Spring, a global accelerator funded by DFID, USAID, Nike Foundation, and Australian Aid, is taking applications for mid-sized businesses to scale from Bangladesh that aim to transform the lives of adolescent girls aged 10-19 with purposeful innovations, and scale and realise commercial potential.

Working across East Africa and South Asia, SPRING offers nine months of world-class technical expertise, including human-centred design boot camps, investment-readiness support, and mentorship.

At the press meet for the new batch, CEO of SPRING Ramona Liberoff said: "There is high market potential to provide improved products and services for girls in Bangladesh. Based on the foundational research we have done there are significant opportunities to increase access to mobile and digital services, safer transport, clean water, better education and more."

Two businesses from Bangladesh that have already been benefitted from SPRING Accelerator are Kallyani/iSocial and Drinkwell. Travelling by bicycle with tablets and a product basket, Kallyanis provide rural communities with access to information, products, and services at the doorstep. Drinkwell has evolved from selling filtered water through retailers and self-managed spokespeople in rural areas to establishing contracts with Dhaka WASA to design, build, and operate filtration solutions at their 700 pumps in the city for a fixed monthly fee.

Interested businesses can apply at: www.springaccelerator.org/cohort-4-application/.