Notice: Function _load_textdomain_just_in_time was called incorrectly. Translation loading for the acf domain was triggered too early. This is usually an indicator for some code in the plugin or theme running too early. Translations should be loaded at the init action or later. Please see Debugging in WordPress for more information. (This message was added in version 6.7.0.) in /home/hbettera/public_html/2021/wp-includes/functions.php on line 6131
Women – Page 2 – Better Incubation
Better Incubation is a project by LIAISE
info@betterincubation.eu

Category: Women

BETTER INCUBATION CONTEST 2022 | SCALING IMPACT WINNERS

Posted on by Better Incubation

We are glad to officialy announce the winners of the Better Incubation Contest 2022 | Scaling Impact.

We received 20 applications that entered a 3 step evaluation process. Following a first screening based on eligibility criteria, 14 applications entered the second evaluation stage where each entry was assessed by two jury members.

Better Incubation Contest 2022 Scaling Impact Jury

  • Vera Egreja Barracho, Social Innovation Expert
  • Selcen Kutku, Manager and Co-Head of a|cube
  • Kelly Robin, Deputy Managing Director of PULSE
  • Flora Rosenow, Brand and Communications Strategy
  • Tobias Temmen, Managing Director of Solarpunk VC

Based on the evaluations performed individually by the jury experts, 7 semi-finalists were invited for an online interview and a final discussion among jury members took place.

At the end of the process, the following ventures were selected to benefit from the Better Incubation Scaling Programme, powered by EBN, IHUB and EVPA. Find here some informatuon about their ideas:

ARBO TECHNOLOGIES

ARBO Technologies founded on 2021 by a group of 7 entrepreneurs based in Brno in Czech Republic. They develop analytical tools to evaluate non-forest trees. The aim is to enable them to prolong their age which maximizes the positive environmental benefits that trees bring in the cities, focused on scale-up in Europe & especially in the Netherlands.

By implementing their business idea, they are focusing on the promotion of SDGs 3, 11, 13 and 15 related to health, sustainability of cities, combating climate change and improving life in rural area. Arbo Technologies pays special attention to the preservation of the existing trees and fields in order to store as much CO2 as possible and thus generate a positive impact on the fight against climate change.

They also focus their efforts on raising awareness and educating people about the importance and the benefits of trees (as climate change affects everyone on the planet) and they are committed to prioritizing existing trees. Moreover they collect data on how effects affect trees through digitization and the use of big data & new technologies. Their latest objective is to go to Singapore and achieve more than 100 FTE around the world.

SALUBATA

SALUBATA is a group of 4 entrepreneurs based in Paris, France founded in 2020. SALUBATA creates personalized shoes entirely from recycled material. They are reusing plastic waste from rivers, oceans, and wells which are currently blocked by tons of waste. That way they help in the improvement of life quality of the communities living in the area.

Their advantage is that their shoes are 75% cheaper compared to their direct competitors. Until now they PRODUCED just over 6000 shoes from plastic waste and they expect to be able to avoid 127.500.000 tonnes of CO2 in 5 years period. Also, 5% of every shoe’s profit goes to empower women.

They are focused on scale-up their idea along Europe thus recently they have secured an agreement with Amazon with the aim of scaling up to the 7 major European countries and reaching more than 100,000 customers in North Africa to improve the supply chain.

Lastly they focus on supporting SDGs 12 and 13 related to the circular economy and climate change, especially on fighting against plastic waste and promoting reuse.

NEEDS MAP

Needs Map is a group of 17 entrepreneurs based in Istanbul, Turkey founded in 2016. Needs Map is a map-based digital platform that brings people in need together with individuals, institutions and organizations that want to support. It facilitates cooperation and solidarity through proven map technology and community-based verification function.

Needs Map focuses on poverty reduction, humanitarian assistance and disasters, related with the SDGs 1, 13. Needs Map aims to support local economic development and solve the problem of economic and social inequality at the stage of access to opportunities through humanitarian aid. It contributes to strengthening the solidarity and trusting environment among people and to revive local/global partnerships.

Needs Map aims to solve the problem of inequality and inequality of opportunity for all underserved communities and individuals in general. They have been successfully implemented and become fully operational in all regions of Turkey for 7 years now. The fact that many different needs in many different regions can be met through a single online system shows that Needs Map is applicable to other geographical contexts. Needs Map is very flexible in adapting to different geographies, as it does not need many human labor resources and a warehouse.

Their scalability plan is to be established in 3 EU and in 2 African countries to reach more opportunities thought their GIS platform, offering allocation perspective to problems and solutions with a map-based user interface where needs and supports are determined geographically. They bring transparency to the needs of those in need by allowing them to express their own needs, and enables supporters to support those in need in their neighborhood or anywhere else. It contributes to the increase of solidarity among people and the formation of a culture of trust.

The system proceeds with 3 components: Data Collection, Location-based web forms, Real-Time Visualization and Analysis. Needs Map details and visualizes data down to street names. It is easier for local governments to see the needs in their own field and act accordingly, for companies, by determining the needs provided on the platform, it is easier to implement social responsibility projects for the target audience throughout the country. Peer to peer transactions, reducing carbon emissions of social solidarity materials, easy scaling with local partners and contactless aid distribution can be added as features that make us unique among other institutions / organizations.

The three winners will be matched with experts from EBN, IHUB and EVPA that will offer them remote and in-person coaching and incubation services.

 

Better Incubation #6 Newsletter is out

Posted on by Better Incubation

The sixth issue of the Better Incubation Newsletter describes the upcoming opportunities :

  • Better Incubation Contest 2022 | Scaling Impact – deadline to apply is September 1st, 2022
  • Better Incubation Toolkit is out
  • Future activities and events
  • Focus on the upcoming Switch Pitch appointments

Find out more information about Better Incubation news by reading the newsletter here : Better Incubation Newsletter 6_August 2022

EU Award for Gender Equality Champions | First Edition

Posted on by Better Incubation

This new award is the European Commission’s initiative to recognise and celebrate the outstanding results achieved in the implementation of gender equality by academic and research organisations.

The application process to this first edition of the EU Award for Gender Equality Champions is now open. Deadline for applications is 13 October 2022 at 17.00 (CET).

The EU Award for (Academic) Gender Equality Champions aims to

The prize also intends to raise public awareness of the importance of addressing gender equality in academic and research organisations through institutional change and incentivise a high degree of commitment to implementing inclusive gender equality plans.

The prize will create a community of champions which can inspire other academic and research organisations to become gender equality champions themselves.

The European Research Executive Agency (REA) manages the prize and its winners are selected by an independent expert jury for each prize category.

There are 3 prize categories:

Sustainable Gender Equality Champions | Organisations that can demonstrate a significant and sustained record of activity and a high level of achievement through the implementation of their Gender Equality Plan. Apply now

Newcomer Gender Equality Champions | Organisations that have recently started implementing a Gender Equality Plan and can demonstrate the most progress in its implementation and achieved results. Apply now

Inclusive Gender Equality Champions | Organisations that have developed the most innovative inclusive Gender Equality Plan addressing intersections with other social categories such as ethnicity, social origin, sexual orientation and gender identity (LGBTI+) or disability. Apply now

Applicants (universities, higher education institutions, and research performing organisations -public or private – established in an EU country or a Horizon Europe Associated Country) can only apply to 1 of these 3 categories.

Each prize winner will receive €100,000.

There will be 2 winners in the prize category Sustainable Gender Equality Champions, 1 winner in the prize category Newcomer Gender Equality Champions, and 1 winner in the prize category Inclusive Gender Equality Champions.

Check out all the information about the call, the eligibility and award criteria here 

Source: https://ec.europa.eu/info/research-and-innovation/funding/funding-opportunities/prizes/eu-award-gender-equality-champions_en 

A new push for the Social Economy. The European Parliament approves the report on SEAP

Posted on by Better Incubation

On the 6th July 2022, the European Parliament’s plenary session, held in Strasbourg, approved the INI Report on the EU Action Plan for the Social Economy, prepared by rapporteur Jordi Cañas MEP and by the Employment and Social Affairs Committee, with 493 votes in favour, 75 againts and 69 abstentions. The report constitutes a key input from the European Parliament to the Social Economy Action Plan (SEAP) launched by the European Commission in December 2021, that the Co-Chair of the Social Economy Intergroup Patrizia Toia MEP (S&D, IT) has defined as a game changer for the future EU social economy enterprises and organisations.

The European Parliament’s Social Economy Intergroup (SEIG), as a cross-partisan grouping of more than 80 MEPs engaged with the social economy as a driver of sustainable development and opportunities for all, has been calling for such an EU Action Plan in favour of the Social Economy since 2014, and now wants to push for an ambitious implementation. The recently approved INI report constitutes a positive step in that direction providing relevant feedback to the European Commission, Member States, and social economy stakeholders.

What the European Parliament’s and its Social Economy Intergroup would like to see:

●  A common EU level definition of the social economy based on its main principles and features as presented in the Social Economy Action Plan, in the framework of the Council Recommendation on developing social economy framework conditions that the European Commission is currently preparing and will propose to the Council in early 2023. The Intergroup calls on the Commission and Member States to urgently approve this recommendation that will serve as a compass to modernise social economy policy and legal frameworks, promoting upwards convergence.

●  Improve access to finance and to EU funding: deploying financial tools proposing a comprehensive and fitted approach of the specific needs of social economy enterprises and organisations (e.g., patient capital), that should be eligible and promoted through all EU programmes, such as, the InvestEU, the ESF+, the ERDF, Horizon Europe, the CERV, or the Single Market Programme, among others. Furthermore, it urges MS to use the Recovery and Resilience Facility to invest in social economy projects driving fair green and digital transitions. It also supports the report’s proposal to set-up a specific state aid regime for social economy enterprises mostly employing individuals in a situation of vulnerability, such as people with disabilities among other collectives. The EP and the SEIG will closely follow initiatives such as the EU Single Social Economy Gateway, an online platform that should be running in 2023, that aims to improve access to information on EU funding/finance and capacity building opportunities for social economy entities.

●   More women and young people in the social economy, through actions to improve its visibility as an employer and entrepreneurial model, but also through specific training as the Youth Entrepreneurship Policy Academy, further use of Erasmus Plus and Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs opportunities and mainstreaming in all levels of education. The report notes that women often make more than 60 % of the workforce in the social economy, and that gaps in pay and leadership have been reported to be lower; and calls on the Commission and the Member States to remove all barriers for women to achieve gender equality; calls for the strengthening of the gender dimension in policies and access to funding for women engaged in social economy entities.

●  More innovation, unlocking the full potential of the social economy to drive fair green and digital transitions, providing solutions for the sustainable development of local communities, and better data collection on the social economy’s socio-economic weight.

The rapporteur Jordi Cañas MEP (Renew, ES), SEIG Vice-Chair commented: With this report, the European Parliament has shown its resolve to elevate the social economy and its key principles, social inclusion, solidarity, and justice, to the place it deserves in the EU policy debate. More importantly, it has put on the table some proposals to pave the way and accompany the powerful transformation and consolidation the social economy is undergoing. The social economy has a strong ally in the European Parliament.

Katrin Langensiepen MEP (Greens/EFA, DE), SEIG Vice-Chair and shadow rapporteur commented: With this report the European Parliament clearly stresses the importance of social economy in the green transition and future of work. We particularly welcome the gender mainstreaming and the demand to facilitate funding for women. Nevertheless, we Greens would have preferred a more ambitious paper including the establishment of a label and a common definition for social economy enterprises to increase their visibility. We hope that this will come in the next steps.

Patrizia Toia MEP (S&D, IT), Co-Chair commented: The European Parliament has been at the forefront of pushing ahead social economy in the priorities of the work of the EU institutions. It represents the due recognition that is owed to these crucial realities, which have proved to be resilient and therefore a true engine of our socioeconomic development. Now we have a structured Plan, with clear objectives: we absolutely need to match these ambitions with concrete means and funds provided by the different EU sectoral programs. We are ready to continue our work in the second part of this legislature to ensure proper follow up and implementation.

Monica Semedo MEP (Renew, LU), Co-Chair commented: Social enterprises make a positive contribution to society. I am especially keen to see innovative ideas and entrepreneurship for a more inclusive society. The report is a clear message to show how important social economy enterprises are to the European Parliament and that we want them to grow and be able to have easier cross-border cooperation. 

Claude Gruffat MEP (Greens/EFA, FR), Co-Chair commented: Social Economy must become THE economy. This report is a key step for further achievements like financing the large-scale development of the Social Economy in Europe, using a European Fairtrade label, for instance.

Juan Antonio Pedreño President of Social Economy Europe said: This report points in a positive direction and has gathered a wide support from 493 MEPs, that would like to see an ambitious implementation of the Social Economy Action Plan. The role of the EP and of its Social Economy Intergroup is more relevant than ever to support the Commission, Member States, and social economy stakeholders in further boosting the social economuy across Europe, scaling up from 6.3% of all EU jobs today to 10% by 2030.

For more information,  please contact Victor Meseguer, director of SEE, the organisation providing the technical secretariat of the Social Economy Intergroup: director@socialeconomy.eu.org

Source: https://www.socialeconomy.eu.org/2022/07/06/pr-the-ep-approved-report-on-seap-by-a-large-majority/ 

 

BETTER INCUBATION CONTEST 2022 | SCALING IMPACT

Posted on by Better Incubation

If you are an entrepreneur with an innovative solution to a social or environmental challenge and you are ready to scale it nationally or internationally, join the Better Incubation Contest to grow your impact with a wide community of business intermediaries, investors and other entrepreneurs.

About the contest

Organised by the European Business and Innovation Centre Network (EBN), Impact Hub and the European Venture Philanthropy Association (EVPA), the Better Incubation Contest 2022 | Scaling Impact aims at selecting the 3 most scalable solutions to social and environmental challenges developed by impact ventures led or founded by entrepreneurs belonging to one of the Better Incubation target groups: women, seniors, people with disabilities, migrants and refugees, youth. 

Better Incubation is a 2-year programme (2021 – 2022) funded by the European Union Programme for Employment and Social Innovation. The aim of Better Incubation is to foster inclusive and social entrepreneurship in Europe by mobilising and empowering Business Support Organisations (BSOs) to effectively help the social enterprises and potential entrepreneurs from the so called underrepresented groups to grow their businesses. Read more here.

Objectives

We are looking for innovative ventures with a clear social and/or environmental mission founded/co-founded and/or led /co-led by entrepreneurs representing one (or more) of the target groups Better Incubation programme is focussing on:  women, migrants or refugees, youth, seniors and people with disabilities.

We are looking for entrepreneurs addressing one or more Sustainable Development Goals and who are willing to explore growing and scaling their innovative solution either nationally or internationally with the support of Better Incubation network of networks: a unique community of EU|BICs (quality-certified business innovation centres), Impact Hubs and Investors for Impact committed to support innovative impact ventures in Europe and beyond. 

Three selected entrepreneurs will be matched with incubation experts that will accompany their scaling trajectory through remote coaching and mentoring sessions; will benefit from a full immersion week at an EU|BIC located in the targeted destination area; and will pitch their solution to an investors panel during the Better Incubation final event that will be held in Brussels on December 2nd, 2022 within the EVPA Impact Week. This event represents the premier event for the investing for impact community in Europe with more than 700+ social investors expected to join. The contest winners will be awarded with a free ticket to join the Impact Week and will have the unique chance to pitch on stage in front of social investors to bring their venture forward. Also travel expenses to Brussels for the contest winners will be covered.

The Better Incubation scaling support has a value of approximately 7000 €, this includes 15 hours of coaching in total from all three networks EBN, Impact Hub and EVPA experts, 1 week incubation programme, travel and accommodation costs to attend the Better Incubation events and the incubation programme in the targeted destination.

Why join the contest? 

The Better Incubation scaling support is aimed at helping the three finalists:

  • Articulate the social value proposition, identifying why and how the proposed solution addresses unmet needs in the chosen location.
  • Access to appropriate sector and local experts.
  • Assess the team competencies and consider how their business model will adapt to the new environment.
  • Understand investors’ perspective so they can develop a pitch for the Better Incubation final conference in Brussels and for potential partners in the targeted destination.

The Better Incubation Contest 2022 | Scaling Impact offers to the winners:

  • Networking: Three best finalists will be exposed to a wide network of BSOs (EBN, IHUB) and investors (EVPA) interested in supporting impact driven ventures during the Better Incubation events that will take place in Slovenia, 19-20 October 2022 and Better Incubation Final Conference on 2 December 2022. 
  • Mentoring & Coaching: Three best finalists will have access to a virtual 1:1 coaching programme provided by EVPA and Impact Hub experts (15 hours in total). 
  • Scaling – full immersion week: Three best finalists will be also eligible for one-week physical incubation provided by an EBN member – business support organisation in the target country. If interested, the winners can join the 2022 EBN Techcamp powered by Better Incubation (19-20 October 2022 – Sežana, Slovenia), where they can meet the incubators that will host them in the targeted country.
  • Pitching: The three finalists will be given an opportunity to present their business ideas at the Final Conference of the Better Incubation Project to be held in Brussels, 2 December 2022 within the EVPA Impact Week. 
  • Publicity: The three finalists will receive mentions in the Better Incubation and partner networks, including press releases, posts and social media. 

Call application

Better Incubation will offer scaling up services to three selected entrepreneurs willing to grow and scale their solutions to a wider national or international level. 

The call opens on June 21st, 2022, and closes on September 1st, 2022 (23.59 CET). 

APPLY NOW

The following information is requested:

  1. General information 
  2. Applicant Information (entrepreneur and venture)
  3. Solution description 
  4. Scalability
  5. Innovation
  6. Impact
  7. Motivation and Expectations

Check this document to see how the application form is structured and the required information for each section. 

Proposal Evaluation and Selection

All proposals submitted before the deadline will pass an eligibility check (see eligibility criteria). Proposals passing the eligibility check will be assessed through a transparent evaluation process that will be managed by EBN and led by internal and external experts.

If a solution scores high enough in the assessment criteria, reaching the minimum threshold, it is eligible for the scaling programme. 

This means that:

  1. Each entry meeting the eligibility criteria will be assessed by a minimum of 2 jury members.
  2. Based on the average of Jury members’ scores, we shortlist only the solutions that reach the threshold
  3. We rank them based on the scores they received and we invite the top 5 for an online interview with the jury panel during the week commencing the 12th September 2022. 
  4. Final rank will be elaborated and we will award the best three ones.

Communication between the Better Incubation team and applicants during the application assessment process will be carried out primarily via email. It is therefore recommended that applicants notify Better Incubation if they change the email address they apply with during the application process.  

Eligibility criteria

In order to be eligible to apply and participate, applicants must meet the following criteria:

  • Their companies must be founded by entrepreneurs from one of the following groups: women, people with disabilities, migrants or refugees, youth (18-29) or seniors (over 50).
  • Must have a clearly established social and/or environmental mission.
  • Must be an SME, startup company or a foundation that is a legal entity (legal person) such as a private law company, association or foundation, that is fully registered under the laws of a European Union Member State, or an EaSI Progress Axis associated country.
  • The venture must be already in existence for more than 1 year.

Assessment Criteria

One the eligibility check is performed, the Jury will review and evaluate the nominations using the following criteria and scoring:

  • Solution description > This criterion will assess the proposed solution in terms of how it will address the proposed challenge, on how it will implement the proposed solution, its feasibility and the involvement of stakeholders.  (15 points)
  1. Scalability >  This criterion assesses the scalability of the proposed solution, considering both the scaling up trajectory of an already existing product/service, and the future scalability of the solution. (15 points)
  2. Innovation dimension > This criterion assesses the innovative capacity of the proposed solution. (10 points)
  3. Impact > This criterion assesses how the solution is going to generate social impact (15 points)
  4. Motivation > This criterion assesses the elevator pitch submitted by the applicant -120 seconds. (10 points)

65/65 is the max scoring. The minimum threshold for accessing the programme is 35/65.

Competition timeline 

Timetable and deadlines
Contest launch  21 June 2022 
Applications due 1 September 2022 23:59 CET
Evaluation  2 September –  23 September2022
3 Finalists announced week commencing 26 September 2022
Mentoring and Coaching  September- November 2022
Incubation (1 week)  September – November 2022

Winners can also join the “Techcamp 2022 |Better Incubation” taking place in Sezana, Slovenia the 19-20 October 2022 where they will connect with the EU|BIC that will host them in the targeted destination
Pitching session(s) 1-2 December 2022 (Better Incubation Final Event at EVPA Impact Week)

Useful information

Applications for the EU Prize for Women Innovators 2022 are open

Posted on by Better Incubation

The European Innovation Council (EIC) launched the ninth edition of the EU Prize for Women Innovators. The Prize celebrates the women entrepreneurs behind Europe’s game-changing innovations, to inspire more women to follow their footsteps.

The EU Prize for Women Innovators is funded under Horizon Europe, the EU research and innovation programme. The EIC will award three prizes of €100,000 each to the most inspiring women innovators across the EU and Associated Countries, including Ukraine. To mark the European Year of Youth, the EIC will be awarding a further three prizes of €50 000 each to promising ‘Rising Innovators’ under the age of 35.

Mariya Gabriel, Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, opened the competition today on International Women’s Day in the French city of Strasbourg.

Commissioner Gabriel said: “The empowerment of women and girls is at the core of our European values and goals. Throughout my portfolio, we aim to foster environments that help women succeed, and lead in their respective fields. This year, we highlight some key initiatives undertaken to support women in science, innovation, culture and education.”

The prize is open to women from all EU Member States and countries associated to Horizon Europe, who have founded an innovative company.

The deadline for applications is 18 August 2022 at 17:00 (CET). The prize is managed by the European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency, and the winners are chosen by an independent expert jury.

Discover more details and find the application form here

For further information about the EU Gender Equality Strategy and European Commission’s support for women in research, science and education is available here > Gender equality in research and innovation

Source: https://eic.ec.europa.eu/news/eu-prize-women-innovators-2022-now-open-applications-2022-03-08_en 

Better Incubation Inclusive Entrepreneurship Workshop Series

Posted on by Better Incubation

Discover how to make your incubation services more inclusive and supportive of entrepreneurs from underrepresented groups.

The transition to an inclusive and green economy is gaining momentum. To build a better future, one that’s good for people and the planet, we need better business. Now is the time to bring your services closer to the whole of society.

If you have responsibility for designing and implementing entrepreneur incubation services or support programs, this curated series of online events will help you identify ways to modify your offerings for people from groups underrepresented in the enterprise sector.

Come together with practitioners, social entrepreneurs, subject matter experts and leading impact sector organisations to be:

  • Inspired by a range of best practices and insights related to specific underrepresented groups
  • Connected with like-minded peers, with whom you can learn from and collaborate with
  • Enabled to modify your services with knowledge and methodologies you can implement your teams

We start the workshop series with an exploration of common cultural and structural barriers facing groups underrepresented in the enterprise sector, taking a more intersectional perspective before moving on to deep dives on specific groups, offering inspiration and guidance based on actions and methodologies already successfully implemented on the ground across Europe, to support implementation of inclusive practice.

Introduction to Inclusive Entrepreneurship Inclusive Entrepreneurship Deep Dives 
Migrants and refugees Women Youth Seniors People with disabilities
29 March 20 April 10 May 31 May 22 June 12 July
10am-12pm CET 10am-12.30pm CET 10am-12.30pm CET 10am-12.30pm CET 10am-12.30pm CET 10am-12.30pm CET

 

Who should you expect?

Introduction to Inclusive Entrepreneurship

Join a panel of impact sector leaders to explore cross-cutting barriers to underrepresented groups in the enterprise sector, and participate in a discussion about what has been and can be done to change things for the better and to create a just and inclusive economy. You will also connect with and learn from peers from other business support organisations.

Panel: Max Bulakovskiy, Policy Analyst, OECD; Tatiana Glad, Executive Director, Impact Hub Network; Shannon Pfohman, Policy & Advocacy Director, Caritas Europa.

Inclusive Entrepreneurship Deep Dives

The next five workshops will each focus on a specific underrepresented group – Migrants & refugees; Women; Youth; Seniors; People with disabilities. Each workshop will create a safe and supportive space to offer inspiration and guidance for business support organisations, based on actions and methodologies already successfully implemented on the ground across Europe, to support implementation of inclusive practice.

You will learn from subject matter experts, social entrepreneurs with lived experiences of the challenges being explored, and business support organisations leading the way in developing and delivering inclusive incubation services. Line-ups for each workshop will be announced soon.

 

Who is this workshop series for?

These workshops are designed to support people with responsibility for designing and implementing entrepreneur incubation services or support programs, for example program or service managers.  If you work for an organisation that provides business support to entrepreneurs, and you are interested in how you can develop new or modify existing services to make them more inclusive, then these workshops are for you!

There will be a range of experience in the room, from people with years of experience supporting people from underrepresented groups to grow their businesses, to people who are only just starting to think about how they can make their offerings more inclusive of social entrepreneurs and people from underrepresented groups. Some may be building a service from scratch while others will be modifying existing programmes. 

Please note that the workshop content is based on European practice, perspectives and knowledge. However, if you work for a business support organisation operating outside of Europe, you are still very much welcome to participate and hopefully find value in the space created.

 

What is Better Incubation?

Better Incubation is a 2-year programme (2021 – 2023) funded by the European Union Programme for Employment and Social Innovation, and is led by three network organisations: The European Business and Innovation Centre Network, Impact Hub and the European Venture Philanthropy Association.

The aim of Better Incubation is to foster inclusive and social entrepreneurship in Europe by mobilising and empowering Business Support Organisations (BSOs) with capacities to effectively help the social enterprises and potential entrepreneurs from underrepresented groups to grow their businesses. Read more here.

 

How can you participate?

Please sign up here for as many sessions as you wish!

After completing the sign up for, you will receive joining details enabling you to register for the workshops that are of interest to you. 

If you have any questions about this workshop series please reach out to: info@betterincubation.eu. 

WEgate Policy Brief “Toward strategic policy framework for women entrepreneurship” is out

Posted on by Better Incubation

On the International Women’s Day, we are happy to share with you the brand new Policy Brief of the WEgate thematic group on women’s entrepreneurship policy: Toward strategic policy framework for women entrepreneurship

The report highlights the key challenges and recommendations for policymaking in four areas: gender mainstreaming, evidence-based policymaking, finance & funding for women entrepreneurs, and stakeholders’ engagement in policy development. For each policy area, a set of recommendations is being proposed, targeting policymakers at both the European and national levels.

Find out more about the WEgate thematic working group on women’s entrepreneurship policy and read the policy brief with recommendations here.

 

About WEgate

A growing and diverse number of stakeholders are engaging to support women entrepreneurs across Europe. The European Gateway for Women’s entrepreneurship WEgate is an e-platform launched by the European Commission to support this network.

EBN is a proud member of the WEgate Community Council.

 

Source: https://wegate.eu/news-events/news/check-out-our-first-policy-brief-%E2%80%9Ctoward-strategic-policy-framework-women 

Collection of Best Practices in Inclusive Entrepreneurship Support Programmes published

Posted on by Michaela Lednova

Better Incubation: Collection of Best Practices in Inclusive Entrepreneurship Support Programmes features 10 case studies from Impact Hub, EBN and other partner organisations to showcase different programmatic approaches on how to support vulnerable entrepreneurs.

The document took inspiration from the work carried out by the Better Incubation Communities of practice through the process of collecting the best practices, tools and resources related to each of the five target groups – women, migrants and refugees, youth, seniors and people with disabilities.

Our aspiration is to offer some practical insights for business support organisations, NGOs, local/national policymakers, funders and other stakeholders, to be applied in the design and implementation of inclusive incubation and support programmes, strategies and policies.

Collection of Best Practices in Inclusive Entrepreneurship

 

 

 

Better Incubation Communities of Practice for Women / Gabriela Matouskova : Supporting social entrepreneurs’ wellbeing for social change

Posted on by Michaela Lednova

Continuing our interviews presenting social innovation experts and inspirational entrepreneurs collaborating with us in the Better Incubation project, we thought this would be a great opportunity to introduce Gabriela Matouskova, a social entrepreneur passionate about wellbeing and using business as a force for good.

Gabriela is the CEO of Hope 4 The Community, the social enterprise providing organisations with affordable, face-to-face and digital products and services to empower people to manage their wellbeing, and the founder of Grow Consult, the social enterprise consultancy helping small and micro social enterprises to achieve their potential and create change.

She has joined the Better Incubation international Community of Practice for women, where she shares her hands-on experience with the incubation practitioners so that practical and real challenges of female entrepreneurs are reflected in the process of business incubation.

We are also looking forward to seeing Gabriela at 2021 EBN Congress as one of the speakers in the session ‘Beyond mainstream incubation: Supporting social and inclusive entrepreneurship  for social impact’ on 15th September.

 Q : Gabriela, you have been engaged in social /inclusive entrepreneurship projects for more than 20 years. If you were to write a book about yourself, how would you name it?

 G : The Big Social. I feel too young to have a memoir so it would cover stories of other social entrepreneurs and their businesses. All of it – the good, the bad – there is so much to learn from others.

Q : Looking back in time, what inspired you to become interested and passionate about social entrepreneurship? Do you still feel the same way?

G: Absolutely yes! I left a steady job in 2019 to make the leap into running our social enterprise. And I haven’t looked back, not once. I hope I will never stop feeling this way. What inspired me? The people. Seeing the impact. And the passion, commitment, resilience and drive for change. You can say, I have found my tribe.

Q : You have worked with a wide range of social enterprises and social innovators from different countries, can you share with us your experience. What was the most inspiring social enterprise or entrepreneur you have worked with?

G : I have been privileged to meet and visit many social entrepreneurs around the world. Whether they were running a women’s cooperative in Egypt or producing mangrove fruit chips in Indonesia, they all had one thing in common – passion to change things for the better.

The one entrepreneur that personally inspired me is Karen Lynch. When I met Karen, she was a CEO of Belu, an innovative social enterprise and the UK’s most ethical water brand. Belu was started with the simple idea that there was a better way to do business by reducing environmental impact and using all profits to fund clean water projects. Belu passed over £5 million of profits to WaterAid.

I was “matched” with Karen through a Human Lending Library – a session organised by Expert Impact –matching successful entrepreneurs with social enterprises for free advice and mentoring. Karen is a champion of profit with purpose, the circular economy and of collaboration for positive progress.

We spent an hour together, going through the business details, and me explaining that I was thinking about leaving my job to try to grow Hope For The Community CIC. Karen asked lots of clear and direct questions – she is great like that! And then just said “what is stopping you?”.

Sometimes you just need that bit of encouragement from someone who has done it.

I left my role and joined our social enterprise few months later. And despite the pandemic, 18 months on, we are supporting thousands more people to manage their health and wellbeing, have grown in size and made profits to be re-invested in our community.

Q : On the other hand, as the coach and mentor, you have a first-hand understanding about the challenges and constraints social enterprises face. These barriers are even more accentuated in the case of vulnerable groups in our societies, such as migrants, women or youth. What advice would you give to any aspiring female entrepreneur reading this?

G : The fact is, working to achieve something is always hard. Few years back I was a migrant, single mother, working full time whilst studying for a part-time university degree. I couldn’t have even imagined then, where I am now.

Arthur Ashe, the American tennis player, put it best when he shared his thoughts about taking on challenges: “Start where you are, use what you have, do what you can”.

  • There’s never the perfect time to start
  • Be clear about the social issue you are trying to solve
  • Know the root cause
  • Build on your strengths
  • Find a mentor or coach
  • You can do anything, but not everything
  • Ask for forgiveness, not for permission

There will always be mountains behind mountains, so remember to be kind to yourself.

Q : During our Community of practice meetings, a courage of female entrepreneurs to become a leader and role model has emerged as one of the desired prerequisite to encourage other women to embark on their entrepreneurial path.  I would be very curious to understand qualities a woman needs to become a successful business leader who can engage others in solving social issues?

G: I feel that choice of language is very important for inclusivity.

Setting “pre-requisites” can create barriers. “Success” is a subjective measure.

For me the key qualities are purpose, empathy, compassion and resilience. Both as personal attributes and the values to build your business on.

Authenticity and clear values will make you and your organisation one that people want to work for and work with.

Q : When looking at your profile, along with your practical connection with social innovation and social entrepreneurship, you have also worked for Coventry University Social Enterprise (CUSE). Could you share with us more about this experience? 

G : It is exciting to see that CUSE is also a member of EBN network of business support organisations participating in the Better Incubation programme.  CUSE is where I learned first-hand about social entrepreneurship. I spent three years working there, part of a great team.

CUSE is the only UK example of a social enterprise set up by a university to promote social entrepreneurship and innovation. I feel it represents the civic role that universities should have in their community. Working with students, staff and general public to realise their entrepreneurial potential and to create social value.

My role centred on income generation, business development and impact management. As a migrant to UK, I was excited to be part of the team securing funding for MiFriendly Cities, a regional project supporting refugee and migrant entrepreneurs to start mission driven businesses.

I enjoyed supporting other entrepreneurs, but felt I wanted to be closer to the “action”. My work with university academics to extend the impact of their research on society through sustainable social enterprise models led me to my current role as CEO at Hope For The Community CIC, Coventry University’s first research social enterprise spin-out.

We have a strong partnership. The University are our research and evaluation partner, continuously strengthening the evidence base of our wellbeing programmes.

Q : When it comes to inclusive incubation what would be three effective approaches you would recommend to be embraced by the business incubators to unleash the potential of social or marginalised entrepreneurs?

G : Business incubators work with aspiring entrepreneurs from all walks of life. Here are my top three tips:

  1. Business incubators should be open to co-producing their programmes. And remember that co-production doesn’t end after few workshops – it must be ongoing. Make co-production an essential part of the way you design, evaluate and manage impact of your programmes.
  2. It’s important to keep the incubation programmes simple, flexible and culturally relevant. The complex eligibility criteria can create barriers for many. As can certain modes of delivery. Ask and listen to entrepreneurs you support and be flexible.
  3. Finally don’t forget to support wellbeing support . Burnout is a widespread issue amongst entrepreneurs, especially at the start-up stage. The pandemic has exacerbated health inequalities. Research has shown that women and people from ethnic minorities were disproportionately affected by COVID-19. What can you do? Partner with an organisation that can provide wellbeing support independently or include range of self-care tools and offer plenty of opportunities for peer-support on your incubation programmes. And don’t forget to give your staff the skills and confidence to do this! Encourage entrepreneurs to invest in building “healthy” culture in their business. This will pay dividends for them personally and their organisation in the long-term.    

Follow Gabriela work on Twitter and LinkedIn

Author of this post: EBN

Better Incubation Communities of Practice | Rut Turró: On a Mission to Build an Inclusive Fashion Industry

Posted on by Better Incubation

How to make the field of entrepreneurship more inclusive to migrants and refugees, people with disability, seniors, women, youth? Together with members of the European Business & Innovation Centre Network (EBN), The European Venture Philanthropy Association (EVPA) and Caritas organizations, Impact Hub gathered experts and entrepreneurs from all 5 groups in a series of virtual working sessions – Communities of Practice – to debate, exchange, investigate, plan, prototype and evaluate the activities in the field of inclusive entrepreneurship.

In this framework, Impact Hub is interviewing the Better Incubation CoPs’ participants to share their stories and expertise. Time to meet Rut!

The first virtual session took place at the end of May 2021 and we got inspired to hear about what different entrepreneurs and experts are doing to build more inclusive entrepreneurship ecosystems. One of the participants is Rut Turró, she is, in her own words, a social entrepreneur in the fashion industry. She is also a woman entrepreneur and the founder of Moving Mood, which started as a clothing line for people with reduced mobility and turned into a research and consulting partner for the fashion industry on the topic of inclusive fashion.

We asked her why she became an entrepreneur, what impact she aims to make on the world – she also shared examples of impact in action.

Inclusive entrepreneurship Rut Turro founder of Moving Mood

Rut Turró, Founder of Moving Mood

Q: In preparing for our interview, I loved reading about how you want to give more power and opportunities to women, who carry the burden of day-to-day work but are under-recognised. I’m curious about your story as a woman entrepreneur, but first, what did you want to be growing up? 

A: I wanted to be like my mum, to take care of the house, the kids, etc. When I was seven years old, my family started a bakery in Barcelona. This was a turning point. Everything changed completely, with my parents working all day, every day, including weekends. My sister and I spent Monday to Friday with a babysitter. Saturday with parents and Sunday with grandparents. Suddenly, I did not want to be like my mum anymore. I wanted to be happy. I remember every year on my birthday I had the same wish: may everyone be happy.

Q: Your parents became entrepreneurs and it sounds like this wasn’t the path you wanted to pursue when you were young. Yet, you call yourself a social entrepreneur today. Why did you become an entrepreneur? 

A: Because I couldn’t find any job linked to social impact and fashion design. The only option was working in design for fair trade products at an NGO. Options were very limited and, usually, NGOs have many volunteers, not paid jobs. In the long run, this wasn’t a sustainable path. Also, the products were ‘hippie’ and it was not my style. I would buy them because of the philosophy behind, not because I liked them. So, I decided to start a project by myself. Bringing together social impact, fashion and design.

Q: It’s always interesting to hear how personal frustration leads to new businesses! Beyond your desire to design better fair trade products in the fashion industry, were there any insights that led to starting Moving Mood?

A: The initial idea was to develop a clothing line for people with reduced mobility. All adapted garments available around 2011-2014 were very poorly designed and not fashionable at all! I started under the name Fit and Sit, focused on clothing for people permanently seated. It did not work very well. I understood early on that people wanted to buy clothes from traditional brands, so, I changed my initial idea and began to sell a service and provide knowledge on inclusive fashion for designers and brands. We changed the brand name to Moving Mood, moving for a good mood. And we are focused on research, product development, consulting and education.

Inclusive entrepreneurship_Moving Mood

Q: Inspiring to hear! Now, let’s talk about impact. What impact are you already making on the fashion industry – and perhaps as a woman entrepreneur too – and what’s your impact ambition? 

A: Our impact is to include accessibility in design collections without the need to create a specifically adapted line, so all garments can be used by the whole of society, independently of their needs. We are training companies, design studios and students.

Our impact ambition is to build a more equal fashion industry, with more inclusive products and job opportunities. For example, we developed an adaptation for an industrial sewing machine, so it can be used by people with physical disabilities!

Q: An inclusive sewing machine, what a good example of impact in action! I’d love to learn a little more about your views on women’s entrepreneurship. Over the past years, you have collaborated with many entrepreneurial women – what have you learned from them? 

A: We are stronger together, we are better together. I constantly meet powerful women I admire. We connect easily, try to help each other and share contacts. I truly believe we empower each other. There’s often a shared feeling and understanding of the troubles we face or have faced in the past – and shared pride in having come to where we are today as entrepreneurs.

Q: I have to ask then, what advice do you have for female entrepreneurs? 

A: My advice for any entrepreneur is: do something that makes you vibrate from every pore of your skin.

Follow Rut and her inspiring work on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook or Twitter.

Author of this post: Impact Hub 

EU Prize for Women Innovators – Applications are open till the end of June

Posted on by Better Incubation

The opportunities created by novel technologies and disruptive innovations promise to deliver the fair and sustainable recovery Europe needs. But Europe risks missing out on these opportunities if half its population is overlooked as a source of innovation and creative talent.

The EU Prize for Women Innovators celebrates the women entrepreneurs behind game-changing innovations. In doing so, the EU seeks to raise awareness of the need for more women innovators, and create role models for women and girls everywhere.

The prize is awarded to the most talented women entrepreneurs from across the EU and countries associated to Horizon Europe, who have founded a successful company and brought innovation to the market. The prize is managed by the European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency, and the winners are chosen by an independent expert jury.

Three prizes of €100,000 each are awarded in the main category. A fourth prize of €50,000 is awarded to a promising ‘Rising Innovator’ aged 30 or younger.

Applications to the 2021 edition of the EU Prize for Women Innovators are now open.

The deadline for submissions is 17:00 (CET) on 30 June 2021.

All applications must be submitted via the Funding and Tenders Portal. Please read the Rules of Contest before applying.

Who can apply?

To apply, you must be:

  • a woman
  • established in an EU Member State (including overseas countries and territories) or a country associated to Horizon Europe
  • founder or co-founder of an active innovative company registered at least two years before the submission deadline.

In addition, those applying for the Rising Innovator category must be aged 30 or younger at the start of the call year.

More info can be found here

Source: EIC Funding Opportunities Website

Subscribe to our newsletter

Signup for our newsletter to get the latest news and updates directly in your inbox.

Subscribe