Social enterprises are fast emerging as sustainability power engines of world economies. They are driven by vision to improve society. They identify and solve societal problems through innovation and technology. They feed the hungry, resolve injustices, educate the illiterate, reach healthcare in the remotest corners of the world to cure the diseases, and protect the environment. Social enterprises are movers and shakers of the twenty first century — they are action oriented, they helped the needy (be it organizations or individuals). They act locally but impact globally.
Indian social enterprises have been playing a key role in eliminating societal problems. iKure, an Indian social enterprise delivers primary healthcare, wellness, prevention health services to rural, semi-urban and urban areas and has treated 2.5 million people across 6,400 villages. They reach where no doctor reaches. Similarly, Thaely, founded by Ashay Bhave, 21-year-old former student of Amity University, has been manufacturing shoes from fabric derived from waste plastic bags. Each pair of shoes use a total of 15 plastic bags and 22 bottles that are sourced from scrap processing supermarkets and waste collection zones. Thaely is creating wealth out of waste and solving the societal problem by recycling plastic. Likewise, Dinesh who founded of incrEDIBLE, mass-produces edible from 100 million plastic utensils used every day in U.S.
Social enterprises led by social entrepreneurs are solving the problems faced by living beings on planet earth, however they too are faced with one major challenge – and that’s funding. Though most social entrepreneurs self-fund their enterprises during inception, they experience growth challenges due to limited fund availability. As per industry reports, about 50% of all social enterprises have reported that funding is their number one business challenge, while 31% face challenges in attracting senior, and middle management.
TiE Sustainability Summit plans to solve both the problems. TSS 2021 hosted by TiE Hyderabad is being held between Oct 4-6, 2021, through a virtual platform, will leverage its technology platform to facilitate funding of social enterprises. TiE is confident of funding at least 50 to 100 social enterprises during the summit, where the social entrepreneurs will be making a pitch to about 200 global investors. Through its technology platform TiE is confident of facilitating funding to a tune of $20 million in the short-term and about $100 million in the long term to promising social enterprises with ability to create a deep impact on human society, animals and nature. The invested will be made by social impact investors and large businesses who find a social enterprises with a promise of future growth and profits. TiE will play the role of a facilitator to help the most suitable social enterprises meet their potential funding partners.
Manohar Reddy, TSS Global Chair and President TiE Hyderabad said, “We see social enterprises as the change agents of the world and will play a key role in shaping the future of world economy. At TSS, we have designed a “Match Making’ Technology Platform for potential social impact investors to meet their prospective investees (social enterprises) who have the capability and promise to not only provide high return on investment, but also create a deep social impact.”
This thought was further echoed by Mahavir Sharma, Immediate past Global Chairman of the Board, TiE Global and Co-Founder, Rajasthan Angel, who said, “Social enterprises are the future unicorns of the world. They will be building a trillion dollar economy. At TiE we stay committed to fulfilling the needs of social entrepreneurs who are faced with the challenges of funding, attracting talent – we will be solving both these by partnering with social impact funds and large business to fund them to a tune of $100 million in the long term spread across a few phases based on business viability and ability to create the societal impact and generate high return on investment. Secondly, we will help them find suitable mentors and board members who can act as guiding force by providing strategic inputs, business modelling, go-to-market strategies, connect them with other ecosystem players.”
