Social impact startup incubator is calling for 10 aspiring entrepreneurs to take part in its intensive five-month programme.

 

After successfully graduating last year a batch of six social impact startups addressing the challenges faced by persons with disabilities (PwDs), UNFRAMED is looking at gaps in the ageing sector this year through its next run called “UNAGING”. Run in partnership with DBS Foundation, the social impact startup incubator is calling for aspiring entrepreneurs who are “passionate about impacting the elderly in Singapore” to sign up.

Shared founder of UNFRAMED, Larry Tchiou, “Singapore is rapidly ageing – those aged 65 and above doubled from 220,000 in 2000 to 440,000 last year, and is expected to increase to 900,000 by 2030. We feel this is an important segment of the population that deserves our undivided attention and through these passionate startups, we can plug much-needed gaps.”

The programme is straightforward – 10 selected promising social impact startups will go through an intensive five-month incubation programme starting on March 4. During the programme, the startups will be provided comprehensive early-stage support such as S$10,000 seed funding upfront; co-working space at IDA Labs @ National Design Centre with access to prototyping facilities; mentoring by successful entrepreneurs such as Jan Croeni, co-founder at Dealguru/Ensogo and now a full-time philanthropist after his IPO; and access to a cross-sector ecosystem of partners and industry and experts such as non-profit organisations, ageing researchers and other industry experts. The programme culminates in a Demo Day in August where the startups will pitch their startup to an audience of selected funders and investors, with access to follow-up funding to take their initiative to the next level.

In exchange for the funding and support provided during and post-incubation programme (six-month follow-up fellowship), the startups will commit a small percentage of their future revenue to fund the next batch of social impact startups. Shared Larry, “UNFRAMED aims to build a self-financing ecosystem of social impact startups and foster a pay-it-forward culture.”

During its programme last year involving PwDs, UNFRAMED helped launch six social impact startups including (these)abilities which aims to “disable disabilities” by designing and building products that level the playing field for PwDs at work, home, and during play; and BevEat, a fully integrated eWallet and mobile point-of-sales solution that helps the F&B and retail sectors to increase productivity and at the same time, give much needed employment to PwDs with physical, communication and intellectual disabilities.

For the programme on ageing, UNFRAMED hopes to mirror last year’s success. Applications for UNAGING will close on January 17, 2016. For more information, go to UNFRAMED’s unaging event or e-mail Larry at: larry@unframed.so.​

 

(* PHOTO CREDITS: UNFRAMED)

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