Deadline: 31 July 2019

The DBS Foundation (DBSF) is currently accepting applications for its Social Enterprise Grant Programme that enables social enterprises to add critical capabilities to achieve sustainability and scale up their existing business that leads to greater social impact.

The Foundation also partners social enterprise developers to facilitate knowledge sharing and build the capacity of social enterprises to achieve social and commercial viability. These partners provide incubation, bootcamps, workshops and some financial support to social enterprises.

The DBS Foundation focuses on building a more inclusive Asia by championing social entrepreneurship and encouraging the development of businesses for good. The Foundation is an endeavour from DBS Bank to make an even greater impact in addressing Asia’s evolving social needs.

Grant Information

DBS Foundation will offer grants between SGD 50,000 and SGD 250,000 to social enterprises who have a product market fit, demonstrated traction in sales and revenue, clear social impact and are ready to scale up.

Criteria

• The DBS Foundation Social Enterprise Grant Programme is open for application from social enterprises registered and operating in China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Singapore and Taiwan.
• They want to support social enterprises in scaling their businesses through improving operational capacity, innovation capabilities, extending geographical reach, and thereby increasing their social impact.
• The social enterprise seeking the grant must:
  • Have a business product/solution that has been validated in the market, as evidenced by revenue generation and/or traction in client acquisition, with clear plans to scale up business; and
  • Be committed to a social mission and have a clear roadmap towards scaling social impact.
• Some examples of how a DBS Foundation Social Enterprise Grant may be used:
  • Expand to new regions/markets
  • Increase production capacity
  • Establish/strengthen a brand
  • Improve operational efficiency
  • Build or structure a team
  • Enhance social impact measurement/management
  • Protect intellectual property

Evaluation Criteria

The Foundation evaluates grant applications on the following criteria:

• Innovation
  • Extent to which the solution is different from the status quo
  • Extent to which social enterprise maintains innovation and continuous improvement
• Social Impact
  • Clarity of social problem, stakeholders/beneficiaries, evidence-based impact metrics
  • Robustness of theory of change supported by social enterprise model
• Business viability
  • Established market demand for the social enterprise’s product service offering
  • Strength of customer acquisition strategy and revenue model
  • Clear financial track record and realistic projections
• Scalability of business and social impact
  • Feasibility of scale-up plans based on identified key growth drivers and milestones
  • Operational ability to implement scale-up plans over the next 24 months
• Team Strength
  • Founder’s vision and commitment to achieving scale in profits and social impact
  • Management team’s experience and ability to achieve the growth targets

How to Apply

• Applicants must download the application form and send it via email at the address given on the website.
• Submissions should be made in English, Chinese or Bahasa Indonesia only.

For more information, please visit https://www.dbs.com/dbsfoundation/grant-programme/default.page