DBS Foundation’s Social Enterprise Grant Programme

Deadline: 30-May-21

The DBS Foundation is pleased to announce the Social Enterprise Grant Programme, the Special grant category for this programme is ‘Zero Food Waste’ to reduce food loss along the supply chain, managing food surplus or upcycling food waste.

Social enterprises must:

Innovative social enterprises that have a proven business model and track record in sales and profitability.
Demonstrate track record in environment &/ or social impact
Demonstrate opportunities for growth and potential to scale-up

They welcome applications from social enterprises looking to scale up their business and social and/or environment impact in Asia.

For-profit registered business entity with a presence in Singapore, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia and Taiwan
Have a proven business model, a good market track record, and clear scale-up plans for the business
Have a committed social and/or environment mission and impact measurement framework

Funding Information

Grants between SGD 50,000 and SGD 250,000 to support social enterprises.

What can the grant be used for?

Expand to new markets
Increase social impact and enhance impact measurement framework
Deepen innovation, technology and platform capabilities
Protect intellectual assets
Grow a core team
Improve operational efficiencies / production capacities
Expand brand and marketing capabilities

Who does not qualify?

Not-for-profit organisations
Individuals applying for fellowships and stipends
Religious organisations for religious purposes, election campaigns, general fund-raising drives or event sponsorships

Eligibility Criteria

Applicants must meet the following conditions at the time of application and throughout the application process. Only eligible applications will be considered for further evaluation:
- Be registered as a business in at least one of the following markets: China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Singapore, Taiwan
- Have a business product/solution that has been validated in the market, as evidenced by revenue generation and/or traction in client acquisition, with clear plans to scale up business;
- Be committed to a social mission and have a clear roadmap towards scaling social impact;
The Grant does not support non-governmental organisations (NGOs), philanthropy-model charities, religious organisations for religious purposes, general fundraising campaigns, entities on bank caution list, student projects and individual pursuits.
Applicants registered and operating in India must be able to provide evidence of having obtained approval under Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) to receive funds from foreign entities. Otherwise, Applicants must prove the following:
- profitability of the business is dependent solely on sales revenue and not on account of income received by way of grants and/or awards,
- does not have a definite cultural, economic, educational, religious or social (“CEERS”) programme, and
- the Grant will not be used towards funding any other persons and/or entities which would need to be registered to obtain FCRA registration or approval.
Social enterprises (SE) which have previously received a grant from DBS Bank and its affiliates, subsidiaries (“DBS”) and/or DBSF may apply for the Grant, only if previously awarded grant(s) has expired. However, being a former DBS grant awardee does not guarantee successful application to future grants. Every application will be assessed independently on its own merits.
Applications must be made only in English, Chinese or Bahasa Indonesia.