We work as social entrepreneurs at the earliest stages of idea development to scope, pilot and then launch new ventures from an innovative idea having either developed the idea ourselves or supporting ideas that have come to us externally or through partners.
Support is currently structured as a venture capital style staged process to allow ideas to be fully designed, developed and launched and is flexible based on the project in question and support needed to achieve its social impact. Our approach allows us to actively engage with ideas and provide both funding (grants, loans, equity) and intensive non-financial support (c. 40 team days per project).
Given our ideas based approach and staged funding cycle, ideas can be at a very early stage (really just an idea) or more developed (piloting or testing approach, looking to replicate). Projects though should aim to establish a new venture / organisation and all projects go through a structured screening process where they are assessed on the following basis:
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Social impact: What is the depth and breadth of the social impact? Who is impacted? We are looking for projects that have a profound impact both on a given individual's quality of life and on society as a whole.
- Innovation: How disruptive is the innovation? We are looking for projects which are not just innovative locally, but could bring a radical new approach on a national scale. How is this approach better than what might already exist?
- Sustainability: What is the business model for the project? How will it bring in other sources of funding (earned, sales, contract income) to make the project sustainable in the long term?
- Scalability: How is the project replicable or scalable? How will it develop over time? We are looking for projects that can be adapted or applied beyond an initial pilot site or location on a wider basis.