Open Call: Purple Innovations Challenge (India)

This initiative is part of a broader strategy to enable equitable access to self-owned livelihoods and address the multidimensional poverty that person with disabilities often face at scale.

Their collective mission is to ensure an accessible, inclusive and equitable future for Persons with Disabilities now!

Thematic Areas

• Solutions for Person with Disabilities in rural communities can include products or product-service systems, specifically hardware-based, addressing the needs of people with disabilities, various age groups, and vulnerable populations.
• Livelihood Solutions: Develop affordable technology solutions that enhance the livelihoods of people with disabilities, focusing on sustainable income-generating activities.
• Accessibility Solutions: Design to enable access to livelihoods like mobility, built environment, assistive tech etc. solutions that improve efficiency, accessibility, and independence (bridge gaps in day-to-day functioning of a business/ learning gaps for individuals) across geographies and terrains.
• Learning Solutions: To ensure access to ecosystem services like financing, trainings, marketing etc. to support kickstarting a business as well as making existing livelihoods efficient and successful.

Benefits

• Build Capacity with EnAble India + SELCO Foundation network and systems thinking approach
• Access knowledge resources
• Connect with mentors and experts
• Access to Problem statement + Learn from PWD peers and grassroot NGOs
• Award money to further develop and implement their solutions
• Access to networking and collaboration opportunities
• Promotion and visibility for their innovations.

Funding Information

• The challenge offers award money for up to 10-12 applicants, with award monies up to INR. 20 Lakhs/Solutions*. Total prize money of the challenge INR. 2 Crore
• *SELCO Foundation shall have the right to determine the amount awarded to each
  participant.

Eligibility Criteria

• They are looking for persons with disabilities, designers/ engineers, enterprises and individuals with sector level passion and interest in solving and finding solutions for persons with disabilities accessing livelihoods and essential services in rural contexts.

Ineligible Applicants

• Applicants who are NGOs cannot apply for this challenge. Any application received from an NGO cannot be considered.

Evaluation Criteria

• Solutions will be evaluated based on their:
  • Relevance to the problem statement
  • Innovation and sustainability
  • Impact on PWDs, particularly in rural or underserved areas
  •  Feasibility and scalability of the solution.

For more information, visit SELCO Foundation.