Turning challenges into opportunities: Georgian startups win Social Impact Award

UNDP supports youth ideas for socially responsible entrepreneurship

October 7, 2020

Photo: David Khizanishvili/UNDP

A social café in rural Lanchkhuti, a beekeeping enterprise in high-mountainous Lechkhumi, a mobile app for people with disabilities UnLimited, and the online platforms for education and farming, QANDLE.GE and AGROSERV.GE, won the Georgian edition of the Social Impact Award for 2020. This global initiative promoting ingenious green and socially responsible businesses expanded to Georgia’s regions this year, giving young entrepreneurs a chance to win USD 2,000 and professional mentoring to implement their business ideas.

The contest for best youth ideas focused on innovative social entrepreneurship was organized by the Impact Hub Tbilisi with support from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Bank of Georgia and the governments of Switzerland, Austria and Georgia.  

“We salute our winners and all participants for their resolve to serve their communities while also running profitable businesses,” said UNDP Head Louisa Vinton. “As Georgia seeks to recover from the pandemic, ideas like these will be crucial to ‘build back batter,’ promoting green development and social responsibility for a more resilient economy.”

“We are glad to support the SIA programme in Georgia, which allows young smart people to develop and get funding for solutions to social issues,” Danielle Meuwly, Regional Director of the Swiss Cooperation Office for the South Caucasus, noted. “We believe that social entrepreneurship will trigger significant social changes. The inclusion of young people from the regions in the programme and bringing their perspective to local problems was a very significant step. We congratulate all the participants and the winners and encourage other young people to participate and contribute with new, creative solutions to addressing persisting problems.” 

In total, 94 teams from Tbilisi, Guria, Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti and Racha-Lechkhumi-Kvemo Svaneti took part in the contest. The award ceremony gathered ten finalists who underwent a full cycle from idea-generating to a specific business plan under the guidance of their mentors – professionals working in business consulting. Five winners were selected by a jury comprising representatives of UNDP, the Bank of Georgia, the private sector and academia.

“Austria was the birthplace of the Social Impact Award in 2009,” said Vakhtang Mshvidobadze, Program Manager of the Coordination Office for Technical Cooperation of the Austrian Embassy. “We are glad to see Georgia among the countries adopting this global initiative, combining entrepreneurial thinking with social action and connecting young people with an international community of decision-makers and experts.”

The assistance for startups from Georgian regions comes from a robust programme focused on economic development and good governance at the local level that UNDP is implementing in partnership with the Ministry of Regional Development and Infrastructure with support  from the governments of Switzerland and Austria.

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