Deadline: January 23, 2024
Applications are open for the Swiss Re Foundation Entrepreneurs for Resilience Award 2024. The Entrepreneurs for Resilience Award will support social entrepreneurs working on a hybrid delivery model to improve low-income people’s access to quality primary healthcare in low- and middle-income countries.
Digital Connected Care Coalition and the UBS Optimus Foundation are joining forces to support social entrepreneurs in the healthcare space through the Entrepreneurs for Resilience Award, pooling their experience, network, solutions and funding with these new partners.
Benefits
- Total grant of USD $700,000 for the three finalists. This amount is divided among the winning initiative (which may receive up to USD $350,000) and the two runners-up and is paid in instalments over two years.
- The finalist that wins the People’s Choice Award, determined by public online vote, will be invited to connect with potential investors at an event hosted by Sankalp Forum, one of the world’s largest platforms for impact enterprises.
- Tailored non-financial support for all three finalists, for instance:
- Technical advice from Swiss Re employees and from staff of DCCC participating organisations (such as AXA, PharmAccess and Philips).
- Training, advisory, data-gathering and/or analysis to improve business operations and strategy from LeFil Consulting representatives and others.
- Potential eligibility for follow-up funding from the UBS Optimus Foundation.
- Access to a network of like-minded peers with whom to share knowledge or experiences and from whom to learn on topics relevant to the initiative.
Eligibility
- Applicants must demonstrate high levels of social impact and ideally be able to measure it in a reliable manner (e.g. improved health indicators, reduced out-of-pocket expenses).
- Low-income populations must constitute at least 30% of applicants’ customer base. Applicants should have a deep understanding of the specific circumstances of the people – women as well as men – they serve. Priority will be given to enterprises that are gender-inclusive, that is, strive to reduce gender inequalities.
- Applicants must operate in countries that are defined as low-income or lower middle-income by the World Bank.
- Applicants must operate on a market basis. While the venture may depend on grant funding, it must demonstrate an ability to grow and scale through earned revenue.
- Applicants must have been formally established by 2021, serve at least 20000 people and have the potential to reach at least 100000 people in the next two years.
- Applicants must have a solid management team in which responsibilities are well defined and distributed. It should also have a diverse, well-structured workforce. Preference will be given to ventures with at least one female founder, or at least 30% women in the management team.
- Applicants must comply with the legal framework of the country or countries in which they operate and be allowed to receive grant funding from a Swiss nongovernmental organisation such as the Swiss Re Foundation.
Selection Criteria
Applications will be scored on the following key elements:
- Strategic fit with scope
- Social impact
- Business sustainability
- Scalability potential
- Team strength and diversity
Application
The application period runs from December 12, 2023 through January 23, 2024. Only applications submitted in English and before the deadline will be considered.
For more information, visit Entrepreneurs for Resilience Award.
