Creating Hope in Conflict: a Humanitarian Grand Challenge

What Creating Hope in Conflict: a Humanitarian Grand Challenge does

Creating Hope in Conflict: A Humanitarian Grand Challenge (CHIC) is a partnership initiative, founded in 2019 and hosted by Grand Challenges Canada, that funds and accelerates life-saving and life-improving innovations for the most vulnerable and hardest-to-reach people impacted by humanitarian crises caused by conflict. The program is backed by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) and Global Affairs Canada as founding financial partners, with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs as additional partners, and more recently the LEGO Foundation as an education vertical funder. CHIC operates across four primary themes — health, energy, water and sanitation, and life-saving information — and has cumulatively invested over $33.4 million CAD across 91 innovations in 27 implementation countries since inception.

CHIC's core products are its Proof of Concept (Seed) Funding, Transition to Scale Funding, and the SHIFT Prize for systemic humanitarian innovation, complemented by a research and learning publications function. Rather than building a proprietary technology stack, CHIC funds external innovators and supports them through operational partners including the WFP Innovation Accelerator, UNHCR, and the Brink innovation consultancy. Notable portfolio innovations include Sehat Kahani's telemedicine platform in Pakistan, Speetar's telehealth e-clinics in Libya, Balcony Labs' GIS/AI/AR crisis-communication platform in Ukraine, Altech's energy solutions in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Sun Buckets' thermal cooking technology deployed in Kenya's Kakuma refugee camp.

The business model is non-commercial grant-making rather than revenue generation: CHIC receives donor commitments from sovereign development agencies and deploys capital through competitive funding calls to selected innovators, with a reported additional $110 million leveraged by those innovators from follow-on sources. The operating entity itself is small (1–10 employees) and is structurally embedded within Grand Challenges Canada, which provides hosting, due-diligence, and global infrastructure across more than 90 countries. Distribution is direct via grant agreements, and there is no commercial pricing model; impact is measured in funded innovators, implementation geographies, and deployed capital rather than revenue.

Name

Creating Hope in Conflict: a Humanitarian Grand Challenge

Legal name

Creating Hope in Conflict: A Humanitarian Grand Challenge

Website

https://humanitariangrandchallenge.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2019

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Creating Hope in Conflict is a partnership initiative funding and accelerating humanitarian innovations for conflict-affected communities. Hosted by Grand Challenges Canada and backed by UK FCDO, Global Affairs Canada, USAID, the Netherlands, and the LEGO Foundation, it has invested over $33.4M CAD across 91 innovations in 27 countries since 2019.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Humanitarian Aid Funding

NAICS

Emergency and Other Relief Services (62423)

akta.pro primary industry

Cash & Voucher Assistance (CVA) / Emergency Social Assistance (BPADADAI)

akta.pro secondary industries

Refugee Camp Coordination & Management (CCCM) (BPADAHAC), Humanitarian Health & Emergency Medical Relief NGOs (HLAJAKAE), Refugee, Crisis & Humanitarian Education Partnerships (EiE) (EDADALAG)

Keywords

• Humanitarian innovation funding
• Humanitarian grand challenge
• Conflict zone innovation
• Humanitarian grant programs
• Humanitarian accelerator programs

Headquarters

HQ city

Toronto

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Creating Hope in Conflict: A Humanitarian Grand Challenge (CHIC) is a grant-making initiative that funds and accelerates life-saving and life-improving innovations for vulnerable and hardest-to-reach people impacted by humanitarian crises caused by conflict. It operates Proof of Concept (Seed) Funding of approximately CAD $250,000 per innovator and Transition to Scale funding, alongside the SHIFT Prize, supporting innovations across health, energy, water and sanitation, and life-saving information in conflict-affected countries.

Product overview

Creating Hope in Conflict: A Humanitarian Grand Challenge is a funding and acceleration program (not a traditional software product) that identifies and supports life-saving or life-improving innovations for the most vulnerable and hardest-to-reach people impacted by humanitarian crises caused by conflict. The program offers Proof of Concept (Seed) Funding and Transition to Scale Funding as its core products, along with the SHIFT Prize for systemic innovation. The portfolio spans multiple sectors including Health (telemedicine, AI diagnostics, mental health), Energy (solar solutions, biogas), Life Saving Information (misinformation tracking, digital resilience), and Water & Sanitation. Featured innovations include Sehat Kahani telemedicine platform, Balcony geo-messaging platform with GIS/AI/AR integration, Speetar telehealth platform, Gaza HopeWave AI breast cancer diagnosis system, CHATS blockchain platform, and Sealr verification app using AI and blockchain.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Proof of Concept (Seed) Funding
• Transition to Scale (TTS) Funding
• SHIFT Prize (Systemic Humanitarian Innovation for Transformation)
• Featured Innovators Portfolio
• Research, Learnings & Reports

Quantifiable outcome

• 91 innovators funded across 27 implementation countries
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability8 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.

• Grand Challenges CanadacoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerOne of Canada's largest impact investors, primarily funded by the Government of Canada. Hosts the Humanitarian Grand Challenge staff and has supported over 1,000 innovations in more than 90 countries.
• UNHCRmajorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerUnited Nations High Commissioner for Refugees; partnered with Sun Buckets for deployment in Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya.
• World Food Programme (WFP)majorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerWFP Innovation Accelerator; provides vital technical and community support to supported innovators.
• LOKADOminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorLocal Kakuma-based UNHCR implementation partner; signed MOU with Sun Buckets for distribution throughout Kakuma refugee camp.
• Brink (innovation consultancy)majorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerInnovation consultancy providing vital technical and community support to supported innovators alongside WFP Innovation Accelerator.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Elrha: UK-based charity that runs the Humanitarian Innovation Fund (HIF) and other grant programmes funding humanitarian innovation. Most directly comparable peer: same humanitarian-innovation-grant-maker model, similar donor mix (UK government, foundations), and similar thematic scope.
• WFP Innovation Accelerator: United Nations World Food Programme's Munich-based accelerator that funds and scales startups tackling food security and humanitarian logistics. Directly comparable: provides seed and TTS funding, has co-supported CHIC portfolio companies (e.g., Sun Buckets), and uses a similar cohort/innovation-fund structure.
• UNHCR Innovation Service: UN Refugee Agency's internal innovation function that identifies, funds, and scales solutions for displaced populations. Directly comparable: same target beneficiary (conflict-affected/displaced populations), same innovation-fund model, and an active implementing partner to CHIC (Kakuma deployment).
• UNICEF Innovation Fund: UNICEF's venture-style fund providing seed/early-stage capital to technology startups serving children and youth in developing countries. Most directly comparable as another UN-adjacent innovation fund with seed-stage ticket sizes, equity-free grants, and a focus on frontier tech for vulnerable populations.
• Grand Challenges Canada: Canadian impact investor (CHIC's host organization) running multiple Grand Challenge programs across global health and humanitarian innovation. Closely comparable: same parent structure, same deployment model, and shares staff/operations with CHIC; serves as the legal/operational vehicle.

Broad incumbents

• USAID Grand Challenges: US Agency for International Development's portfolio of grand-challenge programmes (Saving Lives at Birth, All Children Reading, etc.) that fund innovation for international development. Broader incumbent offering: matches CHIC's structure at much larger absolute scale and longer track record, often co-funds CHIC cohorts.
• Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Grand Challenges: Gates Foundation's flagship Grand Challenges initiative (and successors like GCGH, GCE) funding global health innovation globally. Broader incumbent: essentially the original model for 'grand challenge'-style innovation funding and far larger budget scale.
• Mercy Corps Ventures: Impact investment arm of Mercy Corps, funding early-stage ventures delivering services to vulnerable populations in fragile contexts. Comparable: similar target beneficiary population (humanitarian / fragile states), seed-stage catalytic capital, and portfolio of frontier-tech startups.
• Acumen: Impact investor operating Pioneer Energy / Acumen America and global funds tackling poverty through patient capital. Broader incumbent: comparable model of using concessional capital to back solutions for underserved populations, with longer-term follow-on financing beyond the grant stage.

Emerging players

• NetHope: Consortium of humanitarian and development NGOs (including Mercy Corps, IRC, World Vision) collaborating on technology and data programs for humanitarian response. Comparable as an emerging forum/platform coordinating innovation across humanitarian organizations, though funded and structured differently than CHIC's grant-making model.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/HumanitarianGC
• Facebookfacebook.com/HumanitarianGC

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments1 record

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Creating Hope in Conflict: a Humanitarian Grand Challenge