Deadline: 7 March 2019

Best European Social Entrepreneur are invited to apply for the 2019 Social Innovation Tournament.

This tournament is organised in a different country every year to reward and sponsor European entrepreneurs whose primary purpose is to generate a social, ethical or environmental impact.

Projects are typically related to combating unemployment, marginalisation of disadvantaged communities and promoting access to education in a wide range of fields, from education and health care to the natural or urban environment, using new technologies, new systems, and new processes.

The tournament runs in two rounds. A selection committee, comprised mainly of EIB Group experts in innovation, the environment, and other relevant disciplines, selects 15 finalists. The finalists are invited to a mentoring bootcamp to provide them with the necessary guidance to finalise their proposals. At the final event, all the finalists have to present and defend their project to a jury of social innovation specialists.

Prize Information

• All projects compete for the General Category and Special Category 1st and 2nd Prizes of EUR 50 000 and EUR 20 000 respectively, and a six-month residency at IRIS, the social incubator set up in Amarante, Portugal.
• The winner of the first Prize in General Category will also benefit from an EY mentoring voucher (half-day business-plan fine-tuning offered by EY Transaction Advisory Services in Belgium).
• In 2019, the Special Category Prizes will go to projects focusing on sustainable consumption and production (including circular economy). No winner may be awarded more than one prize.

Eligibility Criteria

The EIB Institute Tournament responds to the considerable need for greater emphasis on Social Innovation and aims to attract interest from both non-for-profit and for-profit organisations, mainly from young entrepreneurs and social enterprises, corporate responsibility departments of private-sector companies of any size, NGOs and government or local government entities and university communities. Entries from student teams are also welcome.

How to Apply

Interested applicants can apply online via given website.

For more information, please visit https://institute.eib.org/2019/02/call-for-proposals-social-innovation-tournament-2019/