Accelerating Investment Readiness programme for social enterprises

May 2020

Topic

Impact Investing

Social Enterprise

Responsible Innovation

International pitch competition and learning programme is open for social enterprises.

Szilvia Szabó ⬤ Author

Journalist, Editor

With a pitch competition and a blended learning opportunity, the ‘Accelerating Investment Readiness’ (AIR or #AirMOOC) programme offers a unique chance for social enterprises to gain knowledge, build their network and connect with impact investors at one go. This innovative programme is managed by 14 partners from 12 European countries as part of the ‘Finance4SocialChange’ EU Interreg project.

The pitch competition is open only for social innovators from the Danube region. Selected finalists will receive one-on-one mentoring, and each winner will get at least 10,000 € in prize money and exclusive access to an extensive impact investor network. Deadline for online application is 31st of May, 2020.

The learning course is free and open to anyone who wants to learn and get insights on social entrepreneurship, impact investments and scaling a value-driven enterprise. Besides the learnings, it offers a networking opportunity to connect with peers and impact investors from all over Europe.

“We have gathered leading experts in impact investing, purpose-driven business and progressive policy-making to provide inputs for reflection, share their experiences and co-create more sustainable and pro-social organizations,” says Dr Gorgi Krlev, who works at the Centre for Social Investment (CSI) of the University of Heidelberg and lead partner of the AIR project.

The aim of the ‘Accelerating Investment Readiness’ and #AirMOOC learning programme is to facilitate collaboration and knowledge exchange between stakeholders in the social innovation space, such as entrepreneurs, investors and policymakers.

The learning course will be launched on 25th of May and run for 6 weeks and offers six modules focusing on topics at the intersection of social entrepreneurship and impact investing with a specific focus on Measuring and managing Impact, Strategy, Finance, Governance, Scaling and Communication.

Participants in the #AirMOOC can learn practical skills about:

How do you best measure and manage social impact?
How do you build an integrated organizational strategy to create impact?
What is social and impact finance?
How do you master the specific governance features social ventures have?
What are the different pathways to scaling impact? How do you communicate (for) impact?

Experts involved in the #AirMOOC programme as speakers and contributors come from an impressive range of high-profile organizations and institutions, including SEIF Driving Impact Innovation, TEDx, Social Entrepreneurship Network Germany (SEND), the German Ministry of Economy in Baden-Württemberg, ResponsAbility Investments, Impact Collective Social Venture Accelerators, Enactus, PHINEO, European Venture Philanthropy Association (EVPA), Cambridge Social Ventures, Impact Hub, OECD, and Erste Bank.

The Coronavirus pandemic has revealed the need to create ventures that are creating values at the social and ecological level besides contributing to the economy. The support offered by the ‘Accelerating Investment Readiness’ (AIR) programme could empower innovators to join forces and build back a better ecosystem and tackle the devastating impact of the Covid-19.