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Bridging healthcare gaps with brick-and-click models
Given mounting threats to societal resilience and obstacles to significant progress toward universal health coverage by 2030 – a key Sustainable Development Goal – in 2024 we decided that a stronger form of partnership is needed to spur, guide and support initiatives that improve primary healthcare access and quality for lowincome households in LMICs.
In the 2026 edition of Entrepreneurs for Resilience, we are again joining forces with partners that share the goal of supporting social entrepreneurs in the healthcare space, this time not only the Digital Connected Care Coalition (DCCC) and the UBS Optimus Foundation but also DCCC member Sanofi’s Global Health Unit’s Impact Fund and the Philips Foundation, pooling our experiences, networks and funding for more impact.
We invite applications from social enterprises that aim to improve low-income people’s access to quality primary healthcare in LMICs through “brick-and-click” delivery models. In this context, brick refers to a (fixed or mobile) point of care staffed by a health worker – to build the human connection and trust – and click refers to a digital tool that supports physical delivery of care.
Benefits of Entrepreneurs for Resilience participation include:
Funding
Technical assistance
Networks and exposure
We encourage social enterprises that fall within the scope outlined above and that meet the following criteria to apply.
Mission and purpose Applicants must demonstrate high levels of social impact and ideally be able to reliably measure the benefits they create for their target groups (eg improved health indicators, lower out-of-pocket expenses).
Target group Low-income populations1 must constitute at least 50% of applicants’ customer base. Applicants should have a deep understanding of the specific circumstances of the people they serve. Priority will be given to enterprises that are gender-inclusive, that is, that strive to reduce gender inequalities.
GeographyApplicants must operate in countries that are defined by the World Bank as low income or lower middle income.
Legal structureApplicants must be formally registered organisations, established no later than 2022. Both for-profit and not-for-profit entities that fulfil the revenue model criteria (see below) are eligible.
Revenue modelApplicants must have a market-based revenue model. While grant funding may account for up to 50% of their revenue, they must demonstrate an ability to grow and scale through earned revenue.
SizeApplicants must serve at least 20 000 people and have the potential to reach at least 100 000 people in the next two years.
OrganisationApplicants must have a solid management team in which responsibilities are well defined and distributed and a diverse, well-structured workforce. Preference will be given to enterprises with at least one female founder or at least 30% women in the management team.
Legal compliance Applicants must comply with the legal framework of the country or countries in which they operate and be allowed to receive funding from a Swiss nongovernmental organisation such as the Swiss Re Foundation.