Reckitt Catalyst Programme 2025 for Health & Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) Innovators (Up to $30K Flexible Funding )

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Applications are open for Reckitt Catalyst Programme 2025. Reckitt is searching for up to 20 social innovators in the scale-up phase who are working on innovative solutions that expand essential access to health and WASH (water, sanitation, and hygiene) in Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya, India, Pakistan, Indonesia, Mexico, and Brazil.

Reckitt Catalyst is an initiative to scale access to health and hygiene across the world. By providing funding, mentorship, and expertise to female and underrepresented founders, Reckitt is ensuring that world-changing ideas don’t just emerge, they thrive.

Reckitt Catalyst Programme Objectives

We are looking for social innovations that address the challenges of WASH through:

Innovation and decentralization
- New technologies that offer clean, regenerative, and cost-effective solutions
  for access to water
- New and cost-effective solutions for sanitation services
- New and easy-access solutions for better hygiene practices and concepts for their distribution
- Methodologies for efficient maintenance of water, sanitation and hygiene solutions
- New and cost-effective solutions to educate, raise awareness, prevent, and treat sexually transmitted diseases and promote sexual and reproductive health.
Information, education & community management
- Methodologies and social interventions for information and education on water, sanitation, hygiene, and sexual and reproductive health
- Methodologies and social interventions for community management of existing and new water, sanitation, hygiene and sexual and reproductive health solutions.
And social innovations that address the challenges of health through:
- Preventive & Public Health Enablement – Technologies that stop illness before it starts by shaping behaviours, improving awareness, and addressing underlying public health risks.
- Decentralised Screening & Diagnostics- Low-cost, point-of-care, or at-home solutions that enable early detection and diagnosis, particularly in underserved communities with limited infrastructure or skilled personnel.
- Accessible Care Delivery & Disease Management- New models and tools that bring affordable, continuous treatment closer to patients- whether digitally, through hybrid models, or via empowered frontline health workers.
- System Infrastructure & Financing Enablers- Back-end innovations that make healthcare more reliable, scalable, and financially sustainable, such as logistics platforms, health data systems, and inclusive financing mechanisms.

Reckitt Catalyst Programme Benefits

Reckitt Catalyst will offer selected finalists a 6-month accelerator programme including:

Skills-based mentorship and training delivered by YSI and Health Innovation Exchange
Flexible funding (investments of up to $30k per entrepreneur)
Increased visibility and access to public procurement opportunities
Connection to a community of practice and the global ecosystem of actors in the health & hygiene space

Eligibility Criteria

A legally registered, revenue-generating organisation (for-profit) headquartered and operating in at least one of the eight focus markets. (i.e. Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya, India, Pakistan, Indonesia, Mexico, and Brazil.)
Organisations incorporated in other jurisdictions (e.g. Delaware) are eligible as long as their primary headquarters and core operations are based in one of the focus markets.

Application Timeline

Application Review (July –August 2025):All complete applications will be reviewed, and around 40 semi-finalists will be shortlisted based on eligibility and alignment with the programme goals.
Video Interviews (August –September 2025): Shortlisted ventures will be invited for virtual interviews with the selection team. Following these, approximately 30 finalists will be chosen to advance to the final stage.
Final Jury (September 2025):Finalists will be evaluated by a panel of judges from Reckitt, YSI, and HIEx. Up to 20 winning ventures will be selected to join the Reckitt Catalyst Accelerator.
Accelerator Programme (October 2025 –April 2026):The selected ventures will participate in a 6-month virtual accelerator, including mentorship, capacity building, investor engagement, and potential access to flexible financing.