Impact Investment Exchange Asia (“IIX”) is pleased to announce the launch of its first Impact Accelerator™- an intensive “in-country” acceleration program designed to accelerate early-stage Social Enterprises (“SEs”) that have high potential to create positive social and environmental impact at scale.
Impact Accelerator™ will be launched in the Philippines, where SE activity is rapidly growing and socially-minded entrepreneurs are working to address challenges across various sectors including agriculture, energy, water, health and education. Impact Accelerator™ is run in collaboration with our local partner, the Asia Society for Social Improvement and Sustainable Transformation (“ASSIST”).
The Accelerator will target early-stage SEs that have pilot tested their business model and established proof of concept. Over a period of 6 months, four selected SEs will receive seed capital, tailored one-to-one mentorship and ongoing advisory services provided by IIX and ASSIST. In addition, selected SEs will have the opportunity to raise future rounds of funding on IIX’s Impact Partners platform, the Asia’s leading private placement platform for Impact Investing. Impact Accelerator™ aims to support the selected SEs through the early stages, by shortening the time needed to grow their business and impact more lives.
In selecting its pioneer cohort of SEs, the Accelerator will focus on the following areas: (i) Stage of SEs – has the enterprise tested their business model and established proof of concept? (ii) Strength of Value Proposition – is the enterprise providing a meaningful solution to a problem that affects the poor or marginalized? (iii) A Preferred Fit with Five Focus Sectors – does the SE operate in agriculture, energy, water, health or education? and (iv) Scalability of business – can the SE scale its reach and impact with additional capital?
The Call for Applications opens on 1st October 2014 and closes on 7th November 2014. The successful enterprises are expected to be selected by end of December 2014, followed by a program kick-off in January 2015.
About the angel investors
A group of four investors, Frank Levinson, Vijay Sethu, Agricology Group and Locus Analytics has fully funded the initial year of operations of the Impact Accelerator™. The capital provided by these pioneering investors will be used as seed funding, invested directly into the selected SEs, and for mentorship and ongoing investment support services that will be provided by IIX, ASSIST and potentially third party service specialists. In return, the investors will receive an equity stake in each of the four SEs.
About IIX
IIX is a Singapore-based organization with a mission to provide SEs in Asia greater access to investment capital, allowing them to more rapidly expand the impact of their activities.
IIX now offers three investment platforms – Impact Accelerator™, Impact Partners™ and Impact Exchange™. Impact Partners™ is a private placement platform dedicated to growth-stage SEs that are seeking expansion capital. Impact Exchange™, the world’s first social stock exchange operated by IIX and the Stock Exchange of Mauritius, is a regulated stock exchange dedicated to listing and trading securities issued by mature SEs and other socially-driven organizations. Lastly, IIX’s sister not-for-profit, Shujog, assists social enterprises through its proprietary impact assessment, research, advocacy and advisory work.
IIX is based in Singapore. More information can be found at www.asiaiix.com
For queries about Impact Accelerator, please contact:
Email: accelerator@asiaiix.com
Website: www.asiaiix.com/impact-accelerator/