Impact Collective 2021: Where entrepreneurship meets sustainable development in Asia Pacific
Once again, Impact Collective (IC), a community-driven investment and acceleration program, is excited to find startups with solutions to the most pressing environmental, social, and economic challenges in Asia and the Pacific.
Startups that are accepted to join Impact Collective 2021 will have an opportunity to network with key impact actors (entrepreneurs, investors, public / private sector actors, international organisations’ actors, you name it!) and receive mentoring from field experts to fine-tune their impact-profit alignment. Teams will be able to partake in office hours, theme sessions, and homegroup sessions and satellite events, including local ecosystem mapping activities which will offer city snapshots of opportunities and gaps around impact innovation. Based on a community voting system, the top ten teams will each receive a minimum of USD50k at the end of the program.
Proudly created by the region for the region, our mission is to enable those with great business potential to internalize an impact strategy, not only to achieve a quantum jump towards fostering smart economic growth, but also to create meaningful impact in Asia Pacific. In line with the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), we are looking for solutions that fall under the following six themes:
1. Inclusive Health & Quality of Life: SDG 3, 6, 11
Call for innovations that will help communities and individuals to access inclusive healthcare and prepare for aging well.
For example: accessibility, community integration, health tech, COVID-19 emergency preparation and response, preventive care and treatment delivery.
2. Circular Economy and the Future of Waste Management: SDG 11, 12, 13
Call for innovations that will help communities and businesses work towards zero-waste and create more sustainable methods of producing, sourcing, and discarding products.
For example: pollution reduction, waste collection, waste processing, waste disposal, waste to energy (WtE) technologies, tracking technologies, recycling technologies, green fashion, e-waste recycling, biodegradable products, clean production, and microplastic-free products.
3. Sustainable Agriculture and Food: SDG 2, 14, 15
Call for solutions to around resilient farming technology and accessible food supply chains that will help preserve land and water ecosystems.
For example: sustainable agriculture, agrotech, biodiversity conservation, natural resource management, ecosystem resilience, climate-related disaster risk reduction, farming infrastructure, water quality and sources, nutrition, and food accessibility.
4. Green Energy and the Environment: SDG 7, 9, 13
Call for innovations that will curb the effects of global warming and help build greener and more resilient communities.
For example: green energy, renewable energy tech, air pollution reduction, intelligent transport solutions (ITS), green cooking fuels and tech, green infrastructure, and smart energy management systems.
5. Digitalization for Equal Opportunities for All: SDG 10, 4, 5
Call for innovations that can help make technology and digital literacy more accessible and inclusive.
For example: digital accessibility, communications technology (ICT) skills, STEM skills development, govtech, fintech.
6. Future of Work and Economic Growth: SDG 8, 9, 10
Call for innovations that will help people develop new skills or upskill in preparation for future jobs, and help businesses adapt to transformations in the way we work.
For example: reskilling and continuous skills upgrading for workers, diversity and youth employment, training and job information-sharing, labor migration services, accessible work-from-home tools, emotional intelligence skills, green skills, tourism tech, and gig economy.
APPLICATIONS ARE OPEN UNTIL AUG. 15
Beyond investments, teams who want to learn and contribute from the IC community and most importantly, make their business plans and innovations more effective towards achieving sustainable development in Asia Pacific, will stand to take away the most from IC 2021.
Visit our website for more details.
Key Dates
1 July 2021: Application Opens
Pre-Application Events (All are welcome!):
- July 14th: AMA #1 (The Investment)
- July 28th: AMA #2 (The Impact)
- August 11th: AMA #3 (The Community)
- August 15th: AMA #4 (The Application)
August 15th: Application Deadline
August 30th : Participant Announcement
September 6th — 9th: Welcome Call
September 8th — 10th: IC camp
Sept. 13th — Nov. 7th, 2021: Impact & Theme Sessions, Office Hours & Homegroup, and Ecosystem Mapping
November 8th — 12th: Demo Day & Final Voting
