Our impact Scaling solutions for ending malaria The Grand Prize winner of the 2021 Cisco Global Problem Solver Challenge was ZzappMalaria , a Tel Aviv, Israel- based startup that developed an artificial intelligence-based system to help locate and treat water sources that could harbor malaria-carrying mosquitoes. The founders of ZzappMalaria recognized that the countries most affected by malaria today also tend to be least able to afford the tools to eradicate it. As a result, malaria kills 400,000 people worldwide per year and causes an estimated US$12 billion loss in GDP in Africa alone. ZzappMalaria’s solution predicts where malaria-infected water sources will occur, recommends interventions for those water sources, and monitors how they are being treated. It is a smartphone-based system that can be used by almost anyone—with training for field workers taking only one day. Already, ZzappMalaria’s technology is protecting more than 500,000 people in four countries. The US$250,000 grand prize winnings will allow the team to expand to the São Tomé and Príncipe islands in the Gulf of Guinea, with the goal of fully eliminating the disease. If successful, this would be an unprecedented achievement for the region. Cisco Global Problem Solver Challenge The Cisco Global Problem Solver Challenge invites early-stage startups to submit their solutions that benefit society, protect the planet, catalyze economic growth, and create jobs. Fiscal 2021 marked the fifth year of the competition, and knowing that the need to support this type of entrepreneurship has never been greater, we added new awards and increased the total annual prize pool to US$1million. We also expanded the eligibility criteria to include participants who may not be students or recent graduates of a college or university and added new special prizes. Since the challenge’s inception, we’ve had the privilege of supporting tremendous innovation from every corner of the globe. Five special prizes, each worth US$50,000: ● Digital Inclusivity Prize ● Ethical AI Prize ● Greenhouse Gas Solutions Prize ● Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Startup Prize ● Pandemic Response Prize Since 2016: US$2.25 million awarded to 63 startups from 20 countries In 2021: US$1 million awarded to 20 startups from 10 countries FUTURE INTRO POWER INCLUSIVE 2021 Cisco Purpose Report | csr.cisco.com | ESG Reporting Hub 69