DBS Foundation awards record S$3m to 19 social enterprises

Singapore

NINE employees with autism are among the artisans behind Eden+Elie, a local brand that creates handmade accessories using an intricate bead-weaving process.

The social enterprise started in 2015, and is among 19 which received grant funding from DBS Foundation. The company now has plans to expand its footprints beyond Singapore.

Stephanie Choo, founder of Eden+Elie, said: "Through the jewellery we design and produce, we provide employment for underserved communities - presently, adults with autism in Singapore . . . Their strength in focus and consistency are big contributors to the success of our brand.

"With the support of DBS Foundation, we want to bring Eden+Elie to overseas markets this year and share not only our designs but also our story of how business and impact can be integrated purposefully."

The foundation, which is the first in Singapore dedicated to championing social entrepreneurship, announced on Dec 30 that it awarded close to a record S$3 million to 19 social enterprises.

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Karen Ngui, group head, DBS strategic marketing and communications and board member of DBS Foundation, said: "There's a growing pool of young enterprises that, to us, represent the future of business. They're developing innovative solutions to solve pressing social and environmental problems, and with their dual bottom lines of profit and impact, can make a difference in a sustainable manner . . . With the prolonged pandemic, we have more than doubled our grant quantum this year so as to help more of such businesses tide through this trying period, while scaling impact."

Through the grant programme, DBS aims to identify and support the growth of innovative early-stage businesses.

Another Singapore brand that was selected as an awardee was Magorium, which developed NewBitumen - derived from plastic waste - to replace traditional (crude-derived) bitumen used for road construction.

Oh Chuxian, co-founder and CEO of Magorium, said: "It took us 3 iterations over 7 years to develop our patented technology that turns plastic waste into NewBitumen, which is used to replace traditionally derived bitumen in road construction. This enables us to improve the lifespan of roads while recycling plastic waste."

She added that waste and roads are highly regulated in Singapore, so some of the biggest challenges faced were regulations and approvals.

"Getting buy-in from investors was challenging too, especially back in mid-2019 when Magorium was founded, since awareness of the construction and waste space is relatively nascent," Oh said.

The DBS Foundation grant will help the company to commercialise its technology to recycle plastic waste on a significant scale, and produce NEWBitumen to build eco roads. It will also aid in prototyping a 3-5 tonne plastic waste system, Oh said.

The 19 social enterprises were picked from about 700 applicants across Singapore, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia and Taiwan. These businesses-for-impact will channel their funding towards enhancing and deploying their innovations, which seek to tackle issues ranging from healthcare to income disparity, and education.

The other 3 Singapore-based awardees are Alchemy Foodtech, Gentle Foods and We Are Caring.

To find out more about the DBS Foundation Social Enterprise Grant Programme and the 2021 batch of awardees, visit go.dbs.com/Grants