Think Bigger: Social Entrepreneurship’s Critical Need for Accelerators
Monday, March 30, 2015
Prossy Sebunya has a passion for clean cook stoves — a technology that’s critical in third-world countries, where fuel is an expensive commodity, wood fires lead to deforestation and unhealthy conditions prevent sanitary food preparation.
But it’s not just her passion. It’s her business.
She’s a social entrepreneur with the goal of spreading these stoves throughout Uganda. Through Boost, a training program for clean cook stove entrepreneurs that’s run by the Global Social Benefit Institute Accelerator, she’s fortified her business model.
Startup accelerators play a critical role in helping social entrepreneurs like Sebunya attract investors. Of course, accelerators are important in the for-profit world, but players in the expanding realm of “business with a mission” could use some help, too.
These idealistic but inexperienced entrepreneurs need more organizations willing to work with them until they’re ready to accept multimillion-dollar investments to scale their impactful projects.
The maturation of later-stage social investing
There’s been an influx of infrastructure to make it easier for large investment funds to move into social investing at later stages.
Source: Entrepreneur (link opens in a new window)
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