FYI: The social innovator's weekly round-up
What caught our attention this week:
Beer. Ireland started producing free beer, after a community disgruntled with the constraints of current business models set out to convert a pig farm into a moneyless pub. Elsewhere, journalists created a beer index, in which you can find out where in the world you’d have to work the longest on minimum wage to buy a beer.
Food. Tech entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley weighed in on the challenge of fixing the world’s creaking food system. Whilst the Soil Association slammed the 3D printing of food as an aspirational hi-tech fix, commentators praised a new force of food entrepreneurs for setting out with robotics and big data among other things to solve the 'big problems', and begin to create a system that produces food without such huge costs to the environment and our health.
Clothes. After the tragic collapse of a Bangladeshi clothes factory in May last year, there are signs impact investment is aiding a supply chain tidy up. The first Bangladesh-focused private equity firm has invested in Ananta Apparels Limited so that the firm can build a production facility that will seek to mimimise environmental damage and ensure the safety and wellbeing of workers.
Politicians, in the UK at least, have mostly been stood around staring gormlessly at the floods besieging the country this week. But there was also talk of the impending doom of public service provision, to which Labour Party leader Ed Miliband's answer in his Hugo Young speech was to devolve power to the local level. Our expert blogger Andrew Laird got to the heart of the matter earlier this month arguing that handing over power to the frontline would empower staff to ramp up the quality of public services.
Opportunities you won’t want to miss:
Growth vouchers. The UK government launched a programme to give small businesses chosen at random the chance to win £2,000 to finance expert business support.
Wayra UnLtd, the academy for social start-ups, began the search for the next round of social ventures to join its accelerator programme. Apply before 23:59 on Sunday 9 March.
The Big Energy Idea put its feelers out for 10 energy social entrepreneurs that need between £50,000 and £2m. Winning ventures will receive support from an expert team to scale the social impact of their work.
Impact Hub Islington launched The Hub Youth Academy, a two week intensive programme for young entrepreneurs between 18 - 25 to learn how to develop a social business, with the added bonus of a year's membership to the Hub Islington's co-working space. Applications close 28 February.
The Impact Hub Fellowship for Longer Lives called for social entrepreneurs to create innovative solutions to the challenges and opportunities presented by an ageing society. Participants can pitch their ideas to win over £30,000 of start-up support. Applications close 28 February.
Deloitte Social Innovation Pioneers opened for applications, offering social enterprises a package of support aimed at acheiving growth and investment readiness. The deadline is Sunday 23 February.
SB Innovation Open called for start-ups and up and coming consumer brands with a focus on people, planet and profit to apply to win a week of introductions to influential brands, minds, experts and designers at the SB'14 San Diego event. Applications close 17 March.
40 Chances Fellows, a global fellowship programme in partnership with Tony Blair’s Africa Governance Initiative, the World Food Prize, and the Howard G. Buffett Foundation invited social enterprises seeking to address issues of hunger, conflict, or poverty in Rwanda, Liberia, Sierra Leone, or Malawi to apply for funding. Applications close 31 May 2014.