Deadline: 31-Mar-23

Applicants are now invited to submit applications for the UNLEASH Plus, a 6-month incubation program for early-stage social entrepreneurs who have a great idea and a phenomenal team.

The program supports teams who are uniquely qualified to solve their particular problem, but need access to the skills, tools, mindset, networks, and resources that will push their solution from minimum viability to product market fit.

Program Modules

During the program, teams will benefit from e-learning modules, interactive workshops, mentorship and world-class experts to support them in the following topics:

• Lean Management: Focuses on setting goals and priorities, developing an adaptive mindset, and testing the solution in an iterative way
• Impact Measurement: Improves the team’s ability to measure, analyze and communicate the initiative’s impact in a clear and compelling way
• Financials: Includes tools for defining the venture’s business model, planning core revenue and costs streams, and determining future growth potential
• Fundraising: Supports in clarifying financial needs and developing successful fundraising strategies
• High-Performing Team: Includes a leadership program, and focuses on team development, diversity and inclusion, HR, and recruitment
• Go-to-market & storytelling: Centers on developing knowledge of the target market and how to acquire and keep customers, clients, or users
• Designing for Scale: Provides insights into pathways and models for scaling the solution, for example by using “network effects” or platform thinking.

Why join UNLEASH Plus?

Many of us have great ideas for social impact, but it’s hard to create an organization that contributes towards a sustainable future. UNLEASH Plus will help teams get there. During the program, Teams will receive:

• Online training
• Ongoing mentorship
• Peer-to-peer learning
• Access to world-class Experts
• In-person bootcamp

Eligibility Criteria

• UNLEASH Plus is made for young innovators around the world who are solving problems to achieve the SDGs.
• The program is designed to help for-profit, non-profit, and hybrid organizations build solutions that solve real problems and impact the SDGs while preparing them for long-term sustainability and scale.
• To participate in UNLEASH Plus, please note the following criteria before proceeding with your application:
• Solution criteria:
  • Solution that addresses one or more of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals
  • Nonprofits, for-profits, and hybrid entities are welcome to apply
  • Have a minimum viable product (MVP) i.e. your solution has been tested and validated directly with users
  • Documented feedback, references, or testimonials from early testing with actual users or prospective customers that demonstrate the market need for the solution
• Team criteria:
  • 2 to 4 active Team members participating throughout the 6-month program
  • Teams must include founders/co-founders, and all team members must have organizational decision-making authority
  • Ability to commit at least 8 hours per Team per week throughout the program
  • Half of the Team members below 35 years old
  • A legal entity with the ability to receive funds (Teams may be in the process of establishing their legal entity and should aim to complete the process by November 2023 in order to receive any potential funds)

Where will the program take place?

• The 2023 program will be mostly virtual, including the two-day program kick-off, monthly half-day checkpoints with Mentors and Experts, and online courses where Teams will complete several online learning modules focused on key aspects of their business model. For the top Teams at the end of the six-months, an in-person event will be held at a location to be communicated at a later point.

Program Phases

• The Roadmap: June | Where the journey begins
  • The first phase is an inspiring and hands-on two-day event that kicks off the UNLEASH Plus program. Participants meet their peers, pitch to their cohort, engage with Mentors and Experts, and develop a clear roadmap for the program.
• The Journey: Jun – Nov | Online learning with monthly checkpoints
  • The second phase is a 21-week interactive online program where teams learn lean startup principles, run design sprints to strengthen product-market fit, develop high performing behaviors, develop feasible and viable organizational models, and measure their impact. The program is delivered through online learning modules and virtual monthly check-ins with the entire cohort where Teams receive direct feedback from Mentors, Experts, and peers.
• The Future: At Global Lab | In-person bootcamp for the top 25 teams
  • The program ends with an intensive eight-day bootcamp that is in-person during the Global Innovation Lab. During the bootcamp, Teams receive tailored support from world-class Experts to refine their strategies and pitch their solutions to funders and potential partners that will give cash and in-kind support awards. By the end of the program, teams are empowered to grow the impact of their solution and expand their contribution toward achieving the SDGs.

For more information, visit UNLEASH.