Do you have a business working to solve problems in the social or environmental sectors in South Africa? Are you trying to raise capital to scale and maintain your business? If yes, apply for the 2017 Impact Amplifier Investment Readiness Accelerator.
The phenomenon of “Impact Investing”, that is investments with the intention to generate social and environmental impact alongside a financial return, is growing rapidly in South Africa. It is increasingly recognised that entrepreneurs will have an extraordinary influence on both the South African economy and solving what have previously appeared to be intractable social challenges. Despite this realisation, finding and securing investment opportunities in South Africa, is difficult. Investors have reported that the lack of “investable opportunities” with a track record is a major constraint to scaling the impact investing industry.
Entrepreneurs that are focused on education, health care, housing, food security, financial inclusion, energy, water, and other climate adaptation/change issues are critical to creating a more socially just country. Yet, these businesses like many others also face a broad spectrum of challenges when trying to grow. These include amongst others:
- Identification of and securing access to target markets
- A clear revenue generation model, financial plan and strategic direction which leads to
- Difficulty in securing access to capital to fund growth in either capacity or different geographies.
To address some of these challenges, Impact Amplifier has created the Investment Readiness Accelerator. Its third iteration, this Accelerator is a three-month long programme designed for impact business, to prepare for expansion and funding.
Eligibility/ What are the selection criteria?
Impact Amplifier is seeking applications from any type of impact business that has the potential to growth. The programme will include up to 10 businesses in each cohort and will be run twice in 2017.
The selection process will function as follows:
- The Selection Committee will review all the applications submitted against the criteria outlined below. The top 20 applicants will be shortlisted for each cohort.
- The 20 shortlisted applicants will be contacted to request additional information and set up interviews for the final selections.
The primary criteria that will be used to shortlist the applicants will include, but not be exclusive to:
- The strength and experience of the management team and the precedent set by the team in terms of co-operation, achieving business goals, as well as developing a cohesive value proposition
- Ability of the business to be commercially viable and create long term and sustainable value through social/environmental impact
- The social/environmental issue the business is addressing. How material is this issue and what impact will the business have on it
- The business model must be scalable and replicable
- Likelihood of the business to benefit from the programme and support other businesses participating.
You can read more and apply here.
