Startle

Startle builds and develops social impact enterprises across Africa which lift people out of poverty and protect the environment. Focusing on impact and innovation, Startle businesses drive positive social, health and environmental impact whilst delivering financial returns to investors. This is done by identifying, testing, growing and scaling innovative products and business models that create wealth and economic opportunity, alleviate poverty, improve health & wellbeing, whilst protecting the environment. Startle specialises in: >Access to energy and technology >Water, sanitation & hygiene (WASH) >Agriculture Startle portfolio ventures: • SaniTap - innovative hand-washing product enabling communities and those in crisis situations to wash their hands with soap in the absence of running water, limited the spread of transmissible diseases and addressing unacceptably high child mortality rates • PoaPower - providing households with solar-powered home power stations, to be used as a utility service to off-grid communities in Kenya, where consumers only pay for the power they use and not the equipment • Charcoal Cooking Fuel Company (CFC) - freely providing high grade, clean cook stoves, whilst producing sustainable biomass as a source of cooking fuel for communities in Madagascar, addressing extensive illegal deforestation • Tinder Eco Fuels - using an invasive, unwanted tree species to produce sustainably sourced charcoal, replacing illegal and unsustainable sources causing deforestation in Kenya Startle pipeline ventures: • WildWeb - digitally connecting rural Africa through the provision of affordable and accessible internet services • Animal Feeds - taking an unwanted and invasive tree species and utilising innovative technologies to isolate high-protein ingredients and other useful plant constituents, and processing this into nutritious, affordable quality feeds for livestock.