Social enterprise 40K Globe, well-known at the University of Wollongong for offering student internships in rural India, has recently announced it will receive a $250,000 grant from Australian technology giant, Atlassian.
The grant will be used to continue creating social and sustainable impact in rural, Southern India and beyond.
Atlassian approached 100 organisations who are hoping to affect positive change in Cambodia. Out of the 100, seven were selected for a six-month pilot which included extensive in-kind support and a $50,000 grant.
40K Globe was selected as one of the seven and subsequently selected as one of the final four organisations to receive further support and the grant of $250,000.
Atlassian is a company so well renowned that it has once been listed on the New York stock exchange. The company is known as the Australian tech success story.
40K Globe Experience Manager, Mitch Neave, voiced his support of the partnership expressing that it means so much to the organisation.
“This partnership is proof that we’re getting closer and closer to the answer we need. When we started with the question, ‘How do we provide high-quality education, to any child, in any village on the planet?’ – that’s pretty damn exciting.”
This is an opportunity that the social enterprise is taking advantage of in order to grow. One outstanding element of the work 40K does is the implementation of after-school tutoring centres called 40K PLUS Pods.
40K PLUS aims to improve literacy in school age children living in rural villages through edutech solutions.
With the support of the Atlassian grant, the edutech solution will be implemented in a Cambodian context next year. 40K aims to expand the program there in the next academic year of October 2017 and has set the goal to open another 26 PLUS Pods across Cambodia and India.
40K CEO, Clary Castrission explained how he felt pride in his whole team.
“Our guys have worked bloody hard trying to craft a product built for a very restrictive environment. This grant allows us to accelerate our pace of development… we were not born tech entrepreneurs and to have our work validated by such an esteemed company is very motivating,” 40K CEO, Clary Castrission said.
Lastly, the grant will assist in building Version 2 of the Technology System (improved database, testing and user experience).
Beyond the funds, Atlassian have given 40K technology support, conducted a code review, assisted in building a technology road-map and helped on-board a Technological Architect.
To become involved with the great work 40K does and to see the 40K PLUS Pods for yourself, you can apply for 40K Globe.
40K Globe offers one-month internships in rural India. Teams work with locals to deliver empowering solutions to needs such as water, health and education.
Applications for a limited number of projects are open until October 2nd. Head to WWW.40KGLOBE.COM.AU to find out more and apply.
