At a Glance
Location: Lima, Perú
Impact Area: Labor Inclusion
People Supported:
People with mixed abilities
Joined NESsT Portfolio:
2020
Overview
In Peru alone, more than 932,000 people have a physical disability that limits their mobility -- women make up more than half of this population. (INEI, 2020) PIXED is a social enterprise that specializes in the development of low-cost, high-quality medical technologies for children and adults with disabilities, such as 3D-printed prosthetics.
Beyond guiding its clients through the entire process of acquiring the prosthesis, PIXED offers psychological and technical accompaniment to ensure successful integration of the product. In doing so, the enterprise can adjust the hardware as each person’s body evolves as a result of increased mobility.
Through this work, PIXED has improved the lives of over 70 families and the services of 20 health institutions. To date, the social enterprise has helped 12 clients find employment and rejoin the labor force. Due to the success of their products as well as the trust of their clients, PIXED expanded beyond Peru and into the United States, Chile, Brazil, El Salvador, and Honduras.
PIXED demonstrates how access to jobs and higher income can be solved through inclusive design and new manufacturing technologies.
Results & Impact
45
People trained in utilizing their prosthetics
150
People receiving prosthetic products & accompaniment for successful workforce integration by 2021
20
Health institutions helped
“We share with you a dream that started 5 years ago, and for which we continue to work every day.
We are PIXED and our commitment is to support people with different abilities to achieve their dreams and ambitions.”
NESsT Investment
NESsT invested in PIXED because of its unique approach to expanding employment opportunities for people with disabilities as well as parents of children with disabilities by providing them access to affordable 3D printed prosthetics.
As the Covid-19 pandemic intensified, the enterprise demonstrated its production capacity by immediately updating its hardware to produce physical protective equipment (PPE) for physicians and hospitals in Peru at the front lines of the Covid-19 virus, serving 23 hospitals and more than 19,000 doctors in less than a year.
PIXED is now refocusing its work on 3D prosthetics. In partnership with NESsT and IKEA Social Entrepreneurship, PIXED will strengthen its commercial strategy including new financing options to make its orthotics and prosthetics more affordable to clients. To achieve an 80% employment rate for PIXED clients, NESsT will support PIXED to increase its production, to provide psychological and rehabilitation services to help its clients adjust in the long-term, and to implement marketing campaigns that teach employers about the benefits of integrating Diversity, Equity and Inclusion practices into their workplaces.