If you have a ground-breaking solution to improve the quality of life of people with disabilities, there is help around the corner to improvise, test and market that idea to deserving customers. In today’s Dwellability newsletter, we review some of the tech incubators around the globe that cater to PWD that can help you start your Work-From-Home Business.
Australia - Remarkable
The origins of Remarkable go back to a global competition that sparked the development of a solar powered wheelchair and an Australian first hackathon event called “Enabled by Design-athon” organised by Cerebral Palsy Alliance in 2014 in partnership with the University of Technology Sydney and FutureGov.
Telstra Foundation were in attendance at the design-athon and out of this came a partnership that started out as Life Labs and became known as Remarkable which launched in April 2016.
Remarkable is a division of Cerebral Palsy Alliance and is funded by Principal Partner icare Foundation and with support from Telstra Foundation and Microsoft.
Our Mission
To harness the power of technological innovation for driving inclusion of people with disability.
Israel - A3i
A3i - the only accelerator of its kind in the field of assistive technology. The accelerator cultivates technological and business ventures that have the power to significantly improve the quality of life of people with disabilities. The projects received by the Accelerator receive professional training, personal guidance from a mentor, business consultants, a unique opportunity to create a prototype and try their initiative, as well as take part in the groundbreaking entrepreneurial community in Israel.
A3i is a joint initiative of PresenTense and Izzy Shapira - a combination of rich experience in running technological and social accelerators with access to extensive knowledge in the development and implementation of assistive technology. A3i is also an accelerator with the participation of the Ruderman Family Foundation and the Jewish Federation of Los Angeles.
India - ARTILAB Foundation
Established in 2017, ARTILAB Foundation is a young and dynamic social sector organisation, dedicated towards fostering accessible innovation in the disability sector.
We launched our flagship incubation programme in 2017 to support social enterprise startups in the assistive tech and rehab space. To better support innovation, we are setting up a universal ecosystem comprising centres of excellence for design, testing and innovation, apart from an education and research facility.
Within the first five years of our launch, we are looking to impact 20,000 lives across India and beyond through significant corporate, government, non-profit and educational collaborations.
Over the next five years, the Bengaluru-based Artilab Foundation is looking to incubate more than 45 companies who can build products and solutions for people with disabilities and also become commercially successful.
Pittsburgh - HERL
Daveler (pictured) suffered a spinal cord injury in a motocross accident when he was 15. At HERL, he has worked to enhance the lives of others with permanent disabilities.
Working at HERL allows innovators to go from concept to commercial-quality prototype, to clinical trial if necessaryThe Human Engineering Research Laboratories are a part of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs as the Center for Wheelchairs and Assistive Robotics Engineering.
Our Mission
To continuously improve the mobility and function of people with disabilities through advanced engineering in clinical research and medical rehabilitation.
Our Vision
To create a world where all people with disabilities have unencumbered mobility and function so that they can fully participate in and contribute to society.
Chicago - The Vocational Incubator Program (VIP)
Mission Statement
The mission of the Vocational Incubator Program (VIP) is to offer vocational training programs and Business Incubator services that provide the Division of Rehabilitation Services (DRS) customers with the opportunities for success in job attainment or self-employment initiatives. The VIP provides state-of-the-art assistive technology and learning interventions that support customer achievement. It also offers entrepreneurs with the wrap-around business services that enhance business success.
Program Description
VIP offers three comprehensive programs, at no cost to DRS customers: the Business Intensive, Vocational Training, and the Business Incubator Program.
https://www.dhs.state.il.us/page.aspx?item=71470
Louisville - APH
Serving consumers who are blind or visually impaired presents another opportunity for inclusiveness. The American Printing House for the Blind (APH) has been helping such people for decades, and the nonprofit organization is now funding a companies who serve the disability community.
https://www.aph.org/rd/product-development/suggest-a-product-form/
Washington, D.C. - 2Gether-International
The organization, which was founded in 2012, holds peer-to-peer support groups, workshops, career coaching and referral services to support entrepreneurs with disabilities. For 2Gether-International founder Diego Mariscal, disabilities and entrepreneurship go hand-in-hand.
“From the moment we wake up, we have to figure out how to get dressed, how to get from one place to the next, how to communicate, and that’s inherently an entrepreneurship skill,” Mariscal said.
He’s seen the proof in his organization, such as one entrepreneur who created an app to give away eyeglasses to those in need.
“To me, it didn’t make sense to have this community of people that are creative, tenacious, resilient, and yet they’re facing really high levels of discrimination,” he added.
His organization, which holds peer-to-peer support groups, workshops, career coaching and referral services, helps D.C.’s disabled population create and execute business ideas. Marsical founded 2Gether-International in 2012, and has since grown the organization to six members, all of whom are entrepreneurs with disabilities.
“It’s pretty exciting that most of this work has been done by the people who reflect the people we serve. It makes our work really authentic and organic,” Marsical said.
http://www.2gether-international.org/
Europe - 10 promising startups supporting people with disabilities
By 2020, around 120 million people in the EU will live with some degree of disability. The EU has been playing catch-up via the European Accessibility Act which was envisioned to make a number of products and services more accessible. With the global assistive technology estimated to be worth €23 billion by 2024, it is no surprise that more startups are going into disability technology.
Here is a list of ten startups in the EU supporting people with disabilities to give you inspiration.
As always, please share this newsletter with your friends and family. Also, visit our main website https://www.dwellability.com/ to learn more about Home Sharing for People with Disabilities…by People with Disabilities.
Cheers!
Jeff