Deadline: March 30, 2018
Applications are open for the YGAP First Gens Accelerator Program. YGAP is searching for the most ambitious, game-changing social enterprises led by migrants and refugees in Australia. YGAP’s First Gens Accelerator Program is a powerful opportunity designed for migrant or refugee led social impact ventures in Australia that are improving the lives of people living in disadvantage.
YGAP is an international not-for-profit that backs impact entrepreneurs. They accelerate early-stage social impact ventures that exist to improve the lives of people living in disadvantage. YGAP’s First Gens program supports migrant and refugee led social impact ventures that are improving the lives of people in their community.
Funded by LaunchVIC, YGAP will be offering multiple intakes into its internationally acclaimed and proven program. Each First Gens Program will consist of a five-day live-in accelerator followed by three months of tailored support. The best part – the program is completely free. We exist simply to support and grow early-stage social impact ventures.
Program Details
- ACCELERATE: A five-day intensive entrepreneurship program designed to fast track your early-stage venture. We will provide training, mentorship and a community of inspiring, like-minded entrepreneurs who are all working towards creating a better Australia for migrants and refugees.
- SUPPORT: Following the accelerator, we provide three months of creative support, strategy sessions, monthly meetups, business mentorship, legal and accounting help and access to small grants of up to $1000. At the end of the support phase a Pitch Event is held, giving each of the entrepreneurs the opportunity to pitch to impact investors, philanthropists, entrepreneurs and industry leaders.
- GROW: The top entrepreneurs from each cohort will move into the growth phase where they will have access to an increased support package in addition to up to $25,000 of growth capital.
Eligibility
A migrant is any person who is not born in Australia, while a refugee is a displaced person who has been forced to cross national boundaries and who cannot return home safely.
This program is open to:
- Early Stage: Ventures that have launched or have at least run a pilot and shown some early traction or proof of concept. We typically look for ventures that have less than 100 customers and have been in operation less than two years.
- Migrant or Refugee Led: There must be at least one migrant or refugee co-founder who will participate in the program.
- Engaged: The founder intimately understands the problem that they are trying to solve.
- Supports Migrants & Refugees: The venture must be improving the lives of migrants or refugees who are experiencing disadvantage. This can be through a process enterprise (a venture creates change as it does its work) or a profit enterprise (a venture that sells something and directs that funding to social change).
Application
Complete the online application.
For more information, visit YGAP.
