Two Nigerian companies, Powerstove and ColdHubs have made the final list of 12 nominees for the Growth Stage Impact Ventures (GSIV) for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in partnership with the Ecole Polytechnique federale de Lausanne (EPFL), Orange and SAP announced the nominations on Wednesday. 

Powerstove was nominated in the energy category alongside Ilumexico from Mexico, Kingo from Guatamala and Easy Solar from Sierra Leone while ColdHubs got nominated in the waste management category with GARV toilets from India, Sinba from Peru and Saathi from India.

Nominees for the health category include Livox from Brazil, Bempu Health from India, Vula Mobile from South Africa and Mamotest from Argentina.

According to the UNDP, the selection of the 12 exceptional growth-stage ventures was based on their innovative and investment-ready efforts in transforming access to health, energy and waste management among developing countries.

Process for nominations began with impact investors and agencies of the United Nations before arriving at the selection of the finalists representing “the best 5 percent of the 240 recommended enterprises that met the criteria across the world.”

Speaking on the nominations, Sustainable Entrepreneurship Manager at EPFL Tech4Impact, Alessandra Rojas noted that: “Altogether our 12 finalists represent USD 48 million investment opportunities, as they impact the lives of 1,240,000 people in need and serve 22,300 businesses.”

The 12 finalists are on June 3, 2021 billed to present their business models to the public, investors, youth activists, UN experts, amongst others during a virtual pitching event after which they will attend the SDG Finance Geneva Summit, during the Building Bridges Week slated for November.

The GSIV for SDGs Initiative is geared towards “identifying and showcasing midcap impact ventures in developing countries with the catalytic potential to drive both large impact and yield sustainable profit.”