Back in February we encouraged startups to apply to win a place on the Impact Ventures Accelerator Program (IVAP) which had just launched across Southeast Asia. And now we have word of the two winners of the Indonesian leg of the contest, which was run in association with the Global Entrepreneurship Program Indonesia (GEPI).
The two winning startups are ones that, in line with the aims of the LGT Venture Philanthropy-run IVAP, “strive to have a direct social or environmental impact.” One was Bali Recycling (pictured above on stage), which is a waste management system; the other eye-catching enterprise was ALUMIBP Sukses Mandiri which runs mentorship programs for rice farmers. Both those teams win places on the IVAP 8- to 24-month program for early stage entrepreneurs, with the possibility of up to US$50,000 in backing from Lichtenstein-based LGT Venture Philanthropy.
Shinta Kamdani, vice chairwomen of GEPI, praised the strength of the entries, saying, “we admire knowing that all the businesses are run by entrepreneurs with their inspiring social vision.” LGT’s SEA investment manager, Joan Yao, hailed the quality of all the submissions in the past few months:
We found interesting businesses by entrepreneurs who applied, which the businesses have direct social and environmental impact that can be scaled up for long run. It has been a great pleasure to see entrepreneurs from agriculture, education, waste management, and foods sectors showcasing their real impacts to their surrounding communities.
Bali Recycling collects and processes hazardous materials for both businesses and households. The organizers pointed out that “helping solve the waste problem is the first step in creating an ‘environmental awakening’ in many countries,” with the hope being that the team can do exactly that on the Balinese island.
ALUMIBP Sukses Mandiri aims to educate and support rice farmers in Indonesia, with its mentorships designed to enlighten on the subject of seeds, organic fertilizer, and such-like; whilst also hopefully increasing the numbers entering into rice farming.
Four other IVAP runners-up were 8 Villages, a business social network for farmers; Kedai Balitaku, a project to sell nutritious budget food in areas plagued by malnutrition; Sulis, a technology to pasteurize milk without using heat sources; and Provisi Education, which runs support groups in public schools.
