KBC Bank Ireland has this week announced that as part of KBC Bright Ideas it has doubled its support fund to €200,000 and launched a new scheme for Ireland’s leading social innovators and entrepreneurs. 
 
KBC’s Business Bright Ideas will assist for-profit organisations in the business of having a positive impact on a city or community by addressing a particular social need.

Following a judging process a top award of €50,000 will be granted to the winning applicant who can show how the funding will help have a positive impact on communities. A total of €100,000 will be shared among the top entrants. 
 
Furthermore, KBC’s Bright Ideas community support initiative will be returning for a fourth year to support individuals and organisations which are transforming and improving the lives of others in their locality. KBC is calling on community groups across the country to apply for financial support for their dream projects from a second fund of €100,000. 
 
The Bright Ideas initiative has awarded over a quarter of a million in funding provided to 120 community projects to date, with a record 400 entries in 2016. This year the initiative will be promoted across seven different geographic regions that correspond with KBC’s hub network: Dublin City (Grand Canal, Baggot Street, College Green, Dundrum, Swords, Stillorgan), Cork (Lapp’s Quay, Wilton), Galway, Limerick, Kilkenny, Waterford and the wider Leinster area (Maynooth, Naas and Greystones).
 
Commenting on the initiative, Head of Marketing Communications at KBC, Caroline Donnellan said, "Bright Ideas has been so successful over the last three years that over 100 charities and community groups have been able to improve their locality or help others from our fund. This year we wanted to expand the fund, and the type of people and groups who would benefit from it, so we’ve opened it up to entrepreneurs who have a business that will benefit people and society and have the ambition to grow it for the common good."
 
Source: www.businessworld.ie