Social Innovation for transforming the world

A shared accommodation platform that promotes co-living between young people and the over 55s (Kuvu, Spain); the first GPS robot guide dog, designed to provide autonomy, safety and quality of life to people with visual disabilities (Lysa, Brazil); and an online service that supports caregivers and the families of people with chronic and degenerative diseases (Ana, Mexico); these were the three winning initiatives in the final of the fifth edition of these awards.

The award, which has a cash prize of 40,000 euros for each category, provides each project with a differentiating boost. The winners receive free consulting services from EY to help them grow and become more efficient, and they also become part of Red Innova, a network of entrepreneurs made up of participants from all the previous editions of the awards, which promotes the exchange of expert knowledge and contributes to the social innovation ecosystem.

For the representatives of the winning projects, this is the start of a new and exciting phase. Eduardo Fierro, CEO de Kuvu, says that the award will allow them to boost the platform and develop a mobile app that will reach more users. Neide Sellin, CEO de Lysa, believes that with this award she will be able to provide more autonomy and freedom to visually impaired people in the world, while Ariel Zylbersztejn, founder of Ana-Paz Mental, wants to share the award with all the people with a vocation of service who help thousands of elderly and older adults every day, giving their blood, sweat and tears.

The final gala was attended, among others, by Antonio Huertas, Chairman of MAPFRE and Fundación MAPFRE; Santiago Íñiguez, President of IE University, and the Secretary General for Innovation, Teresa Riesgo, who stressed that “To achieve appropriate solutions to complex problems we must be able to ground them on knowledge and innovation, and for them to be good they must be sustainable, not only environmentally, but also in social and human terms.”

Antonio Huertas referred to the need to continue supporting innovation, with emphasis on the social aspect, at a time when “Following a long economic crisis, a global pandemic and a war, it is more necessary than ever”. The president of MAPFRE and Fundación MAPFRE congratulated all the participants in this edition, “innovators who bring social commitment to their work and make people’s lives easier”. For Santiago Íñiguez: “These awards reflect a strong commitment to sustainability, an essential factor in promoting positive change”.

The final ceremony brings to a close yet another edition of our awards, but we are already preparing for the next one, the sixth, with great enthusiasm and an important new feature: the scope of these awards will be expanded to include a fourth region, one with strong social innovation, the United States.

We thank all the participants for their commitment and ability to implement initiatives that positively impact the lives of others. Their talent and commitment reaffirm our commitment to social innovation as a tool for improving this world.