Deadline Date: May 25, 2026
The Social Impact Award incubator programme supports young entrepreneurs in developing and scaling innovative social impact ideas through structured mentoring, resources, and funding opportunities.
The focus areas of this programme include social entrepreneurship development, idea validation and business model development, impact model strengthening, prototyping of early-stage ideas, customer and follower acquisition, mentoring and capacity building, access to funding opportunities, and connection to an international social entrepreneur network.
The incubator programme is designed to help young people transform ideas into viable social ventures by providing access to expert guidance, structured learning opportunities, and a supportive ecosystem. It focuses on identifying promising ideas based on innovation, feasibility, impact potential, and team capacity.
Participants in the programme benefit from mentoring and hands-on support to validate their business and impact models, develop prototypes, and build early-stage traction with customers and communities. The programme also offers opportunities to strengthen entrepreneurial skills and refine project implementation strategies.
Successful applicants may also compete for the Social Impact Award, which includes financial support, recognition, and participation in an annual summit that brings together young social entrepreneurs from around the world. This provides additional exposure and opportunities for scaling their initiatives.
The programme includes a structured selection process beginning with a plausibility check to ensure eligibility, followed by evaluation from a jury of experts from different sectors. Finalists are selected for incubation, while all applicants receive feedback on their submissions to support learning and improvement.
Eligibility is limited to young entrepreneurs whose core team members are between 14 and 30 years old. Both new ideas and early-stage initiatives are accepted, provided the project has been founded after January 1 of the previous year if already implemented. Projects must not have received significant external seed funding exceeding €6,000, and applicants must not have previously participated in the programme with the same idea or won the award in earlier editions.
Participants also gain access to an international alumni network of over 1,000 social entrepreneurs across more than 25 countries, enabling knowledge sharing and long-term collaboration opportunities.
For more information, visit Social Impact Award.
