Oana Coșman
4GOOD, Startarium’s latest program for social entrepreneurs and NGOs, is a business accelerator offering EUR 30,000 in funding. In addition to financial support, 4GOOD includes 9 months of mentoring, consulting and training in finding and implementing the impact scaling strategy. Registrations are open until December 5th.
Startarium 4GOOD is the third program launched this year by Startarium, the entrepreneurial education platform initiated by Impact Hub Bucharest and ING in 2016. Startarium 4GOOD follows Startarium RE: BUILD ( consulting and resources for businesses destabilised by the pandemic ) and the first edition of Startarium FOCUS ( a focused mentoring series ).
This program marks the beginning of a new Startarium series dedicated to social impact: programs, resources and events that will take place throughout the coming year. The initiative is aimed at both social entrepreneurs and NGOs, as well as at support organizations and investors interested in impact investment.
Registration is open until December 5th for the first activation in this social series: the 4GOOD accelerator, offering EUR 30,000 in funding and 9 months of guidance to grow exponentially: both financially and as increased positive impact on society. All details on www.startarium.ro
The 4GOOD differentiator: amplifying impact through productization
A specific business term, the productization process involves the transformation of services, processes or skills into marketable products; especially in order to better serve a larger market.
In Startarium 4GOOD, social businesses and participating NGOs will both adopt an entrepreneurial view of their mission: they will work to increase their social impact, but also to ensure their sustainability and financial autonomy.
“A healthy business is built around the problem it solves for the client, for the market in which it operates. It can sustain growth when it makes financially sound decisions, not only for today, but also for tomorrow. These are the same healthy premises that we applied when, together with Impact Hub Bucharest, we built Startarium: an initiative that has proven its domino effect, guiding and accompanying entrepreneurs on their path to launching or growing a sustainable business for over 5 years now. We are convinced that social businesses are not <<islands>> in the City of Entrepreneurs, but the optimal way to do business in the prosperous economy to come. I am happy that, through a global ING partnership, we are launching a new Startarium component, for today's and tomorrow's healthy businesses: 4GOOD.” , says Alexandra Maier, Sustainability Manager, ING.
For social businesses and NGOs that can already prove a history of impact
Businesses or NGOs that can already demonstrate a history of social impact with convincing results are invited to apply to the program. To advance to the pitching stage for EUR 30,000, they will propose scaling methods based on productization, through which they can amplify their impact to hundreds of thousands of beneficiaries.
“Throughout the accelerators and incubators we have organised and been part of, social entrepreneurs have always been the ones who best understand the problem they want to solve. For them, Startarium 4GOOD provides clarity, motivation and an inspiring vision of their potential for impact. 4GOOD is a challenge to accelerate their growth, accompanied by clear processes for product development and creating long-term sustainability. ”, says Irina Simulescu | Program Manager, Impact Hub Bucharest
All applicants begin the training. Only ten will pitch for 30,000 EUR
In March 2022, after two months of training, ten participants in the program will be chosen to give their pitches for funding. A maximum of three will win financing of EUR 30,000 in total.
The winners will continue the program, where they will use the funding to develop, test and implement their proposed solution, with the guidance of the 4GOOD team of specialists. At the end, in autumn 2022, they will once again have the opportunity to present their solution, transformed, in front of the public and independent investors.
Registration runs until December 5 and participation is free for all.
