Microsoft has launched a new Global Social Entrepreneurship program to offer qualified startups access to technology, education, customers and grants.
The global initiative is designed to help social enterprise startups build and scale their companies to do good globally. The program is available in 140 countries and will actively seek to support underrepresented founders with diverse perspectives and backgrounds.
‘‘I believe more than ever that amazing things happen when startups work together with investors, enterprises, governments, nonprofits and communities. Through Global Social Entrepreneurship, we look forward to working in close partnership with social enterprises from around the world. I can’t think of a more compelling way to help create a sustainable, accessible and equitable world,’’ Jean-Philippe Courtois — EVP and President, Microsoft Global Sales, Marketing & Operations says in a statement.
Here Is All You Need To Know
- The criteria to qualify for the program include a business metric that measures impact on an important social or environmental challenge; an established product or service that will benefit from access to enterprise customers; and a commitment to the ethical and responsible use of AI.
- Microsoft says it believes in providing the foundational building blocks to help social entrepreneurs create companies that can achieve worldwide impact.
What Social Startups Stand To Gain
- Social enterprises that become part of the Global Social Entrepreneurship program will receive access to free Microsoft cloud technologies, including up to $120,000 in Azure credits, along with technical support and guidance.
- A dedicated program manager will help Global Social Entrepreneurship startups market and sell solutions and connect to large commercial organizations and nongovernmental organizations that are potential customers.
- Participants focused on sustainability, accessibility, and skills and employability will also be eligible for grants.
- And social enterprises that join the Global Social Entrepreneurship program will be part of a worldwide community of like-minded innovators who come together to share ideas, foster connections and celebrate success.
‘‘To help us identify promising social entrepreneurs from around the world who are pursuing innovative tech-based solutions that can have a transformational impact, we’re excited to be working with organizations like MIT Solve. A marketplace for social impact innovation at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Solve currently supports more 130 teams of social entrepreneurs — more than half of which are led by women — from 36 countries. With its global reach and reputation, Solve will ensure that we recruit talented social entrepreneurs who might otherwise be overlooked,’’ Courtois further said.
Startups Microsoft Is Looking Out For
Microsoft prioritizes enterprise technology, or B2B startups who can best serve its customer base and will benefit most from the program. New member applicants are evaluated using the following criteria:
- Offering an innovative technical solution that supports customers in their digital transformation.
- Less than seven years in existence.
- Less than $25M in total annual revenue.
- Seed, Series A, B, or C stage (or validated equivalent).
Social Entrepreneurship:
- Social impact startups from around the world are welcome to apply.
- It should carry an internal business metric that addresses an important social and/or environmental challenge through your products, services, and operations.
- It should have a statement of ethics and/ or a policy of responsible AI for social impact that will generate trust from customers, partners, and the public for competitive differentiation.
- Priority selection will be for startups aligning with key Microsoft strategic initiatives — Microsoft offers qualified startups access to grants in the fields of sustainability, accessibility, and skills & employability.
- You should have an established product, service, or business model which is poised for further growth in multiple communities or countries.
- It must be engaged in the development of an owned (not licensed) software-based product or service that will form a core piece of its current or intended business.
- Its headquarters must be based in the countries covered by Microsoft’s Azure global infrastructure.
- Its funding information must be verifiable.
Read also: South Africa’s Transport Startup WhereIsMyTransport Secures $7.5m Funding To Further Scale Business
Previous Selected Startups
Microsoft has previously selected African social startups for the programme.
Zindi, the Cape Town, South Africa-based startup founded by CEO Celina Lee was a beneficiary of the programme in 2014. Zindi sees incredible opportunities to be a catalyst for applying the power of AI to challenges for businesses, nonprofits and governments in Africa. A platform for hosting online machine learning competitions, Zindi connects engineers and data scientists at every level of experience with organizations that have difficult problems that machine learning and AI can help solve. Recent Zindi competitions include a UNICEF-sponsored effort to use AI to predict the impact of flooding in Malawi, a challenge to be presented at the International Conference on Learning Representations to use computer vision to recognize crop diseases, and a competition sponsored by Tunisia’s Ministry of Finance to use AI to detect tax fraud.
Seabin Project is a similar story of lifelong passion applied to a contemporary problem. It was co-founded by Pete Ceglinski, who grew up in a small coastal town in Australia, where he learned to surf at age 8. He began his career as a product designer in Perth while still in his 20s and then became a builder of high performance boats for America’s Cup racing teams.
In 2014, Ceglinski quit his job and used his life savings to launch Seabin Project. Based on a business model pioneered by Patagonia, Seabin Project combines education and technology, with a goal of removing debris from the ocean and teaching people that if we are smarter about the use of plastics, we can keep them out of our oceans in the first place.
Named one of the world’s 50 best inventions by Time magazine in 2018 and recognized by the U.N. as a technology that can help address ocean pollution, Seabin trash skimmers are now trapping an average of 3.6 tons of marine litter per day in ports and marinas in more than 52 countries. And the devices not only collect trash, they collect data that scientists can use to better understand the impact that plastic debris has on marine life and human health.
How To Apply
To learn more and apply, please visit: https://startups.microsoft.com/en-us/social-entrepreneurship/
Charles Rapulu Udoh
Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer who has advised startups across Africa on issues such as startup funding (Venture Capital, Debt financing, private equity, angel investing etc), taxation, strategies, etc. He also has special focus on the protection of business or brands’ intellectual property rights ( such as trademark, patent or design) across Africa and other foreign jurisdictions.
He is well versed on issues of ESG (sustainability), media and entertainment law, corporate finance and governance.
He is also an award-winning writer.
He could be contacted at udohrapulu@gmail.com