DBS 2019 grant for social enterprises opens

Singapore

APPLICATIONS for the 2019 cycle of the DBS Foundation Social Enterprise Grant have opened, and social entrepreneurs both local and from across Asia are invited to apply.

Launched by DBS Foundation, the programme will disburse grants ranging from S$50,000 to S$250,000 to social enterprises seeking to address social issues such as sustainability and social inclusion.

Since 2014, the grant programme has supported more than 100 social enterprises from across Asia, including Singapore, China and Indonesia.

These social enterprises have gone on to deploy social innovations in areas like environmental protection and healthcare.

One of last year's grant awardees, TreeDots, continues to make strides in solving the problem of food wastage in Singapore. It does this by redistributing unsold food supplies that are still safe for consumption to potential buyers.

Applicants would have to meet certain criteria to qualify for the grant, according to Claire Wong, head of DBS Foundation, DBS Bank.

''We are looking for business solutions that have been developed and tested in the market on a pilot scale, with sufficient market and customer response to scale up,'' she said.

The business should also ''meet complex social needs, such as access to education, widening income inequalities and poverty''.

Last year, the number of applications from India and Indonesia doubled, while the number of applications across Asia increased 10 per cent year-on-year.

Said Karen Ngui, board member of DBS Foundation and DBS head of group strategic marketing and communications: ''Over the years, we have been heartened to see a marked growth in the number of innovative entrepreneurs focused on finding ways to address many social issues in a rapidly developing Asia.''

Applications received before July 31, 2019, 2359hrs (Singapore time) will be evaluated for this cycle from August to September 2019. The grants will be awarded in November this year.

To date, DBS has reached out to more than 30,000 social enterprises and supported some 310 social enterprises with more than S$4.7 million in grant funding.

For more information about the grants, applicants may visit go.dbs.com/Grants