Social entrepreneurs have until March 15 to register
São Paulo, February 15, 2023 – Applications are open for the Microsoft Entrepreneurship for Positive Impact program, which globally offers qualified startups access to technology, education, networking and donations and, especially in Brazil, will select five projects of social entrepreneurs focused on solving challenges related to sustainability to receive mentoring and coaching sessions with Microsoft Brazil executives. Entries can be made until March 15th on the program’s website and projects will be evaluated until March 25th.
Microsoft Entrepreneurship for Positive Impact has four priority areas that are aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): Quality Education (SDG 4), Decent Work and Economic Growth (SDG 8), Action once morest Global Change climate (SDG 13) and peace, justice and effective institutions (SDG 16). The call for registration of projects by social entrepreneurs until March 15 must be focused on sustainability and address issues related to SDG 13 – Action once morest global climate change. The five chosen companies will receive mentoring and coaching sessions that should take place between April and June.
In addition, selected startups will benefit from the Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub, which includes up to $150,000 in Azure credits (the company’s cloud); free access to code development tools, including GitHub; free collaboration tools like Microsoft Teams, and community building and networking.
Interested social entrepreneurs need to work in digital native businesses, that is, that use new technologies in their operation, have a qualified technology team, in addition to being profitable. Startups will be evaluated for financial and economic metrics, but also for their direct contribution to mitigating one of society’s major social and/or environmental challenges through their products, services or operations.
“Microsoft Entrepreneurship for Positive Impact is an evolution of the Global Social Entrepreneurship program, which last year recruited and trained 538 social entrepreneurs from more than 50 countries,” explains Franklin Luzes, vice president of Innovation, Transformation and Growth Startups accelerated at Microsoft Brazil. “This year, the aim is to solve the most pressing global, social and environmental challenges, but we know that no one can do it alone. Therefore, we will put selected startups in synergy with the right technologies, partners and resources and, in this way, we believe that we can achieve a more sustainable and accessible world together ”, he comments.
Social businesses that have benefited from Microsoft Founders Hub
Seven months into the Microsoft Founders Hub program, My Residue is moving on to the last stage of its journey, which brought more fluidity and agility to its business. The startup created a tool that supports companies in the management of waste information through information traceability and route management, providing its customers with a 360º view on the subject. “We’ve always used Microsoft tools to operate, but from the moment we started having specialized mentoring, we had the opportunity to learn how to better use each service. In addition, we have placed our platform within the Azure Marketplace, generating incalculable value for our brand”, comments Fábio Ronaldo Tusset, co-founder and CEO of Meu Resído.
“Being able to rely on the experience of other startups, which are also part of the Founders Hub, has been fundamental to our growth because we often go through the same challenges and having advice makes it much easier to solve day-to-day issues”, he adds. .
Ambipar Tricycle Sustainable Solutions is another example of a startup that benefited from being part of the Microsoft Founders Hub. The company created a collection program distributed across several public and private places, which transforms waste into virtual currencies, which can be converted into various social benefits, such as credit for public transport, discounts on energy bills, cell phone recharges and donations to institutions. philanthropic.
“With the support of the program, we were able to expand our services more quickly using technology tools and also the cloud infrastructure. Now, we have been able to improve the flows and the entire dynamics of operation and this has given us more freedom to create new business possibilities and also to improve the user experience”, comments Felipe Lagrotta Nassar Cury, CEO of the company. “We are going to close the second half of 2022 with a 100% increase in the number of new collection points and with a new gamified concept”, he adds.
About Microsoft
Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT” @microsoft) enables digital transformation in the era of the intelligent cloud and the intelligent edge. Microsoft’s mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. The company has been in Brazil for 34 years and is one of the subsidiaries of Microsoft Corporation, founded in 1975, which is present in over 190 countries. From July 2021 to June 2022, the company invested more than US$ 15 million in donations and discounts for non-profit entities, impacting more than 2,000 institutions with software donations, discounts for purchases and support for training projects. With the launch of the Microsoft For Startups Founders Hub, 443 new startups were approved, totaling 703 supported startups, which together have consumed USD 11,898,488.00 of Azure cloud credits.
