Dubai: It’s time for business owners in the Gulf who believe they are serving a greater purpose — as opposed to just thinking about their interests — to put up their hands.
A global search is on to identify promising ‘social entrepreneurs’ and the process has just been extended to the Gulf territory. The Venture, with over $1 million in funding resources, will shortlist the 20 most suitable candidates and give them suitable exposure.
The online application process — on www.theventure.com — will run until December 15. The shortlist will be finalised early next year. The regional final will take place next February.
As important as the funding element, 20 chosen candidates get to spend a week in Silicon Valley next year where they get mentoring sessions from business leaders. At the end of the week, they can pitch for funding support from an expert panel.
Prospective GCC entries will have to make a convincing case of who benefits from the product or service the business offers. They will be specifically asked what the social, ethical or environmental purpose of their company is in their application form. “We are motivated to awarding recognition to not only good business ideas, but ones which are manifestly for the greater good and also economically successful,” a spokesperson for the programme said.
In addition, this is a fund to support start-up business, so each applicant needs to demonstrate that what they have is a real and workable business which can be sustainable from a commercial point of view and make a profit.
“It’s worth saying that there’s much more at stake for the finalists than money — each will have the opportunity to pitch their business idea to global business experts and receive advice and mentorship from leading social entrepreneurs. The exposure their business via The Venture website and the digital content created around the initiative will provide worldwide recognition for their business. What finalists are really winning is an experience that money can’t buy.”
The submissions will be reviewed by local teams and an independent panel, based on set criteria. The evaluation will look at the purpose and social impact of the idea, with the top two judging criteria being the social purpose of the project, and the viability of its business model. Each has a weightage of 30 per cent of the overall initial score.
Some high-profile names have been roped in to get the word out. Oscar nominee Chiwetel Ejiofor is one of the names helming the ‘Win the Right Way’ ads and short films brought out to coincide with The Venture search.
On whether this insistence on ‘social’ entrepreneurs makes the process that much more difficult, the spokesperson said: “A social enterprise is “a business created with a social purpose in mind, where that purpose outweighs the desire to make profit”.
“Over the last decade, some very inspirational success stories have emerged from tech start-up world. However, we believe social entrepreneurs operate in many business sectors.
“Winning entries not need to be technology-focused, and each finalist will receive advice relevant to their business. Although finalists will have the chance to receive advice from technology entrepreneurs at our boot-camp, our expert judging panel will come from a range of backgrounds, and be able to offer advice on a range of business options.”
It is the first time for this initiative, but the promoters are hopeful it can be raised to a longer term commitment. The fund promoters will not pick up a stake in the winning bids.
