African impact startups have been invited to apply for a global advisory programme that aims to help them scale and empower local communities.
Founded in 2015, Bridges for Enterprise is a global non-profit that provides a free, multi-stage advisory programme for early-stage social enterprises in Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Latin America.
Around 70 per cent of the more than 90 startups it has supported so far have come from Africa, all of whom align with the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Bridges for Enterprise aims to collaborate with early-stage social entrepreneurs in the developing world to scale business ventures and empower local communities.
Designed for pre-seed and seed stage startups, the six-to-eight month incubation programme is virtual and free of charge, and aims to democratise access to services such as consulting and financial, legal and technical advisory.
“Harnessing the power of private enterprise for social good has the potential to scale solutions more quickly than traditional non-profits can. Oftentimes, non-profits are forced to focus heavily on fundraising at the expense of programme delivery because of their reliance on donors,” said Jordan Wolken, global president of Bridges for Enterprise.
“However, social enterprises aren’t forced to choose between financial sustainability and social returns. By embedding innovative products or services into their business models, they achieve both together. In other words, for social enterprises, higher financial returns beget higher social returns as impact increases in parallel with revenue. To this end, Bridges for Enterprise serves both for-profit and non-profit social enterprises that generate revenue and can sustain organic growth in the longer run.”
The applications deadline for the Autumn 2021 Cohort is May 1.
