ZMQ Development

What ZMQ Development does

ZMQ Development is a non-profit 'Technology for Development' social enterprise founded in 2003 and headquartered in Delhi, India, with regional offices in Montreal, Canada (ZMQ Global) and Kampala, Uganda (Qaff Africa Foundation Ltd.). The organization builds mobile health (mHealth) platforms, AI and IoT-based community tools, and digital storytelling frameworks to deliver healthcare, livelihood, education, climate, and inclusion interventions for marginalized communities across 11+ countries including India, Afghanistan, Uganda, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, and Canada. Core products include MIRA Channel (a maternal and child health platform deployed through community health workers using interactive talking toolkits), Freedom TB (a mobile-based treatment adherence system underpinned by the peer-reviewed ACTS Model published in PLOS ONE), Freedom HIV/AIDS (awareness through mobile games), Freedom Polio (immunization support), Sakhee Project (transgender health intermediaries for zero-dose immunization in urban slums), Your Story Teller (digital storytelling platform), and Talking Poster (an AI/IoT-based voice-generated community awareness and screening tool launched as TB Screening on the Wall in March 2025).

The organization's technology stack is centered on mobile applications (iOS and Android via Google Play Services), interactive voice toolkits for low-literacy populations, AI voice generation, IoT hardware for community placement, and digital storytelling — all designed for last-mile delivery to low-resource settings. The ACTS Model (Active Compliance and Treatment System) is the proprietary framework for technology-integrated TB awareness and adherence. Distribution relies on trained community health workers, grassroots intermediaries (including transgender change-makers), and partnerships with national health programs (e.g., Uganda Ministry of Health, national TB and leprosy programme), UN agencies, bilateral donors, and local NGOs.

ZMQ operates as a grant-funded non-profit with services provided free of charge to end beneficiaries. Revenue is sourced from international development agencies, bilateral donors, private foundations, and government programs — visible funders include the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, USAID, GAVI, Ashoka, UNESCO, Vodafone Foundation, Johnson & Johnson Innovation, Stop TB Partnership/UNOPS, Montreal International/Quebec Government, Canada Heritage, Philips Foundation, Pierre Fabre Foundation, Heifer Project International, Bal Raksha Bharat, and Scire Association. The organization's GTM is community-led, working through existing organized human networks rather than building parallel structures, and is notable for South-South replication of Indian-validated models into African and other Asian markets.

Name

ZMQ Development

Legal name

ZMQ Development

Website

https://www.zmqdev.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2003

Operating status

Operating

Short description

ZMQ Development is a Delhi-based non-profit that builds mHealth, digital storytelling, and AI/IoT community tools — including MIRA Channel and Freedom TB — to deliver maternal health, immunization, TB, and climate interventions for marginalized communities across 11+ countries.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Delhi

HQ country

India

HQ region

Asia

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Grants and Donations: As a non-profit organization, ZMQ Development operates primarily through grants from international development agencies, foundations, and government programs. FCRA filings show funding from Heifer Project International, Bal Raksha Bharat, Scire Association, Philips Foundation, and Pierre Fabre Foundation.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

ZMQ Development is a non-profit technology-for-development social enterprise that designs, builds, and deploys mobile health (mHealth) platforms, AI/IoT-enabled devices, and digital storytelling tools used for maternal and child health, tuberculosis and HIV treatment adherence, transgender community health intermediation, livelihood skilling, climate awareness, and inclusion programs in marginalized communities in India, Uganda, and other low-resource regions.

Product overview

ZMQ Development is a non-profit Technology for Development organization offering a portfolio of digital health and social impact programs. The core offerings include MIRA Channel (maternal health platform), Freedom TB (TB treatment adherence system), Freedom HIV/AIDS (awareness through mobile games), Freedom Polio (immunization support), and Sakhee Project (immunization through transgender health intermediaries). Additional programs cover climate action (Connect-2-Climate, Living on the Climate Edge), livelihood (Ajeevika Connect, Hatching Hopes India), and inclusion (IncLudo, Window of Quebec, Voices from the Ground, Your Story Teller). The technology platform includes Talking Poster - an AI and IoT-based voice generation system for community awareness. These programs work across multiple countries including India, Afghanistan, Uganda, Rwanda, and African nations, utilizing mobile technology, digital storytelling, and community health worker networks to deliver behavior change communication and connect marginalized communities with essential services.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• MIRA Channel: Women Mobile Lifeline Channel - Digital BCC model for improving uptake of prenatal care and maternal health services
• Freedom TB
• Freedom HIV/AIDS
• Freedom Polio
• Sakhee Project
• Your Story Teller
• Ajeevika Connect
• Connect-2-Climate
• IncLudo
• AI for Development
• Living on the Climate Edge

Products and services

• MIRA Channel Mobile maternal and reproductive health information channel that delivers timed behavior-change content to pregnant women and new mothers in low-resource settings, typically integrated with frontline health worker programs.
• Freedom TB Mobile treatment-adherence program for tuberculosis patients that sends reminders, educational content, and adherence-tracking prompts to patients on TB therapy, typically deployed through public TB programs.
• Freedom HIV/AIDS Mobile adherence and behavior-change program supporting HIV/AIDS patients on antiretroviral therapy with reminders, education, and stigma-reduction messaging.
• Freedom Polio Mobile program supporting polio immunization and surveillance messaging through community health workers and caregivers.
• Sakhee Project Digital health intermediary program that recruits and equips transgender community members as peer health intermediaries, providing them with mobile tools and content to deliver health information to their communities.
• Ajeevika Connect Mobile livelihood platform that connects rural producers and artisans to markets, skilling content, and supply-chain information.
• Connect-2-Climate Mobile climate-awareness program that delivers climate-change education and adaptation messaging to rural and vulnerable communities.
• Childhood Pneumonia Program Mobile behavior-change program for caregivers and frontline health workers focused on prevention, recognition, and timely care-seeking for childhood pneumonia.
• Hatching Hopes India Livelihood program delivered with Heifer International supporting smallholder poultry farming households with mobile training, market linkage, and skilling content.
• IncLudo Digital inclusion and learning program that uses mobile tools and game-based content to support inclusive education for children with disabilities and marginalized learners.
• Talking Poster AI/IoT-enabled print-style poster device that, when touched, plays localized audio behavior-change content on health, livelihood, or climate topics for low-literacy users in low-connectivity settings.
• Your Story Teller Digital storytelling framework that enables community members and frontline workers to create, share, and consume local-language behavior-change stories via mobile.
• Voices from the Ground Field documentation and storytelling program that captures and publishes community voices and lived experiences around health, livelihood, and climate issues.
• Window of Quebec Program supporting newcomer integration in Quebec, Canada, through digital storytelling and information tools for immigrant communities.
• Living on the Climate Edge Climate-awareness and adaptation program using digital storytelling and mobile content to support communities on the frontline of climate stress.

Quantifiable outcome

• On World TB Day, teams screened 719 people in Nuh District and 452 in Kabarole District, identifying symptomatic cases for follow-up
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

AI capability3 records

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• AshokacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerStrategic partner recognizing ZMQ as Globalizer Fellow (2010, 2012, 2018) and AHA Fellow. Provides platform for replication of MIRA model globally and collaborative action programs.
• Stop TB Partnership / UNOPScoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner for TB Reach Wave 7 Award supporting integrated approach to eliminate Tuberculosis in Women and Girls. Collaboration with national TB programs in Uganda and India.
• Yale School of ManagementcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSelects MIRA as Global Social Entrepreneurship Program and offers student research support. Recognized as Best 5 Social Enterprises (2013-14, 2011).
• UNESCOcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartners through UNESCO-Pearson Initiative for Digital Literacy 2017, featuring MIRA Channel as impactful digital strategy. Case study published on MIRA Channel.
• ZMQ GlobalcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRelated organization based in Montreal, Canada handling international operations and scaling of solutions to other countries.
• Qaff Africa Foundation Ltd.coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRelated organization based in Kampala, Uganda handling African operations and program implementation.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Dimagi: Dimagi builds CommCare, a leading open-source mHealth platform used by frontline community health workers globally. Directly comparable as a software platform powering community health workflows in LMICs, with shared CHW-centric delivery model.
• Medic (formerly Medic Mobile): Medic develops the Community Health Toolkit, an open-source digital health platform for CHWs in low-resource settings. Comparable as a digital health platform targeting the same community health worker and last-mile health delivery niche.
• Noora Health: Noora Health delivers health education to families through hospital and community networks in South Asia and Southeast Asia. Directly comparable in mission and delivery model — community-led maternal/child health behavior change communication.
• Praekelt.org: Praekelt.org builds mobile-based content platforms for low-literacy populations in Africa, including maternal/child health and HIV. Comparable as a digital health content and mHealth platform provider serving marginalized communities.
• Living Goods: Living Goods operates a network of community health promoters in Africa delivering health products and education door-to-door with technology support. Directly comparable in CHW-network-driven health delivery model across African geographies.

Emerging players

• OpenMRS: OpenMRS is an open-source electronic medical record platform widely deployed in LMICs and global health programs. Comparable as a digital health infrastructure provider serving similar funder ecosystem, though focused on clinical records rather than community health behavior change.
• THINKMD: THINKMD builds clinical assessment and triage tools for frontline health workers in low-resource settings. Comparable as a digital tool provider empowering community health workers, with overlapping maternal/child health use cases.
• ARMMAN: ARMMAN runs mMitra and other large-scale maternal/child health information programs in India via mobile voice messaging. Directly comparable mission and target beneficiary (pregnant women in India) though focused on automated messaging rather than CHW-mediated toolkit delivery.
• Reach52: Reach52 delivers healthcare access and health education through a tech-enabled community network model in underserved Asia-Pacific markets. Comparable in community-led health access delivery to low-income, rural populations.

Others

• Ashoka: Ashoka is a global network of social entrepreneurs and a long-standing ZMQ partner (Globalizer Fellow 2010, 2012, 2018; AHA Fellow). Included as an ecosystem peer — a hybrid of funder, capacity builder, and peer network rather than a direct operational competitor.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/m4dev
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCRfr5nPaMZ4KQzdijWdYOrg
• Facebookyoutube.com/channel/UCRfr5nPaMZ4KQzdijWdYOrg
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/zmq

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Subsidiaries3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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

M&A

Investments

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

Frequently asked questions about ZMQ Development