DBS Foundation awards new grants to 23 recipients, including SMEs
Lindsay Wong
DBS Foundation on Tuesday (Dec 6) announced 23 awardees under its flagship grant programme, which includes small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) for the first time.
The awardees’ list includes 15 social enterprises and eight SMEs. A total of S$3 million will be disbursed to them to help tackle social and environmental challenges, said the foundation in a press release.
The SMEs are the inaugural batch of DBS Foundation’s awardees for its new SME grant launched this year, which focuses on sustainability efforts.
The programme aims to impact over two million lives by providing access to areas which include healthcare and education, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 320 tonnes, among others.
With the foundation’s support, the recipients can also scale up growth by expanding to new communities, and improve their products through research and development.
In addition, the eight SMEs will focus on reducing energy consumption and food waste, as well as building sustainable supply chains.
One example is Little Green Ranger, which is looking to replace diesel generators for the construction sector with battery-powered and solar-powered ones. This will help the company reduce its carbon footprint.
Karen Ngui, group head of strategic marketing and communications at DBS, and a board member of DBS Foundation, said: “In the midst of greater economic uncertainty and escalating socioeconomic challenges, these businesses play an increasingly important role in creating new solutions to improve lives and livelihoods, and enable change.”
Since its establishment in 2014, DBS Foundation has contributed more than S$13 million in grant funding to social enterprises. It also provides access to the bank’s resources, including banking solutions, capacity and skills-building, mentorship and more.
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