FAQs

Challenge Prizes spark innovation by rewarding those who solve a defined problem. Through a public competition, they tap into the broadest possible range of innovators to tackle specific challenges. Rather than rewarding past achievements, they act as an incentive for meeting a specific challenge, setting clear goals and success criteria that encourage diverse problem-solving approaches.

The Good Start Challenge is calling innovators to advance innovative solutions to improve the wellbeing of parents and other caregivers of young children in disadvantaged circumstances in Mexico, Colombia, Brazil, Kenya, Uganda, Senegal, Ethiopia, Indonesia and/or the Philippines.

• The Good Start Challenge was initiated by the Van Leer Foundation and is delivered by Challenge Works.
• Each region has Founding Partners who are funding the innovator support package in that region, providing regional connections and insights as well as supporting communications and outreach. Founding Partners include: 
  • FEMSA Foundation 
  • Fundação Maria Cecilia Souto Vidigal
  • The LEGO Foundation 

• Please see the webpage for your regional strand to see the specific eligibility criteria:
  • Latin America
  • Sub-Saharan Africa
  • Southeast Asia
• If you are unsure if you are eligible to enter the Good Start Challenge, contact the team at goodstart@challengeworks.org.

You must be established as a legally registered organisation to enter the Good Start Challenge. Organisations with only one employee can enter as long as they meet the specific criteria for being a legally registered organisation in their region. Please see the webpage for your regional strand for more details on what constitutes a legally registered organisation.

You may enter with the same solution to multiple regions, provided you complete a separate entry form for each region (e.g. two entries for the same solution: one in Latin America and one in Southeast Asia). You may not receive more than one finalist award.

You may enter with different solutions within or across regions, provided you complete a separate entry from each region. (e.g. two entries for different solutions: one in Colombia and one in Brazil). You may not receive more than one finalist award.

• Yes, you can enter as a consortium or as a team. If you do enter as a consortium or a team, you must nominate one organisation as the lead entrant.
• The lead entrant will sign the finalist and winners’ agreements and receive funding. The lead entrant is solely responsible for managing their consortium, including any internal disputes or issues that may arise. Challenge Works and the Van Leer Foundation will not engage in discussions or mediate matters related to consortium arrangements.

As we are asking innovators to advance their solutions on their journey towards scaling, we are interested in solutions that have the potential for big impact in the future and need some support to get there.

Therefore, we are not looking for brand-new ideas. We are looking for solutions that have already had some development and demonstrated their effectiveness. There are many forms this might take. For example, you might be adapting your solution towards a new group of people or in a new context, or you may be integrating a new component or element to your solution. 

• You need to fill out the online entry form before the entry deadline on 17 September 2025; 13:00 UTC (1pm Coordinated Universal Time).
• The online entry form is hosted on Submittable, a social impact platform used to collect submissions. You can access it here.
• Remember to read the Terms and Conditions and the Privacy Policy before you submit your entry.

No, you are not able to edit your application once submitted. We recommend you save your application as a draft until you are confident it is complete. Alternatively, you can download a copy of the entry form on the entry page to draft your application in, before uploading it to the submission portal.

No.

• You can enter any strand in English.
• You can enter the Latin America strand in English, Spanish or Portuguese.
• You can enter the Sub-Saharan Africa strand in English or French.
• You can enter the Southeast Asia strand in English or Bahasa Indonesian.

• We are working to make the Challenge as accessible as possible. If there are any reasonable adjustments that would support your entry or participation, please contact goodstart@challengeworks.org. We will be happy to explore options to enable you to take part but we cannot make any guarantees.
• Unfortunately, no time extensions to the entry deadline will be possible.

• Applications Open: 22 May 2025
• Applications Close: 17 September 2025
• Announcement of Finalists: November 2025
• Development Phase: December 2025 to May 2026
• Selection of Winners: August 2026

Up to 22 finalists will be selected to participate in the Good Start Challenge. Finalists will be chosen through a rigorous assessment and judging process, including:

• Eligibility checks to ensure the teams meet all eligibility criteria.
• Assessment by a team of expert assessors using the judging criteria.
• Judging by a panel of global and regional experts in scaling interventions, innovation, and working with parents and caregivers.

Up to 6 winners will be selected by the judging panel based on which of the finalists demonstrate the most progress on the judging criteria during the Challenge.

See the details of the eligibility and judging criteria in each regional strand: Latin America, Sub-Saharan Africa, Southeast Asia.

You will be notified of the outcome of your application in November 2025.

• Funding will be provided through direct payment to a bank account.
• If you are developing a solution for Mexico, Colombia, Kenya, Uganda, Senegal, Ethiopia, Indonesia and/or the Philippines you must be able to receive euros from a UK-based organisation.

The funding and final award must be used to develop and implement your solution. This applies to both the finalist awards and the winners’ awards.

• In order to receive the finalist or winners awards, you must sign a sub-grant agreement with Challenge Works, which will outline the restrictions on spending for the funding awards. 
• This will include: 
  • Costs incurred before and after the effective date of the funding agreement for the Project;
  • Alcohol and cannabis;
  • Interest on borrowed capital;
  • Debt repayments;
  • Statutory fines, criminal fines or penalties;
  • To replace or refund any funds lost to fraud, corruption, bribery, theft, terrorist financing or other misuse of funds; 
  • Military equipment; and
  • Ammunition and weapons. 
  • This list is not comprehensive and there may be additional requirements outlined in the sub-grant agreement.

• You should spend the €50,000 finalist funding within the development phase. If you are selected as a finalist you will have regular check-ins with the Challenge team, so if you are having any issues we can help to guide you to address them.
• Requirements related to the €200,000 winner funding will be shared at a later date.

• Yes, anyone who enters the Challenge will retain any intellectual property associated with their solution.
• Remember that to enter you ​must ​own, ​or ​​have permission ​to ​use, any intellectual ​property ​relevant to your entry.
• Everyone who enters must be willing to share information about their solution as part of the Challenge (see the Privacy Policy).
• We plan to promote the Challenge through publicity and publish reports about the insights gained. These activities will not reveal any confidential intellectual property.

• Entries are kept confidential within Challenge Works, the Founding Partners, our delivery partners and the Van Leer Foundation. 
• Before making any aspect of your entry public, we will consult with you.

We encourage you to read through the FAQs, the Entrant Handbook and the Terms and Conditions.

If you still have a question, you can contact the team at goodstart@challengeworks.org or via whatsapp at +44 7785 464 598.