The Challenge Works 10 Year Report

Unearthing the unexpected – A new strategic plan for Challenge Works

For over a decade, Challenge Works (formally Nesta Challenges) has run more than 97 challenge prizes, distributed over £210 million in funding and supported over 15,977 global innovators in solving the biggest problems of our time.

We offer an alternative model to traditional grant funding, providing funders who want to take a bold, target-driven approach to innovation with the insight and tools to do so. With us, partners can embrace transformative methods that are able to bring together the best of public-sector strategic direction with private-sector ingenuity.

In our 10 year report, we lay out our give strategic priorities which will guide our work for 2022-2025, enabling us to continue to reach our ambitious goals for growth and, most importantly, mobilise the global innovation community to take action.

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“For funders committed to social impact, working through Challenge Works’ design methodology helps to incentivise innovation while rewarding a diverse pool of collaborators.”

Tamara Rebanks, Director, Weston Family Foundation

An overview of our priority areas

We will be focusing our attention and resources on four priority areas which we believe are ripe for action. These are also areas where we have a strong track record of impact:

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Climate Response: Our challenge prizes will create innovations that help planet earth and its inhabitants tackle the climate crisis.

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Resilient Society: Our challenge prizes will create innovations that help people participate fully in society by enabling them to access the services, opportunities and networks they need.

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Global Health: Our challenge prizes will create innovations that enable people to prevent, diagnose and treat diseases, as well as mitigate chronic conditons.

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Technology Frontiers: Our challenge prizes will create innovations that harness frontier science and technology and direct it towards socially useful goals.

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