Application Deadline: 4 November 2026
Applications are now open for the 2026 UNICEF/Sweden Funding opportunity for femtech solutions. UNICEF Femtech Ventures is seeking applications to join its second annual cohort of companies using frontier technologies to build open-source solutions for the health, wellbeing, and sexual and reproductive health and rights of girls and women.
UNICEF Femtech Ventures is a five-year initiative (2025–2030) from the UNICEF Venture Fund to invest in locally developed frontier technology solutions that expand access to health, wellbeing, and sexual and reproductive health and rights of girls and women in emerging markets. Building on more than a decade of Venture Fund learning, Femtech Ventures invests in solutions built by companies close to the challenges they address.
This second call for applications will select the next cohort of Femtech Ventures investees, growing a portfolio of solutions established by the first cohort of 11 companies from eight countries in Africa and Asia.
The Call pillars
- Pillar 1: Healthcare access for women and girls
- Pillar 2: Informed, safe and accessible reproductive health
- Pillar 3: Mental wellbeing, safety and protection
Eligibility criteria:
UNICEF is looking to provide investment-style funding to early-stage technology startups. Only entities that fulfill these mandatory requirements will be considered eligible:
● Registered as a private company at the time of the Innovation Fund award (projected: 3 months from submission of EOI)
● A private company registered in a UNICEF programme country
● Working on open source technology solutions (or willing to be open source) under the following licenses or their equivalent:
(i) for software, a GNU General Public license, MIT or BSD,
(ii) for hardware, a CERN, MIT or TAPR open license and
(iii) for design or content, a CC-BY license
● An existing prototype of the open source solution with promising results from initial pilots
● Solution has the potential to positively impact the lives of the most vulnerable children
● Generating publicly exposed real-time data that is measurable
● UNICEF’s Innovation Principles
Benefits
- Selected companies join the Femtech Ventures portfolio and receive up to US$100,000 in funding, 12 months of technical mentorship and access to UNICEF’s global network, including our relationships with governments, to set solutions on pathways to scale.
For More Information:
Visit the Official Webpage of the UNICEF/Sweden Funding opportunity for femtech solutions
