Google Ireland has today announced that its philanthropic arm, Google.org, is providing €500,000 in funding to Social Entrepreneurs Ireland (SEI) and INCO.
Social Entrepreneurs Ireland is a not-for-profit organisation committed to the vision of accelerated social change through the power of people. Its mission is to harness the cumulative power of people through programmes, direct funding and an experienced community of alumni, funders, and sector leaders.
Since its foundation in 2004, SEI has supported more than 550 social entrepreneurs across the country. Alumni of SEI programmes include Pieta House, AsIAm, Irish Community Air Ambulance, GIY, FoodCloud and the Irish Men’s Sheds Association.
INCO is a global nonprofit on a mission to create a more socially inclusive and environmentally sustainable economy. Across 40+ countries around the world, INCO accelerates the growth of impact-driven businesses, and offers free education programs to the workforce of tomorrow. Since 2021, INCO has been leading StartSocial, an initiative supported by Google.org, to provide funding and capacity-building to over 400 social enterprises across Europe.
Today’s announcement by Google is an integral part of its European-wide commitment to supporting Social Entrepreneurs building on a pledge of €20 million cash funding through the Google.org Social Innovation Fund to support underserved social innovators across Europe.
Expressions of interest in the Changing Ireland Accelerator Programme are welcome via the dedicated page on the SEI website from 5 December 2022. The selection process will launch in February 2023 with successful applicants appointed to the programme from June 2023. Google.org will be fully funding the costs of this programme in 2023 with a grant of €500,000.
Speaking at the announcement in Google’s EMEA HQ, Dublin, President of Google Cloud International and Head of Google Ireland, Adaire Fox-Martin said, "Social enterprise is an increasingly crucial component of a resilient, equitable, and sustainable economy. By providing the sector better access to capital, talent, markets, and technology, businesses such as Google have the opportunity to meaningfully serve the communities they operate in and advance impactful humanitarian and environmental causes. These grants reflect Google’s continued commitment to supporting social entrepreneurs around the world and to the principle that entrepreneurship can be the best way to tackle some of the world’s greatest challenges."
Source: www.businessworld.ie
