We are deeply honoured that Tiko has been selected as a 2025 grantee of The Audacious Project in support of our goal to impact the lives of 3.5million adolescent girls in Africa every year by 2030. The Audacious Project, the collaborative funding platform within TED, backs bold ideas that meet humanity’s toughest challenges head-on.
A scalable blueprint for change
Tiko’s inclusion in the 2025 cohort recognises our bold vision for scalable systems change to protect the most vulnerable African girls from the triple threat of unintended pregnancy, HIV and sexual violence.
As our Co-CEO Serah Malaba explained, “Girls are navigating health systems that are complicated and not always responsive to their needs, and they need our timely support now more than ever. The Audacious Project’s recognition proves that the Tiko model is a scalable blueprint for change. This catalytic investment provides the foundation to unite philanthropy and government co-financing to meet a massive need with the radical urgency the most vulnerable girls deserve. We are moving fast, because for every girl whose future is on the line, she simply cannot wait.”
Backing a bold shift in girls’ care
“The Audacious Project exists to back ideas that have the courage to meet humanity’s toughest problems head-on. Supporting Tiko is a declaration of what is possible when we centre the agency of girls,” said Anna Verghese, executive director of The Audacious Project. “By unlocking access to life-saving health services across Africa, Tiko isn’t just solving a crisis; they are charting a path toward a future where every girl is the architect of her own life. This is the bold shift that girls in Africa need, right now.”
This milestone marks a critical juncture for girls’ care, signalling a global shift toward high-trust, girl-centred investment. It is also testament to the support we have received since 2014 from our foundational partners. It is their strategic capital and unwavering belief that has allowed Tiko to refine and prove a model that works across Africa to optimise girl-centred impact.
Partners in powering innovation
We are deeply grateful to The Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF) which fuelled Tiko’s evolution from a Kenyan pilot into a girl-centric service leader spanning Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Uganda and South Africa. By innovating across health, education, and livelihoods, and helping us pioneer the first Development Impact Bonds for girls’ health, CIFF’s support has helped us turn innovation into proven results. This cornerstone partnership has supported us to evolve, and embed our focus on the Triple Threat. Through this, we have built a proven ecosystem model that ensures girls not only know where to go, but can access services without fear, shame or financial hardship — empowering them to take charge of their health and futures.
On learning about Tiko’s new milestone, Faustina Fynn-Nyame, Executive Director, Africa for CIFF said, “Investing in African girls is not just a moral duty – it’s the smartest choice we can make. When girls are educated, healthy, and economically empowered, entire communities benefit. Tiko works because it centres the individual girl and addresses her needs as she experiences them, not in siloes but as interconnected. We are proud to continue our momentum with Tiko, doubling down on proven innovations that break down barriers and give every girl in Africa the fundamental power to choose her own path and own her destiny.”
We would also like to thank the Elton John AIDS Foundation whose first investment in 2021 marked a turning point for us. Their support enabled us to integrate HIV and mental health services into our sexual and reproductive health model, bring public health facilities into our network and connect us with co-funders who catalysed our expansion into new countries. Together, they helped us transform a bold vision into a proven, multi-country model that has reached hundreds of thousands of young people with integrated, life-changing care.
Elton John, Founder of the Foundation, said: “Finding the most promising ideas in the fight against HIV and committing to them early, is at the heart of everything the Elton John AIDS Foundation does. When we first partnered with Tiko in 2021 and saw their work firsthand in South Africa, we knew we were backing something special. Their ambition was clear, their mission urgent, and their commitment to young people unwavering. Together, we helped them expand into mental health, integrate with public health facilities, and reach over 450,000 girls across Kenya, South Africa and Uganda with treatment and care. With this new funding from The Audacious Project, Tiko can reach further than ever before and transform what’s possible for a generation across sub-Saharan Africa.”
Join our journey to scale a bold new blueprint for adolescent health
Today, the urgency to support girls has never been greater. It requires a multistakeholder and multisectoral approach so that by 2030, we can reach 3.5 million of the most vulnerable girls each year across six countries – Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, Burkina Faso, South Africa and Nigeria. This means 3.5 million girls who will stay in school, will not be young mothers or child brides, and who will go on to have decent work and meaningful pay.
Energised by this huge milestone in Tiko’s journey, we invite partners to sustain the momentum by co-implementing our bold new blueprint for adolescent health — one that strengthens public systems, harnesses private providers to fill in critical gaps, builds local capacity, and lays the foundation for governments to sustainably prioritise the health and futures of girls in Africa.
Collectively, we will secure a brighter future for Africa’s girls.
Find out more about partnering with us here.