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Following a successful needs assessment with Grameen-Jameel Microfinance, D-Lab Scale-Ups has several projects in the Scale-Ups research and development pipeline. These include working with an international industrial packaging company on the development of a water transportation product, and a solar lighting evaluation project for a region of North Africa.

 

This fall, we are pleased to announce a new collaboration between Scale-Ups and the USAID-funded International Development Innovation Network (IDIN), headquartered at D-Lab. IDIN will make it possible for an alum from the International Development Design Summit to participate in the Phase II Fellowship program.

 

In addition to our work behind the scenes on the R&D program, you can find a selection of great blogs from our social entrepreneur fellows and news from the Harvest Fuel Initiative below.


And finally, be sure to mark your calendars for the this year's Scaling Development Ventures Conference to take place February 8, 2014. Read on for all updates and news!
BLOGS FROM THE FIELD : SCALE-UPS FELLOWS 
Bilikiss Adebiyi - Wecylers - Nigeria 
Bilikiss writes, "Since we launched operations in August 2012 Wecyclers has fabricated 15 wecyclers, registered over 3,400 households and collected and sold over 100 tons of waste. Our employees (now there are 21) have been the lifeblood of our organization. We are currently working to scale up our operations and understand the role talented and motivated people have in driving progress. We are happy to announce three new additions to our team!" Read blog. 

In August, the Red Cross of Haryana distributed seven Leveraged Freedom Chairs (LFCs) as part of a longer Red Cross program delivering mobility aids to people in India with disabilities. The LFC recipients were the first in Haryana to receive these unique lever drivetrain wheelchairs from the Sirsa Red Cross Society, which purchased a total of 20. Munshi Ram, pictured left, lives in 35 kilometers outside of Sirsa, and marveled at the ease with which he could use the LFC. Read blog. 

Hallie Sue Cho - OttoClave - India & Nepal

Hallie Sue writes, "Our individual buyers are enthusiastic doctors, individual donors, and people going on missions who heard of OttoClave by word of mouth or news channels. They are important early-adopters interested in a low-cost solution and do not necessarily need the sophisticated enterprise software. This means we can build even simpler versions of the OttoClave without the SMS protocol and data analytics. This is a market with a low margin but the market is large enough -- and important enough -- that it is worthwhile."

Announcing New HFI Enterprise: Green Bio Energy
D-Lab Scale-Ups and The Charcoal Project are pleased to announce the addition of a fourth East African charcoal enterprise to the Harvest Fuel Initiative. Green Bio Energy, headquartered in Kampala, Uganda, expects to produce 954 tons of briquettes and over 18,000 cookstoves by their second year in the HFI program. They state, "We believe in the triple bottom line model (People, Planet, and Profit) to achieve sustainability." Look for an interview with staff at GBE in the next issue! 
Meet Robert Ekiring from Nakabale Integrated
The Nakabale Group has launched a charcoal briquettes and energy saving stoves project in Bugiri, Uganda. Using agricultural waste supplied by community members, the group carbonizes the waste and, using the D-Lab hand-press, makes it into briquettes to be sold locally. A native of Bugiri, Robert Ekiring is one of the founding members of the Nakabale group and leads the project team for the agricultural waste briquettes. Read interview with Robert Ekiring. 
HFI Interview with Dan Sweeney
This summer we introduced Dan Sweeney, the Solid Biomass Fuel Research Associate hired by D-Lab Scale-Ups to work with our Harvest Fuel initiative social enterprises in East Africa. The Charcoal Project conducted an extensive interview with Dan - which you can read here and don't miss his posts to the HFI Forum such as How to increase heat output?, Best way to use sawdust for charcoal?, and What's the best technology for making briquettes?
SCALE-UPS IN THE NEWS : WECYCLERS + LFC + AIR
Wecyclers in the News
It's been a great year full of accolades for Scale-Ups Phase II fellow Bilikiss Adebiyi and her Lagos-based social venture, Wecyclers. This month is no exception. On September 24th, The Tech Awards announced that Wecyclers is one of 10 recipients of the prestigious honor. A signature program of The Tech Museum of Innovation, The Tech Awards is an international program that recognizes innovators from around the world who are applying technology to benefit humanity. 
Leveraged Freedom Chair in the News
With their own steady stream of awards and prizes, Scale-Ups Phase III Fellow, Tish Scolnik, and her colleagues at Global Research Innovation and Technology and their unique lever drivetrain wheelchair, the Leveraged Freedom Chair, have been shortlisted for the Siemens Stiftung Empowering People Award. With over 800 technical solutions for basic supply problems submitted, 23 were shortlisted for the final award. Give them your vote for the Community Prize here!  
Augmented Infant Resuscitator in the News
Following selection for a Saving Lives at Birth Grand Challenge award, the Augmented Infant Resuscitator (AIR) has received press coverage including articles in Boston Magazine: MIT Researcher's Invention Could Save 1.8 Million Newborn Lives, and in the Boston Herald: Patent Sought for Infant Saving AIR. Scale-Ups fellow Kevin Cedrone is co-leading the technical development of the AIR, which monitors and records resuscitation performance of emergency ventilation equipment.
SCALE-UPS CALL FOR FELLOWSHIP APPLICATIONS 2013-2014
Scales-Ups Phase II Applications Due October 4
The Phase II Scale-Ups fellowship is a 12-month program that provides a $20,000 grant, customized mentoring and skills-building, as well as partner cultivation opportunities. Phase II projects enter the program when the technology concept is proven and applicants have gained a basic understanding of the need and the target market. Product and enterprise development are the focus of the fellowship. Guidelines here. Contact Eric Reynolds for further information.
Scale-Ups Fellowship Now Open to IDDS Alumni
The Phase II program is now accepting applications from alumni from the International Development Design Summit. This opportunity is made possible by the International Development Innovation Network, headquartered at D-Lab and funded by USAID's Higher Education Solutions Network. This is an exciting opportunity for two important D-Lab programs to work together to bring promising poverty-alleviating technologies to market at scale! Applications are due October 9. Guidelines here.
SCALING DEVELOPMENT VENTURES CONFERENCE - FEB 8, 2014
Scaling Development Ventures 2014
Last February, the first annual Scaling Development Ventures conference convened some of the world's most inspiring social entrepreneurs to explore strategies, models and resources that can help development ventures achieve scale for significant social impact. Over 250 people registered for the conference, which ultimately moved to a web format in the face of an historic snowstorm. Mark your calendars for the 2014 conference which will take place on February 8 at MIT.
About D-Lab Scale-Ups

Located at D-Lab, MIT's fast-growing and highly regarded educational and technology development program, Scale-Ups was created to identify and support technology-based ventures with potential for wide scale poverty alleviation.

 

Since launching Scale-Ups in 2011, the program has established a fellowship program for MIT-affiliated social entrepreneurs, a technical assistance program for social enterprises in the developing world, as well as a program that identifies technology development and dissemination projects in collaboration with companies which have both a social

mission and wide distribution channels in Base of the Pyramid markets. A new D-Lab class, Design for Scale, is running this fall.

 

Current Fellowships Projects

 

 
Harvest Fuel Initiative Charcoal Enterprises 
 
 
Scale-Ups was created in 2011, with generous support from Abdul Latif Jameel Community Initiatives (ALJCI), to identify and support technologies with potential for wide-scale poverty alleviation. 

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