Deadline Date: March 16, 2026
The SAB Foundation is seeking applications to support and invests in entrepreneurs and social innovation with a priority on benefitting women and youth, people in rural areas, and persons with disabilities.
Focus areas and priorities include social innovation that addresses demonstrable social problems, empowering and enabling persons with disabilities to access economic opportunities, training and skills development leading to job placements, assistive technologies and devices, income generation opportunities for parents of children with disabilities, protective workshops and sheltered employment, and job creation.
The Social Innovation Awards are aimed at innovators, social entrepreneurs, institutions, and social enterprises with prototypes or early-stage businesses that can solve social problems, while the Disability Empowerment Awards target innovations that focus specifically on empowering persons with disabilities. Awards can range from R300 000 to R1 300 000.
Eligibility requirements include being a South African citizen aged 18 or older, having original work that represents a true innovation or significant improvement on an existing product, service, or process, and demonstrating evidence of prior investment in the innovation, such as planning, prototype development, market research, or a business plan. Applicants who have previously received assistance through the Tholoana Enterprise Programme are not eligible. Entries may be submitted individually or as a team, with one team leader completing the online application. Innovations must have progressed beyond the “blue-sky” stage and show credible potential to meet social or economic needs of low-income beneficiary groups, particularly benefiting women, youth, persons with disabilities, and rural communities. Product innovation can involve new or improved goods and services, while process innovation can improve service delivery or reach previously underserved groups.
For more information, visit SAB Foundation.
