This year, three of our SEAD Innovators have joined efforts to create a new consulting firm We Scale Impact.

Ashwin Naik, the Founder and Director of Vaatsalya, a chain of hospitals in India, was looking for ways to contribute back to the community as he transitioned away from the day-to-day responsibilities of his growing company and had the idea of harnessing his experiences and connections to help other organizations overcome some of the hurdles he has faced in the past. Through a series of conversations, he discovered that Ting Shih, CEO and Founder of ClickMedix, and Alden Zecha, Co-Founder, Director and former CFO of Sproxil, shared a similar urge to contribute back.

As a result of those conversations We Scale Impact was born. Naik, Shih and Zecha hope to help other organizations – including global healthcare start-ups, investors, and others working in this space – to move ideas to impact. The three of them have expertise in public-private partnerships, fundraising, business model development and evaluation, scaling and growth strategies, process and systems planning, healthcare technologies, and investments, and have worked in more than 15 countries spanning every commercial continent.

When asked why he is taking this step of helping other entrepreneurs rather than moving on to a new business venture, Naik said, “I have had the privilege of learning from so many of my peers during my journey of building Vaatsalya and I was looking for concrete ways to share that learning.”  He added, “My interests are particularly in healthcare, social enterprise and impact investing and We Scale Impact made a lot of sense at this point in my life.”  

While Naik continues to be on the board of Vaatsalya, he is no longer involved in day to day operations. He now spends most of his time at Ashoka as the Leadership Group Member, in addition to being an advisor to the healthcare fund at Unitus Seed Fund and a few other startup initiatives like Disrupt Health.

On Mother’s Day, we’ll all think about our moms – thank them for all the times they’ve been there for us, marvel at the sacrifices they’ve made for us, tell them how much we love and admire them. Here at SEAD, we’re also thinking about the innovators in our accelerator who are dedicated to improving healthcare for moms worldwide. In honor of Mother’s Day, we want to highlight some of the innovators that have made it their core mission to improve the health of moms.
 
Innovators who are working to positively affect maternal health are using a variety of models and approaches. Some of them have developed tools that increase the safety of childbirth for women. Ayzh developed JANMA, a clean birthing kit that costs only $2-$5. The kit contains tools that are recommended by the World Health Organization to create a sterile and sanitary environment for childbirth. We Care Solar developed a “Solar Suitcase,” a portable solar electric system that was designed with midwives and mothers in mind. In places where electricity is not dependable, the “Solar Suitcase” can power lighting as well as mobile and medical devices for use during emergency obstetrics procedures.
 
Other innovators, like Jacaranda Health, operate maternity clinics and hospitals for low-income women, for whom care at private hospitals is typically priced out of reach. Jacaranda Health is a network of affordable maternity hospitals in peri-urban areas of Nairobi and have provided maternal care to over 5,000 women since beginning operations in 2012 – to hear more about Jacaranda Health’s mission to provide high-quality, dignified care to mothers, check out their video:

​​Still others, like ZanaAfrica, focus on empowering women by providing reproductive health education and sanitary pads to girls and young women in East Africa. In the region, 4 out 5 five girls lack access to both of these and as a result twice as many girls drop out of school than boys. Since ZanaAfrica began in 2013, Zana Africa has helped almost 20,000 girls with their services with one study showing a 55% increase in attendance by girls involved in Zana Africa's programming. 
 
We want to thank these innovators, and all innovators, working to make strides to improve the health of mothers around the world. Happy Mother’s Day to moms and to all those who are helping to keep our moms healthy!