TiE Hyderabad chapter plans $200-300M fund for social enterprise

Entrepreneurs body TiE Hyderabad will roll out a $ 200-$ 300-million social impact fund at the upcoming TiE Sustainability Summit to support global social entrepreneurs in scaling up their business, a top representative of the group said.

With this corpus, social enterprise will have a total pool of up to $400 million funds at the three-day summit starting Monday. Besides, the TiE Hyderabad summit will provide an opportunity for firms to participate in the $100-million fund of TiE Global meant for social entrepreneurs, Manohar Reddy, TSS Global Chair and President, TiE Hyderabad, said.

"We have a commitment of around $200 million from entrepreneurs to fund startups and businesses that create social impact on ground. Rest of the fund is expected from various governments that is mostly in the form of grants. The scale of grants will depend on the nature of business and the impact the business is creating on the ground," Reddy said.

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He said TiE Hyderabad chapter social impact fund is in addition to TiE Global Fund meant for sustainability business.

"We are proud to have launched this initiative to recognise the thankless work by social enterprises and entrepreneurs who work towards the betterment of society, build innovative technology solutions, tread on the unchartered path to solve the societal problems," Reddy said.

The screening of the eligible firms will be done at the TSS.

"We have received over 33,000 applications from social enterprises for participation in TSS. We expect it to reach 40,000 by Monday. We will filter businesses from about 40,000 applicants and then we will invite them for the pitch.

"We may come down to 50-100 enterprises. We will increase the number if we come across more eligible firms. Funds will not be an issue as we proceed," Reddy said.

At the summit, there will be TSS Social Enterprise Awards to recognise social enterprises who are creating a deep and tangible impact on society, communities, animals, nature and planet through innovative business processes and technologies while pursuing the UN sustainable development goals (SDGs).

Reddy said TiE Hyderabad social impact fund will have no geographical boundaries and the investment can go in to firms incorporated anywhere in the world.