Nexleaf Analytics: Saving the World Using the Internet of Things

In 2019, a decade after co-founding Nexleaf Analytics, CEO Nithya Ramanathan faced an important decision that would impact the ability of the small, but growing, not-for-profit organization to thrive for another decade. Their sensor technologies and big data analytics helped protect the planet and preserve human life by reducing pollution via smarter cookstoves and enhancing the vaccine storage process to help ensure millions of individuals across the developing world received effective vaccines. They had recently decided to relentlessly focus on these two core areas in which they faced growing competition from for-profit companies (especially in the vaccine domain), but an opportunity had arisen to expand into the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) space. Although there were some similarities with their existing technology, it would be a large undertaking for the resource-constrained organization. Should they stay focused on growing their vaccine refrigeration efforts to new countries, partner with fridge manufacturers to vertically integrate their offerings, or jump head first into the NICU field which had numerous existing players (none of whom offered what Nexleaf could). Further, as a not-for-profit, should they open source their core intellectual property in the vaccine space in an attempt to become a keystone player for the entire ecosystem, increasing their ability to achieve their mission?