In July 2012, the Gobee Group dispatched photographer Flynn Warren to Nairobi to gather stories of innovation from the burgeoning social enterprise sector. The end product of this effort is a gallery-quality, large-format photography book titled “Social Enterprises Stories from Urban Kenya” that will be published in March 2014. Photograph: Flynn Warren/Gobee Group
Bridge International Academies is increasing access to high-quality primary education for Kenyan children with families living on less than US$2 per day. Bridge's Academy-in-a-Box™ model allows them to rapidly scale their network of low-cost schools: Bridge's technology-enabled, standardized model allowed them to launch 51 schools in Kenya in January 2013 alone. Photograph: Flynn Warren/Gobee Group
Today, Bridge educates over 50,000 pupils across Kenya daily. Bridge's CEO, Jay Kimmelman, who has ambitions well beyond Kenya, approached this education model with companies like Starbucks and McDonald’s in mind. "We've systematized every aspect of how you run a school - how you manage it, how you interact with parents, how you teach, how you check on school managers, and how you support them." Photograph: Flynn Warren/Gobee Group
Jacaranda Health is working to ensure that every Kenyan mother has access to the care and support needed to have a safe birth. Jacaranda offers obstetric care, safe delivery, family planning and postnatal care at one-fifth of the cost of other private hospitals. To address affordability, Jacaranda has developed an internal solution: MamaKiba, meaning “MotherSavings,” is a unique mobile service that allows clients to safely prepay towards delivery costs. Photograph: Flynn Warren/Gobee Group
Jacaranda is also utilizing mobile phone technology to input client data and track health trends and is developing electronic medical records that are context-appropriate. In their first year, Jacaranda has provided high-quality maternal health care to over 4,000 women at their maternity hospital and hundreds at their mobile van sites, impacting the lives of nearly 20,000 family members. Photograph: Flynn /Gobee Group
Sanergy is working to make basic sanitation affordable and accessible to all of the world's slum dwellers. Emerging from a development ventures course at MIT, Sanergy's business model provides the twin benefit of creating micro-entrepreneurs and developing local supplies of affordable fertilizer. Photograph: Flynn Warren/Gobee Group
Sanergy provides an "affordable, accessible and hygienic sanitation" solution for millions that live in places without sewage or electricity. David Auerbach, one of Sanergy’s founders said: "In the developing world it’s flush and forget, but that's not the case in much of the developed world.” Photograph: Flynn Warren/Gobee Group
According to a UN study, 2.5 billion people worldwide lack access to toilet and 1.1 billion defecate in the open. This unsafe waste disposal results in high levels of disease, notably diarrhoea and cholera. By creating a more permanent and personal toilet and tackling the issue of waste collection and disposal, Sanergy found its revenue generator. “The waste of each toilet generates Sanergy revenues of US$1,250 per year,” said Auerbach. Photograph: Flynn Warren/Gobee Group
SunTransfer is a leading supplier of solar lighting to Kenyans. For most Africans, grid electricity is not an option, forcing the use of kerosene lamps for lighting. Not only are the kerosene lamps dangerous, but they also cost rural Kenyans nearly US$4 each month to operate. Photograph: Flynn Warren/Gobee Group
Because the upfront cost of SunTransfer’s most popular solar lamp is high - nearly US$60 - SunTransfer offers consumers accessible financing options with microlending partners. For example, consumers can purchase the SunTransfer2 lamp via a payment plan issued by a microfinance institution like Faulu. Photograph: Flynn Warren/Gobee Group
“Two of the benefits from my SunTransfer solar lamp are cost saving on kerosene consumption and more study time for my children in the evening,” said one SunTransfer consumer. Many families are willing to sign up for these financial plans because SunTransfer’s solar lamps offer safer, more affordable and 40 times more usable light than kerosene lamps. Photograph: Flynn Warren/Gobee Group
