Now on the home stretch for 2020, we reflect on a great year for the Design to Improve Life Fund. But, just before we settle-in for the holiday season, take a peek at the top headlines of December!

Zipline announces a new partnership with the Philippine Red Cross. The initiative will give the Philippines on-demand and emergency blood deliveries and is expected to launch summer of 2020, with its first of three planned distribution centres in the Visayas. The announcement, made just this week at the Philippine Red Cross Headquarters, was led by U2's frontman Bono, a Zipline board member, with Zipline's CEO and Co-founder Keller Rinaudo.

Iris.AI Co-Founder & CEO, Anita Schjøll Brede, named in 2019's Inspiring Fifty of the Nordics. Inspiring Fifty is a non-profit that promotes female role models in tech to help grow the industry's diversity. By spotlighting these women excelling in tech careers across the world, the initiative proves "this is an industry in which women can and do thrive against unfavourable odds".

Seaborg Technologies releases new talks for TED and Slush. Co-founder and CTO of Seaborg Eirik Eide Pettersen recently took the TED stage to share the Seaborg story of 'combating the climate crisis with next-generation nuclear'. Additionally, CEO Troels Schönfeldt had the honour of the last word at this year's Slush Helsinki and explained how "three physicists walk into a bar – and revolutionise the way we think about energy".

Piñatex releases a new Mineral Collection - a "breakthrough development towards a more responsible material, using mineral pigments, which are abundant in the earth’s crust". The main component of the Mineral Collection pigment is Titanium Dioxide (TiO₂), which has antimicrobial properties and gives extra strength to Piñatex to improve its characteristics and performance.

Read more about the Design to Improve Life Fund and all our portfolio companies.

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Image: the Iris team by Dan Taylor