Press Release: Join the Innovating Justice Challenge 2021

Calling all game-changing justice startups that want to grow their impact and business.

We are looking for the most promising startups from East Africa, West Africa, Southern Africa, the MENA region and Ukraine that aspire for everybody to have access to  justice at work, at home, in the neighbourhood and in business. 

Startups that empower people with breakthrough innovations to create better

  • working conditions with their employer
  • separation terms with their spouse
  • protection against theft, fraud and violence
  • arrangements about noise, damages and property access with their neighbour 
  • housing maintenance and rent conditions with their landlord
  • agreements on ownership, registration and use of land
  • contracts, fraud protection and compliance for their small business.

We are especially interested in startups that work on what we’ve identified as potential gamechangers.

We seek startups that have a proven solution with increasing annual revenue and impact, have a scalable business model, are on their way to financial sustainability and are led by a strong team with experienced founders. Startups can be for-profit or non-profit!

The HiiL Innovating Justice Challenge 2021

The Innovating Justice Challenge scouts and selects the most promising justice innovations for the Justice Accelerator programme. Between 15 March and 30 April 2021, justice entrepreneurs can apply for the Challenge via www.hiil.org/innovating-justice-challenge.

The HiiL Justice AcceleratorHiiL’s Justice Accelerator offers startups­­ a four-month programme that provides €10,000 non-equity seed funding, business development support (which includes training, coaching and mentorship), access to a global network, international exposure, and connections for further investment opportunities. At the annual Innovating JusticeForum, startups pitch to an international jury and compete for additional cash prizes: €20,000 (1st place), €10,000 (2nd place), and €5,000 (3rd place).

HiiL’s Justice Accelerator is the only accelerator that focuses on preventing and resolving justice problems. We look for startups that can grow and scale to impact thousands and potentially millions of people. HiiL has supported more than 120 justice innovations worldwide since 2011. Some of those have become big, impacting the lives of hundreds of thousands of people and scaling to a regional level with the potential to become global players.

How do we select?

We look for startups that:

– Focus on resolving or preventing a pressing justice problem
– Have the potential to grow and scale nationwide or internationally
– Have a proven solution with increasing annual revenue and impact
– Have a scalable business model and have the potential to become financially sustainable
– Are led by committed founders  and a dedicated team

Selection timeline

To submit an application, please visit www.hiil.org/innovating-justice-challenge.

The Call for Applications closes at 23:59 CET on 30 April 2021.

About HiiL 

HiiL (The Hague Institute for Innovation of Law) is a social enterprise devoted to user- friendly justice. That means justice that is easy to access, easy to understand, affordable, and effective. We will ensure that by 2030, 150 million people will be able to prevent or resolve their most pressing justice problems. We do this by stimulating innovation and scaling what works best. We are friendly rebels focused on concrete improvements in the lives of people. Data and evidence are central in all that we do. We are based in The Hague, the City of Peace and Justice.

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