
Simprints
Model & Strategy
Simprints is a nonprofit tech company from the University of Cambridge. Simprints is backed by DRK Foundation, USAID, DFID and the Gates Foundation to build open-source biometrics for developing countries. Simprints has developed biometric technology that is 4x cheaper and 228% more accurate with the scarred, worn fingerprints typical of “last mile” beneficiaries. Simprints empowers the existing mobile tools used to deliver essential services at the frontlines. Their goal is to radically disrupt the inaccurate way we currently track and deliver a lot of social impact, instead building a world where every person—not guesswork—counts in the fight against poverty.
They are currently working with BRAC in Bangladesh, Dimagi in Nepal, and Watsi in Uganda. For example, their maternal health project in Dhaka is enabling BRAC’s frontline health workers to identify patient records at the touch of finger during household visits, and react quickly if any of the program’s 20,000 pregnant mothers fall through the cracks of essential care delivery.



Toby is an entrepreneur passionate about bringing the best of the world’s technology to serve the poorest of the world’s citizens. He began his journey with Simprints while studying frontline community health workers in Bangladesh for 4 years. He holds a PhD from the University of Cambridge on a Gates Scholarship and BA from Harvard. He has worked for nearly a decade with doctors and healthworkers across Africa, Asia, and Central America on initiatives to improve healthcare delivery through technology. He is a 2016 Forbes Europe 30 under 30 Social Entrepreneurs, and a 2017 Schwab Foundation Social Entrepreneur of the Year Awardee.
IMPACT
Simprints has successfully optimized hardware and software to be over 228% more accurate than five industry-leading systems, using an open-source matcher and ISO templates.
As of January 16, 2020, Simprints has reached 387,289 beneficiaries across projects in Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Uganda, Zambia, Kenya, Somalia, Nigeria, and more.
Simprints is in 12 countries across South Asia and Africa and is projected to cover 4.1M people with healthcare, finance, education, and aid services in 2021.
Simprints News
-
Biometric Tracking Can Ensure Billions Have Immunity Against Covid-19When the Covid-19 vaccine is released, the world will embark on one of the most challenging public health delivery campaigns ever attempted. Nowhere will this…Aug 2020
-
How Biometrics is Giving Identities to 'Invisible Citizens'(CNN) – Around the globe an estimated 1.1 billion people are unable to prove their identity. They have no official ID — no passport, no…Feb 2018
-
Introducing the Schwab Foundation’s Social Entrepreneur of the Year 2017 AwardeesThe Schwab Foundation’s 2017 Social Entrepreneur of the Year Awardees include 17 outstanding leaders at the helm of 13 organizations pioneering solutions for social and…Apr 2017
-
🎙️ New podcast episode with our advisory board member Dr. Liu! Want to a know what mRNA has in common with M&Ms/Sma… https://t.co/3YcY5apGAI
-
"The cost of not pursuing digital identities is high. Being able to digitally prove claims is vital to enable paper… https://t.co/uFUvu9OL2J
-
RT @COVIDactionTech: Join #COVIDaction and @FCDOGovUK for our ⚡️Data Challenge Showcase on Doing Data Right: Building Healthy Data Ecosyste…
-
RT @COVIDactionTech: 😍 ... that feeling when a Data Challenge awardee is referenced in @HarvardBiz. Kudos to @Simprints 🏆 on the well-deser…
-
We're honoured to join the @innovationsinhc network, set up by @DukeGhic & @wef. We're looking forward to connectin… https://t.co/VFtszbkWcf
-
Check out @GlobalInnovFund blog to find out more how we partnered to fight poverty and promote health outcomes usin… https://t.co/3UzbkbZyZT
-
RT @innovationsinhc: New year, new organizations joining our network taking us one step closer to a world where innovation improves health…
-
Looking for a new challenge in 2021? Join us as Director of Delivery! You will build and lead a team of pre-sales m… https://t.co/PK7qyGgsZz
-
We're hiring a Director of Privacy, Responsible Data, and Risk! The ideal candidate is someone with a real passion… https://t.co/QfGy0uCJkp
-
We're #hiring! Can you be our next Technical Project Manager? Are you passionate about building and implementing te… https://t.co/in1mVMNMoj
-
Our COO @sebmanhart wrote a blog post on #mentalhealth and the key support mechanisms that got him through 2020. Fi… https://t.co/bxoc9WK1jt
-
Come work with us - we’re #hiring! We have 3 roles open at the moment: 👉 Director of Delivery:… https://t.co/P7oO3sGGUo
-
Our biometric solution got a shoutout in @HarvardBiz! Read the article to find out why we need to address privacy,… https://t.co/BVVTRyqerD
-
Read our new @gatesopenres article on vaccine delivery and biometric digital identity, co-authored with… https://t.co/AqQkoi43dm
-
Here is some🎄 🎅 ☃️ ❄️ cheer from our Partnerships team! Snap 📸 taken during our end of year holiday social
-
We are thankful to Mr. @zapalak MP, State Minister of @ictdivision for inviting our CEO @TobyLNorman to participate… https://t.co/kkV6vF4wVt
-
2020 - the #YearoftheLockdown - is almost over. And although #COVID19 disrupted so much, we are grateful as we refl… https://t.co/LtumdazJec