New Challenge Fund to help under-represented groups in Glasgow to become entrepreneurs
A new fund - the Social Innovation Challenge Fund - aims to help people from under-represented groups in Glasgow, such as women and ethnic minority communities, overcome challenges that make it difficult to become successful entrepreneurs. £250,000 is available through this Fund, and applications can be submitted from 5 December 2024.
Through the funding, organisations are invited to design and deliver support programmes for groups such as female or minority ethnic community entrepreneurs, or to signpost them to existing public services, which have been traditionally less likely to have been accessed by such groups.
Applications that will connect and empower early-stage entrepreneurs and start-ups in Glasgow will be invited, and while the Social Innovation Challenge Fund aims to nurture start-ups, it will not provide direct funding to grow individual businesses and organisations.
Councillor Susan Aitken, Leader of Glasgow City Council,said: "There are many entrepreneurs and innovators within Glasgow's underserved communities. Our job is to help unlock and nurture the potential amongst those who've operated too long under the radar of support.
"The Social Innovation Challenge Fund can do just that, changing how we deliver business support and lifting the barriers to many Glaswegians becoming successful entrepreneurs.
The funding will deliver programmes that broaden the access to business support, particularly to black and minority ethnic communities and women entrepreneurs. The intention of the fund is clear. Whatever the background and wherever they are, we want to work with our aspiring entrepreneurs to start, scale and grow their businesses."
The following organisations can apply to the Fund:
· Existing organisations working with under-represented groups with experience of supporting entrepreneurs set up or grow a business or social enterprise.
· Established organisations looking to deliver new projects with pre-start or start-ups that will innovate, inspire and strengthen links between the business support ecosystem and under-represented groups.
· Third Sector organisations/ Social Enterprises enabling early-stage entrepreneurialism and start up in the under-represented communities.
The Fund is open to applications from organisations operating in Glasgow which work towards the aims of the Fund; proposals can be made from private, or third-sector organisations seeking to develop or scale-up initiatives which meet the objectives of the Fund.
The Fund will be open to applications that align with any of the following themes: promoting and establishing new entrepreneurial engagement with underrepresented groups in the city; promoting Glasgow as a place to start a business, breaking down barriers that exist in preventing people from taking risk and becoming entrepreneurs; promoting actual or new networks that support the development of Minority Ethnic Community-led businesses and/or other under-invested / under-represented communities; and promoting the business support services of Glasgow City Council and those of its partners, ensuring a collaborative approach.
Successful applicants must deliver their activity in the 2025/26 financial year, and applications for funding of around £50,000 are sought, although consideration will be given to applications between a minimum of £30,000 and a maximum of £100,000.
More information on the Social Innovation Challenge Fund can be found here: https://www.glasgow.gov.uk/article/10779/The-Social-Innovation-Challenge-Fund
More information on this Fund is available from Glasgow City Council's Business Growth Team, who can be contacted by emailing businesssupport@glasgow.gov.uk.
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