Nilus develops technology to lower the cost of living for low-income people, leveraging the power of disintermediation, food rescue and community group buying.
Globally, over 2 billion people face food insecurity, unable to afford daily healthy meals. Excessive intermediation and informality make healthy foods in low-income neighborhoods at least 25 percent more expensive than in middle-income areas, a concept called the poverty tax.
Nilus aims to eradicate hunger by lowering the cost of healthy food and groceries for low-income people. Its technology streamlines inefficiencies by connecting producers directly with consumers. The initiative empowers female community leaders to organize purchases and distribution, using their homes for logistics, ensuring safety and affordability - often at 70 percent less than market prices. Strategic partnerships with logistics firms, food banks and producers enable Nilus to deliver nutritious food efficiently to communities.
In 2023, Nilus collaborated with the WFP Innovation Accelerator and WFP Peru to launch operations in the country, focusing on social gastronomy channels and reaching 9,000 community members through an inclusive solution that involves female community leaders. In 2024, the collaboration expanded to Colombia, serving Venezuelan migrant communities through its marketplace technology, and to Ecuador, digitizing school meal catalogs.
Nilus is also the first recipient of a loan from the WFP Innovation BRIDGE, created in collaboration between WFP and UNCDF.
Nilus has achieved an average of 22 percent savings for 650,000 low-income individuals and has prevented 7,000 MT of CO2 emissions.
