Lumkani
At the Lumkani office with sponsors Paul Mesarcik and Emily Vining. WPI team: T. Sam Lynn, Paul Roberts, Kevin Guth, and Riley McManus
Growth of low-income housing around the world has resulted in overcrowded informal settlements at high risk of fire. The social enterprise, Lumkani, has developed a networked heat detector that alerts community members in the event of a fire. In an effort to expand distribution, Lumkani has partnered with Hollard Group Insurance and is seeking partnerships with micro-lending organizations globally. This project assessed the micro-lending landscape and developed an estimated monetary value model to quantify the expense of fire related defaults to lenders to identify viable partner organizations. We concluded that non-government organizations are the most viable global partners, while housing lenders servicing residents in high-risk communities are the most promising domestic partners.
Mapping the Micro-Lending Landscape for Lumkani Protection (Final Report)