The World Bank Group, one of the largest sources of funding and knowledge for developing countries, partnered with CES® to launch the Global Tech Challenge at CES 2020, calling upon the technology industry to address some of the world’s most pressing and delicate problems.

Part of the Global Tech Challenge, the Solutions for Women challenge rewarded innovative tech solutions that seek to increase digital access, skills and opportunities for women.

Around the world, 52% of women do not use the internet, according to World Bank data. Women are also 33% less likely than men to use internet in developing countries.

Global tech innovators set out to change this. Learn more about the three winners of the Solutions for Women challenge.

Bridge for Billions

Entrepreneurship ecosystems and systems can often exclude low-income, female, rural and minority entrepreneurs. Bridge for Billions provides an inclusive and affordable digital ecosystem that connects early-stage innovators to growth opportunities through an incubation program.

The program focuses on visual methodology without technical jargon, offers the support of a personal mentor for the new entrepreneur and includes an international community of other innovators for users to share their experiences. Bridge for Billions’ mission is to make mentoring for entrepreneurs inclusive with a learning-centric model.

MicroMentor

A program of Mercy Corp, MicroMentor is a free mentoring platform that connects entrepreneurs and volunteer business mentors to help solve problems and build businesses together.

Since its creation in 2008, MicroMentor has fostered more than 41,000 connections worldwide. It aims to bring equal access to business opportunities and mentorship to underserved communities worldwide, and during the COVID-19 pandemic, the platform has offered support to female founders to help transition businesses online.

Soochnapreneur

Soochnapreneur is an entrepreneurship program that connects India’s rural citizens to information, rights, government entitlements, and other necessary digital services. The Soochnapreneurs are trained and equipped with information and technology and go door-to-door providing information services, communicating necessary benefits and details to underserved communities.

During the pandemic, the Soochnapreneur program has helped overcome information barriers, allowing more marginalized communities — overwhelmingly women — to have access to social and economic assistance from government agencies. Since its creation, it has trained 25,000 rural women to further empower more than 5 million rural women in India.