Nesta’s Rapid Recovery Challenge for Covid-19 Victims

Deadline: 26-Oct-20

Nesta has launched Rapid Recovery Challenge to find and scale tools and services that improve access to jobs and money for people within the UK, focusing on those hardest hit by the economic shock resulting from COVID-19.

The Rapid Recovery Challenge aims to find, inspire and accelerate innovations relating to jobs and financial recovery that will support one million people across the UK. The Challenge seeks to improve access to jobs and money.

Throughout the Challenge, they will support innovators to develop and scale their potential solutions and expand their reach and impact. The two winning projects will be announced at the end of the programme in September 2021.

With the UK officially in recession, economic recovery is now a major challenge. There is an urgent need to support people at risk of losing their livelihoods and financial security so that millions do not find themselves out of work, out of pocket and out of prospects.

Who is Nesta Challenges?

Nesta Challenges exists to design challenge prizes that help solve pressing problems that lack solutions. They shine a spotlight where it matters and incentivise people to solve these issues. They are independent supporters of change to help communities thrive and inspire the best places and most diverse groups of people around the world to take action.

They support the boldest and bravest ideas to become real, and seed long term change to advance society and build a better future for everyone. Nesta Challenges is part of the global innovation foundation Nesta.

With the funding and non-financial support from Nesta and partners, the 12 semi-finalists will adapt and scale solutions that improve the job prospects or financial security of the Challenge’s target end users:

Younger workers (16-24);
People in, or who have recently lost, low-paid work;
People in, or who have recently lost, insecure work.

The support Nesta Challenge provides

Here’s what they’re offering to support the innovators:

Financial Support
- Challenge prizes aim to incentivise innovation and take a stage-gate approach to funding. They release funds in increments as the challenge progresses and the judging process moves successful participants onto the next stage of the Challenge.
- Funding will be awarded at each stage of the Rapid Recovery Challenge:
  - In December 2020, 12 semi-finalists (six in each stream) will each receive £125k;
  - In May 2021, six finalists (three in each stream) will each receive £150k;
  - In September 2021, two winners (one in each stream) will each receive £200k.
Non Financial Support
- Distribution partners – They want your solution to reach those who need it most, so they’re building a coalition of partners who can help share and promote your product through networks of grassroots organisations and larger national bodies.
- Development partners – They’re working with expert organisations to offer you workshops and 1-2-1 advice on a range of topics – scaling strategy, product and service design, media and communications training and more.
- Job recovery stream development tools – They are offering two optional support pieces that participants in the jobs recovery stream may choose to access.
  - The Open Jobs Data team at Nesta is developing a new system for recommending career transition pathways and identifying skills gaps, with the aim to show how workers whose roles are at risk of automation can upskill and transition to jobs that are more secure. The OJD team has developed an algorithm that allows us to pinpoint workers who may struggle to escape automation risk, and identify a core group of skills that can broaden the transition options for workers, in order to provide practical steps for at-risk workers to reduce their exposure to automation risk. The algorithm is also flexible enough to consider other risks, such as exposure to Covid-19. They hope to work in partnership with the semi-finalists of the Rapid Recovery Challenge who could test this algorithm within their solution, and whose feedback would play a vital role in building a robust and open system for recommending career transitions.
  - Further, McKinsey and Eightfold AI have offered participants the option to learn from and build upon the Talent Exchange platform, an AI-powered Career Management and Job Matching platform to help displaced employees from companies negatively impacted by COVID-19 find new opportunities at companies with hiring needs or plan their career and acquire new skills.
- User panel – They’ll help participants connect with a panel of diverse end users to test the design of their tools or services.
- As a Rapid Recovery Challenge participant, you would have a dedicated member of their team helping you access this support and navigate all elements of the Challenge.

What they are looking for?

The Challenge isn’t prescriptive about the form solutions should take; they think the best solutions will come in different shapes and sizes and from a diverse pool of participants. They don’t know if the right approach is online or offline, hyper-local or global – or indeed all of these things mixed together – so they welcome all potential solutions that meet the following requirements:

Your solution must meet their Challenge statement and fit into one of their two streams.
- The Rapid Recovery Challenge will reward scalable, impactful, innovative tools and services that improve access to jobs and money for those hardest hit by the economic shock resulting from COVID-19 – younger workers and those in (or who have recently lost) low-paid or insecure work. The Challenge has two streams: Job Recovery and Financial Recovery.
Your solution must focus on the Challenge’s target end users
- During the application review process, their judges will be looking to see evidence that your solution caters to their target end users and speaks to the job and financial challenges they are encountering due to COVID-19.
- Millions of workers in the UK have been affected by the economic shock resulting from COVID-19; it has impacted their employment status, career prospects and financial stability. The Rapid Recovery Challenge aims to support these people, many of whom are already out of work or are at high risk of losing their jobs due to COVID-19.
- The Challenge will support solutions that positively impact:
  - Those currently or recently (within the past 12 months) in low paid roles. “Low paid” is defined as earning less than £18,252 / year (60% or less the national median annual pay in 2019, £30,420).
  - Those currently or recently (within the past 12 months) in insecure roles. An “insecure role” is defined as temporary contracts less than 6 months, variable (zero-hour) contracts or self-employed earning less than £18,252 / year.
  - Young people, whether employed or unemployed. “Young people” is defined as those aged 16-24.
- Within these groups they understand there are many intersectionalities; therefore you are encouraged to define your target end user population in more detail in your application. The Challenge’s target end users are statistically more likely to be women, migrants, those from Black ethnic groups, and those in particular geographic areas. Supporting these groups might be one way, but not the only way, for your solution to have a meaningful impact.
- In addition to the assessment criteria the judging panel will take into consideration the diversity of the semi-finalist cohort’s collective market coverage, demographics and geography of users when selecting semi-finalists, finalists and winners.
Your solution should meet their scaling expectations
- They are seeking to have a wide impact on the Challenge’s target end users. For this reason, they are looking for teams who, upon entry, have at a minimum a well functioning prototype that has been piloted with 1,000 users.
- They understand this won’t mean the same thing to every team who applies. Your existing solution may have a different user base and you’re now looking to pivot to meet the aims of the Challenge; you might still be in beta testing; you might have well over 1,000 users but are looking to develop a particular component of your solution’s functionality to meet the aims of the Challenge; or you may be in a slightly different situation. There is space to explain this when you apply to the Challenge.
- On entry, solutions should (at minimum) be well-functioning prototypes that have been piloted with at least 1,000 users. These 1,000 users do not need to be composed of the Challenge’s target end users: younger workers and those in (or recently out of) low-paid or insecure work. At future stages, users should be composed of the Challenge’s target end users.
- As the Challenge develops they have the following scaling expectations:
  - During the semi-finalist stage (circa four months), 12 participants will adapt or develop their solutions and build credible, evidenced plans for how they would scale to 10,000+ users
  - During the finalist stage (circa four months), the remaining six participants will implement their plan to scale to at least 10,000 users and build credible, evidenced plans for how they would scale to a further 50,000 users by 2023
    The two winners of the Challenge will be expected to action their scaling plans using funding from their final award.
Your solution must meet their eligibility criteria
- Ensure you have read their full eligibility criteria.
Your solution must meet their assessment criteria
- Entries to the Rapid Recovery Challenge will be assessed based on their assessment criteria. When making their selection of semi-finalists, finalists and winners, the judging panel will also take into consideration the diversity of the cohort to ensure a balanced portfolio of solutions.
Awards reserved for not-for-profit organisations
- To support the most promising innovations from the not-for-profit* sector, at least six semi-finalist awards (£125k) will be made to not-for-profit organisations in each stream. And, in the next stage, at least two finalist awards (£150k) will be made to not-for-profit organisations for solutions in either stream

Eligibility Criteria

To be eligible to apply and progress in the Rapid Recovery Challenge:

Your organization must be a registered entity (inclusive of businesses, charities, community groups and public bodies). However it is not required that you be registered specifically within the UK.
Your proposed solution must directly benefit the UK population. However it is not required that it exclusively benefits the UK population.
You may enter as a single organization or as a partnership, however partnerships must nominate a lead organization (that is a registered entity). Entries will not be accepted from individuals.
You should (at minimum) have a well-functioning prototype of your solution that’s been piloted with at least 1,000 users.
You must select which stream of the Challenge you are applying for: Job Recovery or Financial Recovery. However please note that you are able to separately enter into both streams and that solutions that involve elements of both streams are welcome.

How the Application Process works?

The application form: The application form will help you explain how your solution meets the various assessment criteria. Download a PDF version to get an idea of how long this process might take your team.
The assessors: Each eligible application received will be reviewed by two assessors. Using a combined average of their scores (marked against criteria as detailed in the assessment criteria) all entries will be ranked and a moderated shortlist of 24 entries (12 per stream) will go to the judges. Assessors are external experts recruited specifically for this role.
The judges: The judges will meet to review the assessors’ shortlist and select 12 participants (six per stream) to take part in the Rapid Recovery Challenge as semi-finalists. The external, independent judging panel has a wealth of experience and insight relevant to the challenge and the challenge’s assessment criteria.
Due Diligence: They will undertake background checks on your organisation to assess financial security and to check your organisation against the eligibility criteria. These checks are designed to highlight issues that could affect the integrity of the Challenge or prevent you from completing the Challenge.

Why is Nesta running this challenge prize?

COVID-19 has created a huge economic shock, laying bare and exacerbating pre-existing problems for people on low incomes and in precarious work. Millions face severe threats to their job security and household finances, both immediately and in the longer term, and they know that low-paid workers, people in insecure roles and those under 25 will be hit hardest.

This year, the UK could be heading for its deepest recession in generations due to COVID-19. Economic recovery is now a major challenge facing the UK. There is an urgent need to support people at risk of losing their livelihoods and financial security so that millions do not find themselves out of work, out of pocket and out of prospects.

The Rapid Recovery Challenge combines Nesta’s research on skills, jobs, labour market innovation and data science with their expertise in running challenge prizes. It aims to find, inspire and accelerate innovations that will support one million people across the UK by 2023.

Background to the Challenge

COVID-19 has created a huge economic shock, laying bare and exacerbating pre-existing problems for people on low incomes and in precarious work. Millions face severe threats to their job security and household finances, both immediately and in the longer term, and low-paid workers, people in insecure roles and those under 25 will be hit hardest.

The Rapid Recovery Challenge aims to find, inspire and accelerate innovations relating to jobs and financial recovery that will support one million people across the UK.

For more information, visit https://rapidrecovery.challenges.org/