These companies are earning awards for more than financial success. This year's Brands for Good award winners are industry disruptors, redefining modern business as they demonstrate that corporate and social responsibility, as well as solidarity, can help forge a more resilient future for the country. Here are the stories of Sequoia Group, Funding Societies and Envcares, recognised for their purpose-driven business models and how they are paying it forward to the wider community.

Leading businesses to do good

"The world has also seen the emergence of belief-driven buyers who will choose, change, boycott an organisation based on its stance on societal issues and how it impacts the communities within which it operates its business," says Jacqueline Wong, the co-founder and managing director of Sequoia Group.

The company focuses on transformational Leadership Organisation Development, and has enabled more than 10,000 leaders and 200 companies across public and private sectors to discover their "DNA for Good", a term the company coined to describe a business' purpose and core values. For instance, through engagements and implementing strategic frameworks, Sequoia is helping an MNC in a resource-intensive industry pivot to become more sustainable and invest in the long-term well-being of its employees and society as a whole.

It was recognised as an Honouree under the Leadership for Good award at the Brands for Good awards for its efforts in helping organisations leverage ESG goals to transform their businesses.

Through leadership programmes and workshops, Sequoia equips participants with the skills and frameworks to discover their deeper calling to leadership and find ways to leave lasting, positive impact for future generations.

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"The goal is to inspire more businesses to adopt sustainability as their agenda and create innovative products and services that take into account ESG goals."

Workshops and masterclasses led by Sequoia include courses on developing purpose-driven organisations, design thinking for sustainability and essentials of stakeholder engagement.

Wong says that having a clear corporate purpose is beneficial on many fronts - not only for the organisation's employees and stakeholders but also for the bottom line.

"Companies that operate with a clear purpose perform better financially. Multiple research studies have shown that many companies that are purpose driven do exceedingly well in the financial markets."

Enabling small companies to scale up

Kelvin Teo co-founded an SME digital financing and debt crowdfunding platform because he wanted to increase financial inclusivity and bring economic benefits to the region.

While traditional institutions focus on longer-term, secured financing, his company, Funding Societies, allows SMEs to obtain financing without the need to pledge collaterals. This also means that SMEs are able to gain quicker access to credit as they need not have to undergo collateral evaluation.

"SMEs are underserved by traditional financial institutions because they are often perceived as risky. We exist to empower them for growth through financing, payments and other financial services," says Teo.

The company received the Distinction award under the Technology for Good category at the Brands for Good Awards for its work in helping nearly 100,000 SMEs in the region to get access to financing.

These include companies in the wholesale and retail trade, manufacturing, construction, e-commerce and other sectors across various stages and needs. Funding Societies offers a range of financing solutions, including term loans, trade finance and cards through partners, which can range from $3,000 to $2 million.

"Many of these businesses use the funds for working capital or as bridge loans to scale their businesses," says Teo.

He adds that SMEs who turn to digital financing platforms are not only new to business loans but are also seeking top-ups to their existing bank loans. These are usually SMEs who are seeing growth opportunities and have stable cash flow to support additional debt financing. Such businesses require fast or flexible forms of financing but may not meet the strict eligibility criteria and long lead time from traditional financial institutions.

"This is where platforms like Funding Societies play a role in closing the gap - to help SMEs gain not only the funds they need but also build their track record for future financing."

One such company that has benefited from Funding Societies' financing solution, Elevate, is Shop Patrol, a Singapore based e-commerce site. The SME faced obstacles with purchasing new stock to meet growing client demand. When customers delayed payment, Shop Patrol lacked the funds to purchase the required stock. Within two weeks of using Elevate, the company was able to unlock more cash flow for consistent purchase of stocks, create a scalable payments and sales cycle to boost new business and improve efficiency by 70 per cent.

According to a survey by the Asian Development Bank, Funding Societies has helped SME/ MSME borrowers create 350,000 jobs between 2018 and 2019. It also found that Funding Societies-backed MSMEs contributed to US$3.6 billion to GDP via the multiplying impact of direct, indirect and induced effects of the economy.

The company is continuing to come up with new ways to assist SMEs in their growth. In June 2022, it launched the Accounts Payable Financing solution to provide SMEs with funds to pay for inventory even before being invoiced by their customers, through its sister company CardUp. This enables SMEs to unlock up to $500,000 of credit limit for large purchases.

Teo says that he chose to focus on SME financing because he believes that a healthy society requires a strong middle class and a thriving economy needs a solid SME base. As such, he wants to nurture internationally competitive and progressing SMEs.

"Funding Societies exists to empower SMEs for growth through financing, payments and other financial services."

Supporting food manufacturers on their green journeys

Another company recognised at the Brands for Good Awards this year is Envcares. The company received a Distinction under the Business for Good category for its role as one of the major players in sustainable waste solutions in Singapore. It has an 8,000 sqm facility in Tuas that is able to collect and process 450 tonnes of food waste a day.

In every stage of food manufacturing - from farming and packing to logistics and storage - food waste is generated. Rather than send these waste to incinerators, Envcares provides a service to make use of these upstream pre-consumer wastes and turn them into useful products, such as organic compost. The compost is made of waste streams such as biomass ash, vegetable wastes, wood shavings, eggshells, spent grains and various organic powders and malts. The compost is sold to farmers, nurseries, community gardens and consumers.

Food waste in Singapore makes up 12 per cent of total waste generated. Envcares enables food manufacturers with large scale recovering and recycling activities so that byproducts and food waste can be regenerated for other purposes.

This includes servicing a grain-based drink manufacturer to convert their byproducts into animal feed as well as take in trailer loads of expired beverages and use the drained liquids for compost manufacturing. Envcares' compost has been awarded the Singapore Environmental Council's Green Label certification.

One of the company's objectives is to help food manufacturers with their sustainability goals. Says Ong Gin Keat, Envcare's director of sustainability and business development: "Our large scale recovery and recycling activities means we're much more efficient in contributing to our customer's green journey towards a circular economy."