Are you an eco-inclusive enterprise who has been awarded a SEED Award and is looking to improve your financial literacy and investment readiness as you scale-up?
As part of our SEED Accelerator programme, you will develop the investment readiness and operational excellence of your established eco-inclusive enterprise as you design and take measures to effectively scale-up your business. The Accelerator provides you as a SEED Award Winner with a one-year support package that includes tailored needs assessment, capacity-building workshops applying the hands-on SEED Accelerator Toolkit, and one-on-one advice. As an Accelerator participant, your eco-inclusive enterprise is empowered during business development workshops and expert consultation to improve your investment readiness and optimise your financial resources, including the Accelerator SEED Grant which you are given as a SEED Award Winner.
Accelerator support is provided only to SEED Award Winners. If you are not yet a SEED Award Winner and would like to become eligible for SEED Accelerator support and the Accelerator SEED Grant, you can find out about upcoming SEED Awards openings and how to apply here.*
*Please refer to the SEED Awards call for applications for further details on applicant criteria and level of grant funding.
What does the SEED Accelerator offer?
As an established and successful enterprise that recently was awarded a SEED Award for your excellence in eco-inclusive enterpreneurship, you are invited to receive SEED Accelerator support and optimise the use of your Accelerator SEED Grant. Our Accelerator empowers you to take the next steps to scale-up, by applying the business development tools contained in our SEED Accelerator Toolkits and expertise collected over our fifteen years of supporting the growth of eco-inclusive enterprises. At the end of the Accelerator process, you will be fully prepared to apply these resources to improve your financial and organisational development and multiply your enterprise's positive environmental, economic and social impacts.
How does the SEED Accelerator process work?
Our one-year SEED Accelerator support will empower you – as a high-achieving and proven successful eco-inclusive enterprise – to scale-up. SEED Accelerator support consists of a comprehensive package of individualised needs assessment, a series of business development workshops and ongoing impact monitoring. In combination, this Accelerator support enables your enterprise to access the necessary financing and business development strategising techniques to improve your investment readiness, expand your market penetration and deliver greater environmental, social and economic benefits to your target markets.
1 | SELECTION PHASE
Receive a SEED Award recognising your achievements in eco-inclusive entrepreneurship and take advantage of your SEED Accelerator support package and Accelerator SEED Grant.
In order to receive Accelerator support, you must first be selected as a SEED Award Winner by applying to one of our SEED Awards schemes. Once your SEED Award application has been submitted, your application is reviewed by the SEED team and shortlisted. If shortlisted, you are asked to provide additional documents attesting to your enterprise's activities and environmental, social and economic impacts. At this stage, your application is forwarded to our international SEED Awards Jury which is tasked with scoring and identifying both SEED Award Winners and SEED Award Finalists. As a SEED Award Winner, you will receive the SEED Accelerator support package and an Accelerator SEED Grant to support your scale-up efforts.
Next Step: Perform an in-depth needs assessment to establish priority areas for financial and organisational capacity building activities during the Accelerator journey.
2 | NEED ASSESSMENT
Conduct tailored needs assessment to determine your organisational and financial priorities for development through the Accelerator process.
The first stage of the Accelerator process involves undergoing an individual organisational and financial needs assessment. You will be asked to complete questionnaires and discuss via phone to identify priority areas for financial and organisational capacity building during the Accelerator. Based on this assessment, you will be equipped with a framework for tailored support activities and an agenda for enterprise development workshops to participate in during this support year.
Next Step: Attend a customised series of business development workshops.
3 | ACCELERATION WORKSHOP SERIES
Refine your enterprise's financial and organisational development plan through a 1-year series of intensive and hands-on Accelerator workshops.
The customised SEED Accelerator workshop series allows you to develop a spending plan for your SEED Accelerator funding. The workshops (held every two months and lasting 2-3 days each) equip you with the financial literacy, management skills, and tools required to better monitor your eco-inclusive impacts and to communicate these impacts to potential funders. At the end of the workshop series, you will have a refined business model and clear financial plan for how to best spend your Accelerator SEED Grant and improve investment readiness.
The SEED Accelerator Workshop Series of intensive workshops (2-3 days each) includes:
Kick-off Workshop supports you to design your individual business development strategies using business model tools, production and operation plans, and newly acquired financial knowledge.
Acceleration Workshop equips you with financial tools – for cost controlling, pricing strategies, accounting and taxation –, impact measurement tools and enterprise development monitoring strategies.
Consolidation Workshop centres on your effective deployment of financial tools to manage financial statements and evaluate future investment decisions in addition to strategies to scale-up and replicate successful eco-inclusive business models.
Closure Workshop assists you with various areas of business capacity building, including monitoring, impact measurement, and long-term financing strategies.
Next step: Following the completion of the Accelerator workshop series, you are equipped with the skills and tools to implement your enterprise's development plan, attract necessary investment and multiply the environmental, social and economic benefits delivered to your target markets.
4 | ONGOING PERSONALISED CONSULTATION
Receive ongoing, personalised consultation with experts following the on-site workshops through our virtual business advisory support phase and efficiently utilise your Accelerator SEED Grant.
The Accelerator workshop series is accompanied by our virtual business advisory support for business plan development. During this phase, you refine your eco-inclusive business model while following a tailored support plan. You are guided to design a solid business plan that addresses your enterprise's most urgent needs in order to scale-up your operations and optimise your social, environmental and economic impacts. At the end of ongoing personalised consultation, your newly developed business plan will contain concrete steps for business activities including how to best optimise your Accelerator SEED Grant over the following months to year. The emphasis throughout is on your investment readiness. At the end of the Accelerator process, you are well-equipped to attract investment needed for enterprise growth.
Next step: Apply the insights and SEED tools from the workshop and personalised consultation to implement the measures identified in your business development plan.
5 | ADDITIONAL SUPPORT
Benefit from our extensive network of eco-inclusive enterprises, experienced business development experts and supportive partners as you work towards the next stages of enterprise growth.
SEED Grants
As a successful and highly motivated SEED Award Winner and recipient of SEED Accelerator support, you also receive an Accelerator SEED Grant intended to pay for your enterprise development measures. Please apply to a relevant SEED Award scheme to be selected as a SEED Award Winner. Details on other SEED Grants are advertised and dispersed via our SEED Platform.
DISCOVER MORE ABOUT SEED GRANTS
Pro Bono Support
As an Accelerator programme alumnus, you will be informed of any opportunities for pro bono legal or organisational development support from our partners. Pro bono support opportunities depend on the availability of our partners and cannot be guaranteed.
SEED Enterprise Profiling
SEED Accelerator alumni are supported as SEED Award Winners through various profiling and networking opportunities. You will be invited to participate in SEED events, including SEED Symposia and National Dialogue Fora in your region. You will also receive the opportunity to display your individual enterprise profile on our website and we will support you whenever possible during the next stages of your entrepreneurial journey.
Next step: Remain an active member of our SEED networks and continue to update us on how your enterprise is generating environmental, social and economic benefits for your target markets.
Currently, we offer the SEED Accelerator programme in the following countries:
SEED Library
Jonas Restle-Steinert
seed.uno