Startmate has launched a dedicated Social Enterprise stream in its pre-accelerator program, Launch Club, to back founders building solutions to complex social and environmental challenges.
The social enterprise stream will kick off in late March, with 4-6 fully-funded scholarship places available as part of Launch Club.
Applications are open now and close on March 1. You’ll find more details to apply here.
They’ll be part of the core program, which features high-calibre peers, operator-led education, and deep community support, while introducing tailored guidance from leaders within the social enterprise ecosystem.
Serial founder, early-stage adviser, coach, and social enterprise advocate Dave Jackson, will be the cohort’s mentor, bringing 30-years of experience in tackling the challenges of scaling startups to the table.
“For over a decade, Startmate has backed ambitious people shaping what comes next,” he said.
“Supporting founders tackling society’s hardest problems is a natural extension of that mission.”
Enduring solutions
Startmate’s new CEO Phoebe Pincus said they’re looking for founders with the ambition to take on problems that truly matter, and the determination to build solutions that endure.
“Some of the most important companies of the next decade will not only create economic value, they will help reshape the systems our society depends on,” she said.
Pincus explained that Startmate defines social enterprises as organisations built to solve meaningful social or environmental problems through sustainable, scalable models.
The founders they’ll back will have impact at the core of their business model; revenue linked directly to the solution for long-term resilience; a structure that prioritises durable outcomes alongside financial sustainability; and ambition to operate at the scale the problem demands.
Startmate founders associate Louisa Lin said “We’re less interested in intention alone; and far more interested in models that make impact inevitable”.
The scholarships are open to for-profits, hybrids, and purpose-driven non-profits with a model supports independence and meaningful reach.
Apply here.
