$100,000 ( ₦38,001,430 / GH₵581,742 ) UNICEF Funding Opportunity for Business Startups

UNICEF Innovation Fund is currently looking to invest in companies that are using machine learning(ML), artificial Intelligence(AI), blockchain or extended reality (virtual and augmented reality(VR/AR)) technologies to build software solutions that respond to the four broad categories of digital risks to children: Content, Contact, Conduct and Contract Risks.

Apply now if your solution addresses any of the below:

Content Risks: Exposure to harmful or age-inappropriate content, such as pornography, child sexual abuse material, hate speech and extremism, discriminatory or hateful content, disinformation, online games, gambling, content that endorses risky or unhealthy behaviours and violent content which may be upsetting or show criminal activity

Are you building tools and models to make online content, social media and gaming platforms and other services safe for children? Or are you using frontier technologies to tackle inappropriate content?

Using data science and AI to identify and analyse hateful content
Leveraging blockchain to verify online content
Platform agnostic tools to identify and flag inappropriate online content on websites that cater to children
ML applications to advise and caution children about age-inappropriate content

Contact Risks: Harmful interactions with another human including child sexual abuse and exploitation including grooming, stalking and sexual extortion, online bullying, and blackmail and harassment

Are you building platforms and tools to prevent online child abuse and exploitation? Or are you generating insights to assess and mitigate the threats and harms in digital environments?

Tools to detect and stop live-streaming of child sexual abuse performed in front of a camera (usually referred to as live-streaming of CSEA)
Block adults’ access to children for the purpose of sexual abuse on digital platforms (usually referred to as online sexual grooming or solicitation)
Platforms that directly target online child sexual offenders and adults with a sexual interest in children (eg. flagging those accounts)
Using ML/AI to detect, remove and report images, videos with sexual content involving children and adolescents (often referred to as child sexual abuse material, or CSAM)

Conduct Risks: Harmful exchanges, such as bullying, stalking, sharing of self-generated sexual content (sexting), revenge porn, data misuse, financial abuse, and other forms of inappropriate behavior

Are you leveraging existing and new technologies to educate children and young people about digital risks awareness, and appropriate and safe behaviors in digital environments?

Game-based educational tools and guidance for children to learn about the concepts of privacy, respect and sharing of content online
Platforms to support and educate parents/guardians to keep children safe online
Using chatbots to support victims of bullying and harassment and facilitate reporting of abuse
Using ML/AI to monitor and model potential risks to children (mindful of ethical collection of data, privacy laws and age appropriate developmental needs of children)

Contract Risks: Exposure to inappropriate contractual relationships, children’s consent online, embedded marketing as well as violation and misuse of personal data such as hacking, fraud and theft

Are you creating tools and platforms leveraging new technologies to protect children’s and other data online? Or are you identifying and blocking inappropriate commercial platforms?

XR solutions that teach children data literacy skills at scale and support employee training programmes on use of children’s data
Tools that protect children’s data by allowing children or other trusted entities to control access by owning their data by default
Mechanisms to review and provide legitimacy to information shared online
Creating trusted collections of information and content curated and voted on by verified sources against transparent criteria

If you are a start-up using machine learning (ML), artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain or extended reality, registered in one of UNICEF’s programme countries, and have a working, open source prototype (or you are willing to make it open-source) showing promising results, the UNICEF Innovation Fund is looking for you.

To Apply:

Check eligibility criteria here
Read the full Request for Expressions of Interest (REOI) document here
Submit your Expression of Interest here

*Female-founded startups are encouraged to apply.

Application Deadline: 20 December 2020

For details on qualification criteria and how to apply, click on the button below.

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