The 2023-2026 project aims to support the development of Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship with the support of the Swiss agency HEKS/EPER South Caucasus.
The project is planning to launch a social innovation and entrepreneurship acceleration program. The participants in the acceleration program will be selected through a contest.
The Social Innovation acceleration program is open to those who want to challenge social issues, who feel a sense of social responsibility, or who have ideas for change. An individual, a civil society organization (CSO), or a community-based organization (CBO) can be a part of SIP. All they need is a relevant idea and the willingness to develop a sustainable business model.
Training and mentoring of up to 60 participants and financial support for 10 projects are planned within the framework of the accelerator.
The first round of the accelerator program will take place in 2023, and the second round will be announced in 2024.
Participants involved in the accelerator will have the opportunity to undergo appropriate training, develop initial ideas or prototypes, develop a business model for their initiative, and have access to mentoring support and necessary technical consulting.
An independent jury will decide on the financial support of the best start-ups developed by the participants. The maximum amount of individual project financing is 30,000 GEL.
Within the framework of the project, the development of the educational web portal of the social innovation platform (https://socialinnovation.ge/) and the promotion of the idea of social innovation will continue. To support social entrepreneurship, various measures aimed at educating young people will also be implemented.
https://socialinnovation.ge/ brings together and offers theoretical and practical educational and informational resources related to social innovations to interested persons. The platform features self-directed online courses on social entrepreneurship, social enterprise, and social innovation, such as exciting news, articles, blogs, and videos.
https://www.facebook.com/socialinnovation.ge is a communication channel with the platform community. Its purpose is to inform and stimulate the interested public about social innovation, entrepreneurship, and the platform’s activities.