our Projects
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The Organization
The ella fund is thrilled to be an investor in Water Equity's latest impact investment fund, Water Credit Investment Fund 3 (WCIF3). WaterEquity Inc is a social impact investment fund manager created by the team from water.org on the heels of 20+ years of successfully improving access to water and sanitation for the world’s poor via microcredit facilities. A logical next step following water.org’s grant and loan-based facilities, WaterEquity funds identify and invest in enterprises such as microfinance institutions, product manufacturers, and water utilities that are ready to serve water supply and sanitation needs in developing countries. The Opportunity The burden of sourcing safe water lies predominantly on girls and women, and water scarcity and contamination disproportionately impact low-income women and girls. For many girls who must walk long distances to access clean water, school is unrealistic. By reducing the health burden of contaminated water to families, investment in clean water and sanitation can contribute to health, education and economic empowerment. The Project The ella fund's investment in Water Credit Investment Fund 3 (WCIF3) will help provide affordable debt capital to enterprises that expand access to household water supply and sanitation in India, Indonesia, Cambodia, and the Philippines. The fund is projected to help provide safe water and sanitation solutions to 4.6 million people over seven years, and 90+% of borrowers of microfinance water loans are women. The goals of WCIF3 are closely aligned with the ella fund’s mission in that microfinance for water supply and sanitation has been shown to improve health and result in enhanced education and economic opportunities for those most impacted by poor water supply, girls and women. |
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The Organization
Women in Data Sciences Zurich (WiDS) is a two-day technical conference featuring engineering and business leaders from companies at the forefront of data science. Its goal is to inspire and educate data scientists worldwide, regardless of gender, and support the women in the field. The Opportunity The aim of the WiDS conference is to showcase a wide range of career paths and roles people can explore, that have machine learning and data science infused in them, including scientific endeavours both in academia and in industry, being a startup founder, doing artwork at the intersection of AI and art, business and product leadership. The Project The ella fund is a proud sponsor of the 2019 conference, with our contribution earmarked for travel grants for women in need of financial assistance. |
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The Organization
The ella fund is proud to support EspeRare, a nonprofit foundation based in Geneva. Founded by three female social entrepreneurs with a collective 40-plus years of experience in pharmaceutical development, the foundation leverages an innovative inclusive non-profit business model to advance the development of therapeutic solutions for rare diseases. The Opportunity Vast strides have been made in cancer therapy over recent decades, but rare childhood cancers have not benefited to the same extent as their frequently-occurring counterparts. In its quest to uncover the potential of existing therapies to address severe unmet therapeutic needs in rare diseases, EspeRare has identified a JNK-inhibitor, EspoiR-005 (ER-005), as a promising first-in-class candidate for the treatment of rare pediatric cancers. The JNK (c-Jun-N-Terminal Kinase) pathway has been implicated in multiple diseases, from inflammatory conditions to various cancers, and the potential of JNK-inhibitors as therapeutics has therefore generated significant interest. EspeRare obtained the rights to ER-005 following initial development in fibrotic and inflammatory conditions, and EspeRare has access to the compound’s sizable existing preclinical and clinical safety and efficacy database. The Project The ella fund’s investment will support a series of proof-of-concept screening studies for ER-005 in rare cancers. For this program, EspeRare has chosen to collaborate with the Centre Léon Bérard in Lyon, France, a cancer referral and treatment center and research institute specialized in rare tumors that comprises a pediatric hemato-oncology unit. Should this initial research phase produce promising results, EspeRare intends to rapidly progress the development program into clinical trials. |
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