaborative effort of Ennovent, IRC and TARU Leading Edge. Together, they bring together international and national technical sanitation expertise with knowledge on accelerating innovations in low-income markets in developing countries.

For more information download the Sanitation Innovation Accelerator 2016 brief and press release below or visit the website: www.innovations4sanitation.com

Deadline for applications is 15 April 2016.