Impact Hub Social Entrepreneurship Bootcamp "Powered by INSEAD" - August 1-3, 2014

INSEAD has developed a partnership with the Impact Hub in Singapore to deliver the Social Entrepreneurship bootcamp (using the INSEAD manual and methodology) called “Powered by INSEAD” . The facilitators of the bootcamp, Grace Sai and Raya Papp have both mentored during the INSEAD bootcamp, so they know firsthand the ins and outs of the teaching methodology. They are really unbelievable people with a wealth of experience. The Impact Hub social entrepreneurship bootcamp “Powered by INSEAD” also brings in experts from Singapore to help teach, mentor and judge. It is a great programme.

They will be running their next bootcamp during the weekend of August 1-3. If you are interested in attending, here is the link to the sign up page before the 15th of JULY: www.bit.ly/sebootcamp4 and they have also created a microsite with more info here: www.venturesforchange.com

The 28th INSEAD Venture Competition (IVC) showcases social enterprises!

On June 20th, the 28th INSEAD Venture Competition (IVC) was held by the INSEAD Centre for Entrepreneurship (ICE) on the Fontainebleau campus with videolink to Singapore. The competition is a platform for INSEAD MBA and EMBA candidates to showcase their entrepreneurial skills and ideas and bring these ideas forward into venture plans, which in turn will become real business ventures.   This year, the winning team, Kookooli, and the team which won the Coromandel Foundation Social Impact Award, Missing Middle, were both launched during INSEAD Social Entrepreneurship Bootcamps. Kookooli was launched during the Fontainebleau October bootcamp and Missing Middle during the November Singapore bootcamp. It is exciting to see the bootcamp methodology pay off with such creative and impactful ventures.  The winning team, Kookooli, took home a prize of 10,000 Euros and consisted of MBAs Eirik Hogner, Frederik Kongsli and Itamar Stern. Kookooli is an online marketplace where people can buy fresh food from local food producers at their own convenience. Through their web and mobile platform, consumers can access a wide-range of top quality food products at affordable prices. Kookooli will pick up freshly made products directly from the producers and then deliver the orders to customer’s homes or to centrally located pick up points. The second prize winner, Team Treasure Bowl, took home a prize of 5,000 Euros and consisted of MBA members Angela Flaemrich, Aleksandra Zhdanova, and Leon Williams. Their idea involves an innovative toy product for kids in Europe.  Finally, the winning team of the Coromandel Foundation Social Impact Award for 5,000 euros, was team, Missing Middle, composed of MBAs Mehmet Energin, Lisette Steins, Marieke Ebbing. When one of the team members worked for a micro-finance organization in Uganda, she saw that small loans can have a large positive impact on borrowers’ lives. She also realized that these loans were merely a short-term solution for entrepreneurs – they did not manage to grow their new business beyond a certain limit. Once the entrepreneurs outgrew the micro-finance loans, there was still a long way to go before they could fulfil the requirements of a retail bank and receive the necessary funding for scaling up. In addition to the strong social impact seen in the winning teams, ICE was also delighted to welcome two of our INSEAD Social Entrepreneurs in Residence to campus for the finals. Charlotte Hochman served as a finalist judge, and the keynote speaker for the finals was Ms Caroline Watson who is the founder and director of a social venture in China, Hua Dan. ICE is grateful to the IVC sponsors for their support of entrepreneurship at INSEAD and to alumnus, Sajan Koch EMBA’08, for his generous contribution to the Coromandel Foundation Social Impact Award. IVC Contacts: Magdalene Khng – Operations & Admin Joanne Loi – Coordinator, Asia Campus Jane Venet-Fellowes - Coordinator, Europe Campus entrepreneurship@insead.edu I www.insead.edu/venturecompetition

Global Impact Forum (GIF), on October 8-9, 2014 in Zurich !

"The Global Impact Forum^TM is a two-day partnering event with a uniquely forward-looking and outcomes-oriented design. The forum presents exceptional social entrepreneurs and impact leaders to an audience of potential partners.  Connections are made using an efficient system that allows attendees to screen potential partners and pre-arrange one-to-one meetings. Carefully curated presentations, high-level speakers and an exciting mix of participants make attending the Global Impact Forum a powerful experience."

INSEAD alumna launches social enterprise, Lulea, producing luxury leather goods for the global market. This is her story…

Topy Namasaka-Muga (MBA 2012J)

I graduated from INSEAD in July 2012. While undertaking my MBA, I shared the beginnings of the Lulea story with my colleagues at school. Lulea is a social enterprise which specialises in training Kenyan workers to create sustainable luxury leather goods for the global market. Together with five of my group members in the Business Planning entrepreneurship elective, we developed the idea for Lulea and worked out a viable business plan. The INSEAD faculty, and in particular Christine Driscoll Goulay, the Associate Director of the Social Entrepreneurship Initiative, supported the venture and introduced me to a number of other social entrepreneurs. After months of hard but rewarding work we have just opened the doors to the Lulea Centre of Excellence in Kenya (a training facility) and have trained a small team of employees, some of whom are sourced from a nearby women’s shelter (Baraka Women's Shelter).  I am happy to say that we are now ready to take orders and in order to grow we have recently launched an Indiegogo crowd funding campaign -  https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/lulea-we-make-the-bags-you-make-the-difference. Please take the time to check out our campaign and support and share wherever you can.

Brazil: Annual ISEP Reunion in Paraty

More than two dozen ISEP Network members attended the conference in São Paulo and the reunion in spectacular Paraty that followed on 8-9 May. The day opened with a dynamic session focusing on the opportunities and challenges faced the social entrepreneurs attending. The reunion also featured two workshop sessions; one on Scaling Social Enterprises and a second on Risk Management presented by Filipe Santos and Timothy Ma Kam Wah (Hong Kong, ISEP 2009-S) respectively. You can find the meeting agenda, the participant list, plus notes and presentation slides from these sessions here 

As it does every year, the reunion also served as an opportunity for ISEP alumni from the many years the programme and from all over the world to learn about each other’s work, exchange ideas and insights, and get to know each other through the numerous meals and informal discussion opportunities and outings. The meeting culminated with an excursion through some of Paraty’s beautiful islands. Click here for photo collection.

While the formal sessions were led by René Saloman Vargas (Bolivia, ISEP 2011-F) and Hans Wahl, special thanks goes to Carolina Coutinho (Brazil, ISEP 2013-F) and Suzanne Rodrigues (Portugal, ISEP 2012-P) who led the enthusiastic group in organising the social and recreational outings in Paraty. 

Admissions open for this year's INSEAD Social Entrepreneurship Executive Education Programme (ISEP)

Demand for this year’s INSEAD SocialEntrepreneurship Programme is very strong. Applications are coming in quickly for the six-day programme that will bring together some of the world’s leading social entrepreneurs from all parts of the world. Space is limited.  The sessions will run in Fontainebleau (16-21 November 2014) and Singapore (30 November-5 December 2014). We have added new faculty, speakers, and cases making it one of the richest programmes ever.

If you know of participants you would like to recommendation for ISEP this year, please urge them to submit an application as soon as possible as the number of participants is limited. We rely on our existing ISEP alumni to bring top-tier leaders into our network. 

If you have questions or would like additional information we encourage you to get in touch with Hans Wahl, ISEP Programme Director.

Brazil: Annual Conference on Social Finance and Impact Business plus ISEP Reunion

INSEAD joined as a strategic partner with three dynamic Brazilian groups, the Institute of Corporate Citizenship (ICE), ARTEMISIA, and Vox Capital to organise our annual conference, this year taking place in São Paulo, Brazil. The three days of events were aimed at strengthening the ecosystem for the Social Finance and Impact Business in Brazil and across the region. With more than 550 participants attending, it was our largest conference to date and focused on advancing the understanding of the field, engaging private and public sector participants, and establishing the structures that would enable it to thrive. More than 90 speakers presented in 7 plenary sessions, 16 simultaneous workshops, and an exciting series of “innovation spots” and “pop-up” sessions.

At its conclusion, the launch of a Brazilian Social Finance Task Force was announced to be led by some of the nation’s leading business and government figures with the aim of creating mechanisms to promote the structures and flow of resources to meet the needs of this burgeoning field.

More than two dozen ISEP Network members attended the conference and the reunion (in spectacular Paraty) that followed on 8-9 May.  The reunion featured sessions on Scaling Social Enterprises and Risk Management presented by INSEAD Professor Filipe Santos and Timothy Ma Kam Wah (Hong Kong, ISEP 2009-S) in addition to numerous meals and informal discussion opportunities to become familiar with each other’s work, challenges and opportunities. Additional sessions were led by René Saloman Vargas (Bolivia, ISEP 2011-F) and Hans Wahl, and the reunion culminated with a boat excursion through some of Paraty’s beautiful islands.

Next year’s conference and reunion will be hosted by ISEP Network colleagues in Amsterdam in the spring of 2015 so make your plans now. We will make more information available as planning proceeds.

Contact hans.wahl@insead.edu with questions about the INSEAD Social Entrepreneurship annual conference and reunion.