UNICEF Femtech Ventures 2026 Open Call for Femtech Startups

UNICEF Femtech Ventures has opened its second annual call for applications, seeking startups developing open-source, frontier technology solutions that improve the health, wellbeing, and sexual and reproductive health and rights of women and girls. Selected companies can receive up to US$100,000 in equity-free funding, 12 months of technical mentorship, and access to UNICEF’s global network. The program welcomes early- and growth-stage companies registered in UNICEF programme countries, with applications closing on 4 November 2026.

Cohort and Application Snapshot

Program: UNICEF Femtech Ventures, second annual cohort
Organizer: UNICEF Venture Fund (UNICEF Office of Innovation)
Portfolio: Selected companies join the Femtech Ventures portfolio
Funding: Up to US$100,000 in equity-free funding
Mentorship and access: 12 months of technical mentorship and access to UNICEF’s global network, including connections with governments and partners
Target sectors: Health & Life Sciences, AI & Data, Social & Governance
Target startup stage: Stage Agnostic (early- and growth-stage companies with a functional prototype)
Category: Funding
Target regions: UNICEF programme countries, particularly emerging markets
Target technologies: Artificial intelligence, machine learning, blockchain, and data science
Founder focus: Women-led startups and companies led by young founders under 35 are strongly encouraged to apply
Applicant profile: Companies registered in a UNICEF programme country, possessing a functional prototype, and committed to open-source licensing and principles
Application deadline: 4 November 2026

Approach to Femtech Innovation

Women and girls represent nearly half the global population, yet women's health receives only six percent of private healthcare investment worldwide.
Technological advancements are transforming healthcare delivery, but women and girls continue to face unequal access to these innovations.
These disparities are particularly significant in emerging markets, where barriers to affordable, accessible, and quality healthcare remain widespread.
UNICEF Femtech Ventures is a five-year initiative (2025–2030) established by the UNICEF Venture Fund to support locally developed frontier technology solutions that advance women's and girls' health, wellbeing, and sexual and reproductive health and rights.
The program builds on more than a decade of UNICEF Venture Fund experience supporting open-source innovations developed within the communities they serve.
Its second annual funding call builds on the first cohort, which included 11 companies from eight countries across Africa and Asia.
UNICEF emphasizes a hyperlocal approach, supporting innovations designed around community needs, validated in local contexts, and developed with the potential to scale.
Safety-by-design is a core investment requirement, encouraging responsible practices in data privacy, informed consent, and user protection.
With the global femtech market projected to reach US$146 billion by 2033, UNICEF Femtech Ventures aims to strengthen locally developed solutions while addressing persistent inequalities in women's and girls' healthcare.

What the Program Is Looking For

Companies registered in UNICEF programme countries, particularly those operating in emerging markets and developing locally relevant solutions with scalable potential.
Startups committed to open-source principles, inclusive innovation, and responsible technology development.
Both early-stage and growth-stage companies, provided they meet the program's eligibility requirements, including having a functional prototype.
Solutions leveraging frontier technologies such as generative AI, agentic AI, machine learning, blockchain, and data science.
Innovations capable of deployment in low-resource, underserved, or emergency settings.
Technologies that prioritize accessibility, user privacy, safety, interoperability, and measurable social impact.
Applications addressing three priority areas: healthcare access for women and girls; informed, safe, and accessible reproductive health; and mental wellbeing, safety, and protection.

Pillar 1: Healthcare Access for Women and Girls

Focus: Frontier technology solutions that improve women's and girls' health outcomes across the continuum of care, including antenatal and postnatal support, newborn health, and child healthcare.
Innovations designed to strengthen primary and community healthcare services in underserved populations.
Point-of-care diagnostic support tools that automatically interpret collected data or medical imagery, providing actionable insights to frontline healthcare workers.
Affordable, technology-enabled screening solutions for conditions such as anaemia, haemoglobinopathies, ferritin deficiencies, and thyroid disorders.
Digital tools integrating screening, referral, and follow-up services while generating structured healthcare data to improve planning, policymaking, and accountability.
Digital health platforms supporting continuity of maternal healthcare from conception through the first 1,000 days of a child's life, including remote care in low-bandwidth settings.
Demand forecasting, workforce planning, and supply management technologies that improve the availability of essential maternal and child healthcare resources.

Pillar 2: Informed, Safe and Accessible Reproductive Health

Focus: Innovations that increase access to reliable reproductive health information, tools, and services, particularly for women and girls facing barriers associated with distance, stigma, cost, or restricted mobility.
Solutions supporting informed decision-making, privacy, and individual control over sensitive reproductive healthcare data.
AI-powered platforms delivering personalized reproductive health information and counselling in underserved languages, including solutions adapted to low-literacy and low-bandwidth environments.
Digital platforms enabling community healthcare workers to provide sexual and reproductive health services, including case management, referrals, and follow-up support.
Frontier technology solutions that strengthen HPV screening, detection, and prevention services in primary and community healthcare settings.
Technology-enabled platforms facilitating access to financing and healthcare coverage for sexual and reproductive health services.
Privacy-preserving and consent-based data technologies that enable women and girls to control how their reproductive health information is collected, managed, and shared.

Pillar 3: Mental Wellbeing, Safety and Protection

Focus: Technology solutions addressing the psychological, emotional, and digital safety needs of women, girls, and children, including gender-based violence, online abuse, trauma, and maternal and adolescent mental health.
Accessible digital mental health platforms delivering culturally appropriate psychosocial support, particularly in underserved communities.
Interoperable mental healthcare solutions that integrate screening and support into existing health information systems, including DHIS2.
Digital decision-support systems helping community healthcare workers identify mental health risks, provide evidence-based interventions, and determine when specialist referrals are necessary.
AI-enabled tools supporting the early identification of gender-based violence, confidential reporting, information access, and referral to protection services.
Online safety technologies identifying and responding to digital harassment, exploitation, and abuse directed at women and girls.
Community-level training and support tools for teachers, healthcare workers, and social workers who identify and respond to mental health and protection risks.
Innovative and scalable applications of frontier technologies that demonstrate local relevance and potential for broader adoption.

Background

The UNICEF Venture Fund is UNICEF's innovation financing mechanism supporting early-stage, open-source frontier technology solutions developed in emerging economies to improve outcomes for children and young people.
The Fund provides equity-free financing and technical mentorship to companies addressing development challenges through locally grounded innovation.
Since 2014, the UNICEF Venture Fund has supported 102 early-stage companies, more than half of which are women-led.
Portfolio companies have collectively attracted follow-on investment equivalent to 11 times the Fund's initial capital.
Through 2030, the Venture Fund focuses on open-source technologies that advance outcomes for children across three strategic areas: blockchain, climate, and femtech.
UNICEF Femtech Ventures is supported by partners including the Government of Sweden, GSR Foundation, and Temasek Foundation.
The initiative addresses persistent barriers to healthcare, trusted information, safety, and economic opportunities experienced by women and girls, particularly in underserved communities.
Participating companies develop AI, blockchain, and data-driven solutions designed to close gender-related gaps in healthcare and access to essential services.
UNICEF prioritizes responsible technology development, including data protection, informed consent, safeguarding, and user safety.
The program supports solutions that strengthen existing healthcare and social protection systems rather than operating solely as standalone technologies.
UNICEF maintains a commitment to inclusion, accessibility, equal opportunity, and nondiscrimination throughout its programs and investment activities.
Its safeguarding approach emphasizes respect for the rights, dignity, privacy, and wellbeing of all users, including children and people with disabilities.
Application deadline: 4 November 2026.

UNICEF Femtech Ventures' second annual cohort offers eligible technology startups an opportunity to accelerate innovations addressing the health, reproductive rights, mental wellbeing, and safety of women and girls. Through equity-free funding, technical mentorship, global partnerships, and an emphasis on open-source and safety-by-design principles, the program supports locally developed solutions with the potential to achieve lasting impact. Applications close on 4 November 2026.