Support for Innovative Projects

UNICEF has a 70-year history of innovating for children. We believe that new approaches, partnerships and technologies that support realizing children’s rights are critical to improving their lives.

Bassmati Innovation Community’s Support for Innovative Projects Program was designed as a full track of activities that escorts innovative ideas and entrepreneurs from the ideation and design thinking phase all the way up to the establishment of their independent businesses.

Are you curious about starting a company based on an idea you’ve thought of for a while? We help you determine if entrepreneurship is a potential career path for you by introducing you to the business fundamentals and teaching how to communicate your research to a broader audience.

Experience all the challenging aspects of starting your own venture!

Want to start your tech or science-based company? We offer training & support, and access to an extensive network of mentors, entrepreneurs and business professionals. Think you have what it takes to be a founder? We select a fresh batch of startups twice a year. Our program is open to students, researchers and tech professionals.

A message from UNICEF:

We use technology and new approaches to do three things:

We accomplish this by Doing Partnerships Differently.

We partner with the private sector, research institutions, and local entrepreneurs in new ways, demonstrating how doing good is good business. This often means looking beyond philanthropy and working with businesses to deliver for children while identifying and meeting market needs.

Program's Activities

Our Support for Innovative Projects Track

The Generator

Successful initiatives and innovations are rooted in an understanding of user characteristics, needs and challenges. User-centered design — also referred to as design thinking or human-centered design — starts with getting to know the people you are designing for through conversation, observation and co-creation.

Information gathered through this engagement leads to building, testing and redesigning tools until they effectively meet user needs. By designing with the users, and not for them, you can build tools to better address the specific context, culture, behaviors and expectations of the people who will directly interact with the technology. Designing together means partnering with users throughout the project lifecycle, co-creating solutions, and continuously gathering and incorporating users’ feedback.

In Bassmati Innovation Community, we encourage and urge applicants to work on human-centered innovations through:

Inspiration and Ideation: Conducting Design Thinking Sessions and Workshops that are Open to Everyone

Prior to opening the applications for applicants, Bassmati Innovation Community through its network of Innovation Hubs usually conduct multiple design thinking and ideation workshops. Those workshops are designed as an entry point for potential applicants where they are encouraged to think outside-the-box when looking at relevant Climate and WASH challenges and innovations. Those workshops and events are open to everyone and are advertised through multiple media channels including our website, social media accounts and partners media channels.

The Climathon

Bassmati’s Climathon is the first filtration process for applicants. It aims to translate climate action solutions into tangible projects, supporting climate positive businesses & start-ups and addressing local policy changes.

Climathon powers a national  wave of changemakers and innovators to help humanity fight Climate and WASH challenges to build a better future.

The Climathon is a 2 months process where “Thematic Areas” are advertised and applications are opened for entrepreneurs to apply with their innovative ideas.

At the end of the process, applications are evaluated based on a well-defined criteria, and only eligible candidates are transferred to the next step of the program.

Grab your ideas and start innovating

Get more information on the “Thematic Areas”, Eligibility, Application and Evaluation Criteria.

Click Here

The Capacity Builder

Bassmati Innovation Community gathers leading innovation players. As an entrepreneur, you will be able to learn from the best and, who knows, you might find new business partners to develop your ideas with!

Bassmati Innovation Community gives applicants progressing from the “Climathon’s Pitching and Evaluation” the opportunity to receive expert knowledge from experienced business and technical advisers.

Business Training

Applicants progressing from the Climathon will be enrolled in a world-class training program for 12 weeks that is designed as a framework specific to guiding the startup process for a wide audience of entrepreneurs. Includes steps and exercises to determine the viability of the business concept and the correct path to formation and company launch.

Through out the training process participants will:

Build Knowledge & skills as an entrepreneur.
Research and develop a business concept.
Master the business planning process using a step-by-step approach.
Analyze and test the concept and business plan at checkpoints throughout the program.

offers non-traditional, experiential learning with hands-on coaching sessions. Opportunities to network and learn from peers as well as facilitators, business coaches, and guest speakers – seasoned entrepreneurs and professionals who work with entrepreneurs – are a key part of the experience.

The participants will be challenged to think critically about their businesses, practice decision-making skills, and ensure all aspects of the business are aligned for long-term sustainability and growth. Through readings and research, activities and action steps, the participants will plan and analyze their entrepreneurial vision as they create a thoroughly researched and tested plan for growth.

At the end of the training process, the training will be utilized to help the participants develop their Business Plans for launching their businesses.

Business Training Modules

Technical Coaching

Bassmati Innovation Community connect the practical skills and academic research developed in universities with the national demand for creativity and innovation, applying a unique design thinking, capacity building and ideas fostering methodology.

During the 12 weeks of training, participants will receive continuous technical coaching and support from academic technical experts relevant to their field of innovation. Coaching activities will focus on complementing training activities, so that applicants will be supported in selected gaps closure during their research and development activities. The support will vary based on the specific needs of the applicants.

The support will include following activities:

Progress monitoring
Proof of Concept and Technical Evidence Generation
Capability development
Assistance in closing gaps
Prototyping and product development.

Business Plans' Pitching Day

Business plans’ pitching day is the second filteration event for applicants. Applicants will be required to submit and present their completed business plans that they have developed during the 12 weeks training period in addition to their latest technical proposal based on the technical development of their ideas post the research and development and continuous coaching that they have received.

The Incubator

In Bassmati Innovation Community we understand that the entrepreneurial ecosystem is a system of institutions, actors and linkages in which entrepreneurs are embedded as they innovate. The system underpins and facilitates their activities and provides them with incentives, training, finance, networks and other kinds of support.

Therefore, Bassmati Innovation Community gives entrepreneurs progressing from the “Business Plans’ Pitching Day” the support they need in order to establish sustainable, innovative and scalable businesses in the Climate, Water and Sanitation field.

Throughout a 12 months incubation period, startups will be provided with the following support:

Up to $20,000 Seed Funding

IP and Business Registeration and Administrative Support

One-on-One Coaching and Mentorship

Networking

End of Incubation

At this stage, startups would have been provided with all the support, tools and knowledge that helps them stand as established businesses. However, Bassmati Innovation Community will still provide startups with continuous support to further grow and scale through the acceleration component.

The Accelerator

Bassmati Innovation Community’s Accelerator is the only Jordanian acceleration program focused on climate action, water and sanitation.
It gives startups who were incubated at Bassmati Innovation Community’s Incubator the chance for scaling and further commercialize their companies.
Our program brings you the knowledge, resources, tools and the coaching a start-up needs for success.

Bassmati