Deadline: October 21, 2025
The UNICEF Climate Innovation Challenge invites early and growth stage frontier tech start-ups from emerging economies to develop scalable solutions that safeguard children’s health and strengthen the resilience of the systems they rely on.
The focus areas for this challenge include solutions that protect children from climate-related health risks, such as tools for air quality monitoring to protect children from respiratory illness, solutions to detect, prevent, and reduce children’s exposure to lead pollution in air, water, soil, and food, digital platforms to support community engagement and reporting of climate-related health issues; emission reductions; and waste management, integrated platforms that combine climate (environmental, meteorological, demographic) and health data, leveraging AI and geospatial technologies to predict and manage health risks, platforms for frontline health workers and community leaders to understand, interpret, and respond to climate-health data, innovations focused on climate-sensitive infectious diseases, including heat-related impacts, priority disease areas may include water-borne (cholera), vector-borne (malaria), food-borne and soil-borne infections, as well as antimicrobial resistance linked to climate change, widely impacting children, smart heat and humidity monitoring and adaptation solutions for child-critical environments, such as homes, schools and health facilities, low-cost cooling technologies, including for schools, homes and health facilities; AI and data-driven systems and delivery models that predict, detect, and mitigate climate risks, such as community-level early warning systems for early risk mitigation, and predictive platforms for emergency response, frontier tech enabled analysis and scenario modelling for climate-related risks, blockchain-based verification and validation of real-world climate events and service delivery, tools for anticipatory action for climate-sensitive resource allocation and resilient infrastructure planning that integrate climate hazards with social and health datasets, parametric insurance platforms and innovative financing mechanisms that provide rapid protection for children and communities against climate disasters, blockchain-based solutions to increase energy resilience, including financing for renewable energy or clean energy alternatives, and community energy networks to power clean water systems and food storage facilities, such as peer-to-peer energy trading networks.
UNICEF, in collaboration with the India Health Fund (IHF) and the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL), is calling for solutions from emerging markets to drive impactful climate adaptation and innovation. Selected start-ups will receive mentorship and technical assistance to enhance investment readiness and potential for future funding, including ten hours of technical mentoring across open source, business development, frontier technology, software development, and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). Additional support will guide start-ups through the UNICEF Venture Fund sourcing and selection process while highlighting investable solutions that demonstrate public good and market opportunity.
The challenge seeks solutions that address challenges to accelerate results for children, are optimized for low-resource environments such as areas with low connectivity or limited mobile access, focus on reducing inequalities while delivering results for diverse users and communities, and can operate in multiple languages, including local and less commonly used languages. All solutions are expected to leverage advanced technologies while maintaining strict data protection and safeguarding standards to ensure privacy and wellbeing, and to contribute to resilient, sustainable systems supporting health and mental health initiatives.
Eligible companies must be private for-profit entities registered in a UNICEF programme country, have a working prototype or minimum viable product, be open source or willing to become open source, demonstrate potential to positively impact vulnerable children, and generate measurable, publicly exposed real-time data. The deadline to apply is 21 October 2025.
UNICEF operates in 190 countries and territories, dedicated to protecting children’s rights and improving their lives through innovative approaches that leverage technology, data solutions, and scalable programs. The UNICEF Venture Fund specifically invests in early-stage, open-source frontier technologies such as blockchain, AI, machine learning, and augmented or virtual reality, aiming to shape markets and guide emerging technologies for the benefit of children worldwide.
For more information, visit UNICEF.
