Newton Fund: Scaling Out for Impact
Scaling Out for Impact (SOFI) has been designed to connect and build complementary partnerships between ventures in South Africa and the UK, harnessing collaboration to address critical challenges in rural and township communities in South Africa.
SOFI builds on a growing shift in thinking where low-income individuals around the world are recognised as a viable, and sizable consumer segment in their own right. Nonetheless, low-income communities in South Africa face persistent challenges. Twenty five years after the transition to democracy, South Africa remains one of the world’s most economically unequal countries. Township and rural communities remain substantially disconnected from the formal economy.
Yet the resilience, ingenuity and creative innovation of those living within South Africa is immense. Enterprises grown out of townships and rural communities have huge potential for addressing obstacles to sustainable development in these areas.
SOFI aims to support innovators and entrepreneurs working within these communities in South Africa by facilitating meaningful partnerships with UK companies. Co-created ideas and innovations will be guided by South African entrepreneurs who bring understanding of what works and what’s needed in their communities, whilst drawing on the knowledge and insights from UK innovators and other supporters of SOFI.
Building on previous UK-South Africa Newton projects, SOFI is a co-venture between the Technology Innovation Agency (TIA) of the Department of Science and Innovation of South Africa, and InnovateUK, part of UKRI, a delivery partner of the Newton Fund.
The Brief
What we did
SOFI 2020 brought together 38 pioneering innovators from South Africa and the UK on an immersive 6-week virtual programme (within the constraints of the Covid-19 pandemic), learning about challenges facing rural and township communities in the areas of healthcare, circular economy and digital economy challenges. Participants also had the opportunity to collaborate in real-time, building relationships and bringing together their expertise and experience to co-create new ideas and opportunities.
Through the SOFI programme, the majority of participants went on to form 15 collaborative teams comprising of UK and SA innovators, harnessing complementary technologies, capabilities and local knowledge to develop 15 inclusive and innovative solutions that are ready to be implemented and scaled in South Africa and beyond. Projects are outlined in the SOFI 2020 portfolio - please get in touch if you can offer additional funding, access to networks or other support to any of our project teams.
“We immediately discovered that there are partners for us in South Africa who although have slightly different problems to us, have exactly the same values.”
“SOFI has opened our eyes to our ability to forge meaningful working relationships whilst being physically removed.”
