DBS-NUS Social Venture Challenge Asia’s 6 finalists announced; voting for wildcard entry finalist opens

This article is part of Young Entrepreneurs of the DBS-NUS Social Venture Challenge Series

The DBS-NUS Social Venture Challenge Asia, a pan Asia competition for social enterprises aimed at identifying and supporting new social ventures that have the potential to generate scalable and sustainable social impact, announced the 6 finalists of the competition today. In the first round of shortlisting, 12 semifinalists were chosen from over 400 applications received from all over Asia. Finally, the judges have come down to the 6 DBS-NUS Social Venture Challenge Asia finalists.

The 6 finalist ventures representing India, Cambodia, Thailand, Nepal and Singapore are Bodhi Health Education, Interclo Designs, Local Alike, Maya Universe Academy, SOLS 24/7 and Zaya Learning Labs. 

You can still help one of the semifinalists grab a spot in the finals by voting for your favorite wildcard team. Here’s more about the 6 finalists and the wildcard entry team you can help choose:

Bodhi Health Education

Bodhi Health Education leverages low cost mobile technology coupled with eLearning to create scalable, high quality training solutions for the bottom of pyramid health workers. Complex medical topics are taught to semi-literate women in an interactive and engaging way using pictorial videos in regional languages.

Interclo Designs

Interclo Designs, a social venture based in Singapore, has created a clothing-aid product -Survival Plus – for survivors of natural disasters.Survival Plus can be used as a shawl, a mat, a sleeping bag, a blanket and a poncho. It is constructed in a manner that makes it a suitable outerwear garment for both warm and cool weather and can be used universally by the injured, the elderly, the disabled and expectant mothers.

Local Alike

Local Alike is a Thailand based social enterprise working to promote community-based tourism. Its platform connects hosts from local communities to global travellers and works with local people in developing and supporting local homestays, local tour guides, and unique activities. It aims to make sustainable tourism a great experience for travellers and a beneficial activity for local people in terms of income generation, economic opportunities, preservation of local cultures and traditions, natural conservation and increased cross-cultural understanding.

Maya Universe Academy

Maya Universe Academy is a non-profit, community supported primary school in Nepal that provides quality education free of cost to rural children. Founded in 2011 by Manjil Rana, Maya Universe is the first and only free private school in Nepal. Their innovative funding method allows the parents of the students to work at the school for two days of every month instead of paying fee to the school.

SOLS 24/7

SOLS 24/7 (Science of Life Studies 24/7) Cambodia provides high quality and holistic education programmes for disadvantaged and at-risk youths from poor communities. Education is provided in areas of English, Computer skills, ICT, accountancy and character/leadership skills. With the belief that education is the key tool to helping the underprivileged come out from the cycle of poverty, SOLS had find a way to impart practical and relevant education and make it accessible to them in a way they can see the value of education.

Zaya Learning Labs

Zaya’s mission is to transform low-income, underperforming classrooms across India into high-performing learning spaces through a holistic solution that combines technology, training, and pedagogy. Their product, the ClassCloud, brings high-quality instructional videos, lesson plans, and digital assessments to underserved areas, even in places without internet connectivity, and collects a wealth of data on student performance to closely measure outcomes.

Wilcard entry finalist?

The judges have chosen the 6 DBS-NUS Social Venture Challenge Asia finalists but there is one spot left in the finals for the wildcard entry venture. You can help one of the semifinalists to come one step closer to their dream by voting for your favorite wildcard team. The wildcard team with the most votes will win the last available spot in the DBS-NUS Social Venture Challenge Asia finals to be held in Singapore on June 6th.

Voting in the wildcard battle closes on Wednesday, 19 May at 11.59 PM SGT. Vote here.