USAID launches “Water for All” Pitch Competition for Caribbean states

– US$50,000 up for grabs

Guyanese entrepreneurs are encouraged to submit their game-changing innovations focused on the water sector as the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Eastern and Southern Caribbean office launched its “Water for All” Pitch Competition.
This competition seeks to recognise and reward exceptional enterprises from both youth innovators and mid-stage businesses, driving transformative solutions for the future of water usage.
By showcasing promising innovations and practices, this opportunity will amplify the private sector’s role in water solutions and strategically connect them to advanced support systems that will ultimately support the scaling up of their innovations for the benefit of all.
This would enable the testing of ideas to identify what works and catalyse follow-on investments and bring attention to proven solutions for greater scale.
Entrants from any category of organisation or institution domiciled in the eligible countries–inclusive of Guyana–are welcome to apply.
This includes but is not limited to, for-profit organisations, not-for-profit organisations, foundations, educational, industrial, and academic institutions, and civic groups, though public sector and Government entities, excluding universities, are not eligible.
Eligible entrepreneurs must have an existing innovation or prototype, pitches must provide solutions for water resilience and sustainability, and ideas must be driven or amplified by technology.
The main focus areas of the competition are resilience–where water technological solutions are developed for increased resilience to the climate in areas such as floods and droughts; health–solutions in areas such as pollution reduction and environmental degradation; efficiency–wastewater technology solutions that increase efficiency and enable water reuse thereby promoting communities to access new resources; and equity–water technologies that promote access to clean water for remote communities and/or improve the quality of water services.
Up to five finalists will be shortlisted to participate in an in-person pitch in Barbados with a total of US$50,000 to be won.
The Grand Prize winner will win a US$25,000 investment in their pitch. The first and second runners-up will cart off US$15,000 and US$5000 investments, respectively.
The other three finalists will receive non-financial support in the form of business development, market assessment, public relations and communications, technical expertise, and travel services in order to accelerate and facilitate the continuing development of their pitches.
The Water for All Pitch competition will be open for applications through July 14, 2023, and entries must be submitted in English through the website: https://www.waterislife2023.com.