Powered by Singtel, this incubator wants to help social impact startups reach success

Programs for civic-minded startups are few and far between. Singapore, however, is fortunate to have a number of them, and today it adds another to its number. Unframed, a social impact startup incubator, this afternoon launched a five-month program called Enabling Change.

The incubator is backed by Jan Croeni, a serial entrepreneur turned philanthropist who co-founded Deal.com.sg. For the incubation program, local telco Singtel will come on board as a strategic partner and majority funder.

With only 10 spots available, the program is extremely selective. It will run from June till November, culminating in a demo day, and will focus on startups that are “directly impacting the community of persons with disabilities,” according to founder Larry Tchiou.

Enabling Change will continue to support its startups through an additional six-month “fellowship support” period after the program, where it will provide “necessary support and a monthly coaching session, though light-duty.”

Civic seed funding

Each startup will receive S$10,000 (US$7,500) in seed funding to get things started. Besides the cash, founder Larry Tchiou promises that each team will receive close mentoring from a team with “unique expertise, experience, and network at the crossroads of tech startups, social entrepreneurship, non-profit.”

In return, Unframed will take an equity stake in each startup – it states a maximum of 10 percent for those at the concept stage – to be exercised within the first two years. Incubators typically take around 7 percent in equity, so this might be a turn-off for some.

Tchiou knows a thing or two about social entrepreneurship. In 2011, he co-founded MakeSense, an Ashoka-awarded crowdsourcing platform helping social entrepreneurs to solve specific challenges, both online and offline. “In four years, we have mobilized 17,000 individuals in support of 820 social entrepreneurs in 100 cities,” he says.

He has worked extensively with social enterprises, such as Adrenalin and Milaap in Singapore. The idea for Unframed came about as he worked with the National Volunteer and Philanthropy Centre last year:

I led a team which looked at the gaps in the local social innovation value chain, and developed a new model of community engagement. With a first successful pilot run focusing on youth issues, we knew we were onto something. So we decided to take the model further, and started a full-fledged independent incubator to combine community, tech, and startups.

May 24 is the final date for registrations to Enabling Change – you can sign up here. Additionally, it is also hosting a panel discussion on May 7 where you can find out more. Details can be found on Unframed’s website.