Tiny Totos, a Kenyan-based start-up emerged a winner at the Africa regional finale of the MIT Inclusive Innovation Challenge (IIC) which was held on 20 September in Addis Ababa. Tiny Totos was selected in the ‘Income Growth and Job Creation’ category beating Kumwe Harvest from Rwanda and South African based Indlu.
Tiny Totos is a Kenyan social enterprise that has been working since 2014 to improve informal daycares in the slums. They have done this by partnering with private, informal daycare entrepreneuers and delivering training and investment designed to upgrade standards, foster business sustainability, and deliver improved care to children.
More than 400 applicants from 35 African countries entered the competition. Tiny Totos now has a chance to compete and win part of a $1 million Global Grand Prize that will be awarded at MIT (Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA) in November. Tiny Totos would now be competing with finalists in the same category from other regions– Asia, Europe, Latin America and US & Canada.
Emma Caddy, CEO of Tiny Totos, had this to say, “We are thrilled to have been recognised as a start-up bringing change to women and children in slums, through our growing network of financially self-sustaining, quality day care businesses in the informal settlements. Our day care intervention model and platform provides informal day care entrepreneurs with access to the key business knowledge and information they need to improve standards of care, monitor their financial growth – as well as provide reliable, elevated care to children so working mothers can go to work with peace of mind. My team and I are excited about taking Tiny Totos through to the global stages of the competition.”
To mark the finale of the 2019 Challenge, Liquid Telecom hosted the African Inclusive Innovation Summit in Ethiopia, a one day event that highlighted how technology is creating economic opportunity for low-and middle-income earners across Africa. The summit was held in partnership with the African Union Commission, the Ethiopian Jobs Creation Commission (JCC), and the Ethiopian Ministry of Innovation and Technology.