Helping Social
Enterprises Become Sustainable
WHO WE ARE
Bridge Accelerator is a program of The Bridge Foundation.
The Bridge Foundation is a non-governmental organization (NGO) headquartered in Bengaluru, India with 40 years of service in the social development sector in India. With the vision of an 'Enterprise Solution to Poverty' , The Bridge Foundation has pioneered many enterprise development programs since 1987, of which the Bridge Accelerator is its latest.
The Bridge Foundation has helped create:
168,197
Women Led Business
$2 bn +
Social Enterprise Capital
485
Partners Associated
NEED FOR THE ACCELERATOR
The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGS) provide a framework for achieving a greener, fairer, and better world by 2030. At Bridge Accelerator, we are committed to supporting social entrepreneurs who are working towards these goals. We believe in the power of enterprise to create positive change.
The World Economic Forum (WEF) in partnership with the Schwab Foundation's Global Alliance for Social Entrepreneurship, including Bertelsmann Foundation, Catalyst 2030, Euclid Network, SAP, Social Enterprise UK and the Social Enterprise World Forum developed "the first comprehensive global data set to estimate the size and scope of social enterprise worldwide."
The research findings on enterprises that create positive impact by putting purpose before profit are:
Around 10 Million
Social Enterprises globally
$2 Trillion
Annual Revenue
Jobs across sectors
200 Million
THE PROBLEM?
High failure rate of social enterprises
Years of Operation of Social Enterprises
THE POSSIBLE SOLUTION
Our 40 years of experience in the social sector, and analysis of successful social enterprises reveals the possible solution : SIGNIFICANT SCALE.
Significant scale could be defined as the point in the growth and development of the enterprise where its products and services are able to reach a large enough number of clients in a diverse enough demography and geography to achieve long term sustainability.
OUR MISSION
We want to direct all our efforts to reduce this failure rate by helping social enterprises reach significant scale and become sustainable !
Take 2 mins to watch the video below to get a better idea of what we do.
ACCELERATOR PROGRAM
Bridge Accelerator partners with you as a social enterprise, until you reach significant scale
WE FACILITATE ACCESS TO
CAPACITY
Help to identify the learning needs of the social entrepreneur and seek to bridge the knowledge gaps by:
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Providing access to suitable mentors, industry experts, consulting agencies,
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Business schools, educational programs
CONNECT
Endeavor to provide valuable contacts for business operations such as:
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Professional Services for business management, finance, legal compliance
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Access to appropriate technology
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Physical infrastructure
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Expertise in marketing and business development
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Management of raw materials & procurement.
CAPITAL
Help facilitate exposure to investors and access to various forms of capital based on enterprise requirements like:
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Angel Investment
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Venture Capital Investment
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Debt Finance – in the form of loans and non-convertible debentures
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Government grants
OUR METHOD
Unlike a classroom, we take an immersive approach into the working of the social enterprise, beginning with a gap analysis and progressing to facilitate access to capital, connects and capacity required, and finally guiding them on the path to significant scale and beyond.
FEATURES OF THE PROGRAM
FREE OF COST
As a social organization, the program is offered free of cost for social enterprises.
PAY IT FORWARD
Enterprises that benefit from the program are encouraged to help others.
If you are interested in our program and would like to know more about it, please read our application process.
JOIN US
We work together with individuals & organizations (Financial, Government, Educational, Corporates, NGO's & Foundations) that promote social enterprises to bring transformation.
If you would like to help create a better world & bring a positive impact, then join our program as an ecosystem partner.
We invite you to join us as an ecosystem partner to work together towards impacting our society by helping social enterprises.
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EVENTS
As part of our capacity building program for social enterprises and our ecosystem, we organize talks on various topics that we hope will help in the learning journey of all individuals associated.
Decoding India's Growth
15 Oct 2023
A talk on India's growth and the effects of global economic challenges on the Indian economy & social enterprises in particular by Mr. Samuel Selvakumar, former CEO & Director of Vodafone, India
Design Thinking for Social Enterprises
28 Jan 2023
How to use design thinking principles to create user centric solutions that promote adoption and brand loyalty for social enterprises by Mehar Zariwala, the Director of Innovation at Link (forrmerly NUMA Bengaluru).
