YEREVAN. – On 3 May, Impact Hub and UNDP announced the launch of the second edition of Accelerate2030, an international cross-border scaling program for impact-driven ventures.
This year, ventures from 17 developing countries across 4 continents are encouraged to apply to this unique acceleration program: Armenia, Brazil, Cambodia, Colombia, Ghana, Guatemala, Malaysia, Mali, Mexico, Myanmar, Philippines, Rwanda, South Africa, Turkey, Ukraine, Venezuela, and Zimbabwe. The ventures must have successful track record and contribute to the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals.
“We are looking for ventures with proven business models that create value for their communities and are ready to scale internationally,” said Santu Boethius, initiator of Accelerate2030 and co-founder of Impact Hub Geneva. “The aim of our 9-month support program is to enable startups to grow their impact across borders and connect them to the right partners for financing their journey to scale”.
Apart from the scaling program, ventures will join a week-long bootcamp and participate in UNDP Social Good Summit in Geneva in October 2017, where they will pitch their solutions for the SDGs and connect with corporates, international organizations, social entrepreneurs and impact investors.
“Entrepreneurs are an essential component of the Social Good Summit as they present concrete solutions to the challenges of the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals. We’re proud to connect Accelerate2030 finalists to strategic partners and to provide great exposure to their solutions” noted Sarah Bel, UNDP SGS Geneva Manager.
Last year, Accelerate2030 was successfully prototyped in 10 countries, receiving 177 applications while spreading awareness on the role of the #futureofbusiness in the 2030 Agenda. Armenian project Dasaran.am was among the three international finalists.
Together with partners Accelerate2030 has provided customized coaching and mentoring support to the international finalists and, amongst other achievements, facilitated an investment in the range 300K - 1 Mill CHF. This year Accelerate2030 is expanding the reach of the program to 17 countries.
