Edward: My journey began when I took a break to travel, beginning in Bangladesh, and visited over 200 social enterprises (SEs) across South Asia. Seeing firsthand their impact in slums, villages, and farms amazed me, but I also saw their lack of access to capital— inspiring me to start Givfunds.
Kari: There are various challenges we face as human beings, and that is why BIOVATEC seeks to contribute to the development of sustainable and eco-efficient solutions. We do this with a scientific-technological base to promote innovation through projects that tackle environmental problems. We also highlight the opportunities that biotechnology offers us and that new things can be created from very basic or complex problems. This is actually how we developed NoPlastic, one of the main projects at BIOVATEC, with the aim of combating plastic pollution and food waste. We also offer support and collaboration with different sectors to generate social, environmental, and economic benefits.
Taylor: The current way the world tackles malnutrition is not okay. I have been obsessed with providing nutritious low-cost food that is accessible to families living in extreme poverty. This work is especially urgent today because the rise of processed food in developing countries is creating a new reality—obesity and diabetes alongside chronic malnutrition—a double burden of malnutrition. The international development community collectively believes there is no business model for selling nutritious food to the poor. I have seen it work, though, and at the same time, I have so many close friends who have suffered the ravaging effects of malnutrition on their bodies and minds. For me, my work with Tailored Food is not a "career" or a "job" but a deep passion.