With social entrepreneurship on the rise in CEE, it is becoming increasingly important for startups to acquire the necessary know-how, skills, and network of contacts before they attempt to develop into a full-grown company. And in order to grow, a startup needs – among many other things – financial support. What is the key, however, to getting investors interested? This and many others are the questions that the Investment Ready Program (IRP), run by HUB Vienna, aims to provide up-and-coming social entrepreneurs with an answer to. The programme will hold the second module of its Academy on 25-27 April.
The chronology
Before kicking off with its Academy format, the IRP held Warm Up events in six cities across CEE. Those were intensive one-day workshops in Vienna, Zagreb, and Bucharest, among others, which introduced participants to concepts like impact measurement and impact investment, as well as to a wide network of mentors, entrepreneurs, and impact investors. The startups also got to make their 90-second pitch, and the best 15 were eventually invited to proceed with the full programme. Participants include Austrian Rasenreich (see our profile of founder Mario Sinnhofer); Czech Pragulic, who offer guided tours by homeless people, and the social cooperative store Humana Nova from Croatia, and the Romanian organic food delivery service Cosul de Legume.
The Investment Ready Academy consists of three stages, which include content sessions, group learning formats, and extensive individual training and consulting. It stretches over a period of a bit over three months, in which the first module took place at the beginning of March, followed closely by the second – at the end of April. The Academy will close on 7 June with the CEE Impact Day, where the focus will be on debating the major developments and shift in the sector of social entrepreneurship.
Stay tuned for more info on the rising stars of the CEE social startup scene!
For more details on the program and the upcoming academy, visit the Investment Ready Program website or contact Lena Gansterer (Program Director).
Read more on the subject:
Franchising Social Entrepreneurship in CEE
Doing Good AND Making Money? Investment Ready Program warms up in Vienna
How to Ride a Social Business in CEE: The Investment Ready Program’s Warm-Up in Zagreb
