The words “startup” and “non-profit” aren’t often found in the same sentence. But this year’s cohort from Morgan Stanley’s Inclusive & Sustainable Ventures (MSISV) accelerator shows just how much there is to gain from bringing the brightest minds and ideas from these two worlds together.
“The world's biggest challenges don't fit neatly into either the commercial or nonprofit sector,” says Sanghamitra Karra, Global Co-Head of MSISV.
“Startups bring innovation and scalability. Nonprofits bring deep expertise and proximity to the communities they serve. When those strengths are combined, there's an opportunity to create solutions that are both impactful and sustainable.”
The startups and non-profits that feature in MSISV’s 2026 cohort are a diverse group, showing the wide-ranging impact of entrepreneurship globally.
“This year's cohort includes companies working in areas like space infrastructure, precision healthcare and next-generation energy solutions. At the same time, many are focused on improving outcomes for underserved communities, from healthcare access to economic opportunities for small-scale fishing communities,” says Karra.
This year MSISV introduced a thematic investment approach across four impact categories: Environment, Health & Wellbeing, Economic Empowerment, and Education & Human Capital. Karra explains how these themes were chosen after carefully considering where the accelerator’s support could be best directed.
“We started by asking where we see some of the most pressing challenges facing society and where innovation has the potential to deliver outsized impact,” she tells Sifted. “The four categories reflect areas where we believe there is both substantial unmet need and significant opportunity for entrepreneurs to build scalable solutions.”
Empowering communities
The Economic Empowerment category includes South Africa-based Abalobi, a social enterprise platform that’s built an app for fishermen to connect directly with customers and to encourage fairer and more transparent markets.
"[We plan] to reach 300,000 small-scale fishers by 2030 through a self-sustaining market access programme and a globally licensed fisheries data and traceability platform,” says cofounder Dr Serge Raemaekers.
MSISV is also backing The Unconnected Foundation, a UK-registered charity that negotiates telecoms services at scale and makes them available to underserved communities via local NGOs and charities at affordable prices.
“We make connectivity something a local partner can actually buy at a workable price, so the 2.2bn people still offline get online through the organisations already on the ground with them,” says CEO and cofounder Andrew Atkinson.
A healthier world
When it comes to the Health & Wellbeing companies in the 2026 cohort, there’s Exobiosphere, a Luxembourg-founded company developing automated drug discovery labs that operate in space. CEO and cofounder Kyle Aciernoto explains that doing research outside of Earth’s “gravity well,” the planet’s gravitational field, makes it easier to build medicine molecules and find better cures for disease.
"Every drug on the market today was discovered at the bottom of a gravity well. We intend to change that, building a fleet of orbital laboratories until running a screening campaign in space is as routine as booking one in Basel," he tells Sifted.
William Oak Diagnostics, another participant in the 2026 cohort, is developing at-home and laboratory blood tests that measure micronutrient levels, helping people make better-informed decisions about their health.
“Our plan is to eliminate micronutrient deficiencies as a health concern by providing accurate, accessible diagnostics,” says CEO and cofounder Alexander Patto.
Driving climate solutions
The Environment category features entrepreneurs working on solutions ranging from renewable energy to novel materials.
Swedish startup Grale is developing patented technology for plant-based alternatives to plastics,“with the mission to minimise the negative impacts of microplastics on human health,” says cofounder Max Smith.
The company is joined by Enerdrape, a Swiss startup that makes it easier to access clean energy by building geothermal panels for underground spaces that don’t require deep underground drilling.
"Our ambition is to make geothermal energy as ordinary as solar panels on a roof, helping cities meet their decarbonisation targets by unlocking the energy potential right beneath their feet,” says cofounder and CEO Margaux Peltier.
Karra believes MSISV’s 2026 cohort represents a unique blend of cutting-edge technology and on-the-ground knowledge of how to make a difference.“What stands out is the combination of frontier innovation and community impact,” she says. “That blend of technological ambition and real-world impact is what makes this cohort so exciting.”
You can read about all of MSISV’s 2026 cohort companies in the carousel.
