📺 Stream EntrepreneurTV for Free 📺

Social Enterprises, Nestle's Creating Shared Value Prize 2018 Is Looking For You For social entrepreneurs looking for avenues to scaling their ventures, here's your chance.

You're reading Entrepreneur Middle East, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media.

Nestlé
Nestlé

For social entrepreneurs looking for avenues to scaling their ventures, here's your chance. Awarded every two years, the Nestle Creating Shared Value Prize is seeking global applications from social and private enterprises and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) solving issues in nutrition, water or rural development. In partnership with Ashoka, a network platform for social entrepreneurs, the competition seeks to support and accelerate the growth of initiatives solving significant issues in water, nutrition and rural development. To be eligible for the CSV prize, applicants should have a proven concept tested through a pilot or small-scale enterprise, have the potential to scale and be replicated in other communities, aims to make a social impact improving nutrition, enhancing rural development and access to clean water or water management, plus a viable business model.

Karine Antoniades, Public Affairs & Creative Shared Value Manager of Nestle Middle East adds, "In addition to the above criteria, applicants will stand out for their innovative concepts and their proven impact in society, in light of the current, but also the future issues facing our world. Innovation and creativity can mean anything and not only those showcasing new technologies, but also those addressing communities' problems with a more basic approach." She encourages social entrepreneurs as best poised to participate as they're on the look out for businesses with a social value at the core of their initiatives: "My advice is for them to apply and share their work, we are interested in your initiatives! Innovative change makers are wanted!"

Agro-Hub receiving the Creating Shared Value Prize 2016 at the CSV Forum
Source: Nestle/Flickr

The winners will share CHF 500,000 (approximately US$ 529,000) in prize money, as well as one Lifetime Ashoka Fellowship and a spot on the Ashoka Social Investment Accelerator, with all applicants having the opportunity to receive feedback on the OpenIdeo online review function, along with coaching and networking opportunities. Also, 50 semi-finalists are selected for a second round of feedback and join online "peer' calls to connect and share ideas with other shortlisted applicants and the CSV team, and the top 10 initiatives will be announced online before the final selection of the top five finalists. The top five applicants will receive a travel bursary for a two-day Ashoka Impact Boot Camp at the World Water Forum in Brazil in March 2018, and attend the CSV Forum in Brazil and pitch their projects live at the forum to the CSV Council.

Applicants are welcomed to apply by October 31, 2017 on the website www.changemakers.com/creativesharedvalue, or nominate businesses and social enterprises by emailing csvprive@ashoka.org

Related: Google Launchpad Accelerator Expands To Egypt, Morocco And Algeria

Thought Leaders

It's the End of the Entrepreneurial Era As We Know It

With the rise of advanced technologies and AI, are we losing all sense of the independent business person and entrepreneur?

Growing a Business

'You Need to be a Non-Expert': Why Billionaire Naveen Jain Believes Outsiders Make the Best Entrepreneurs

Naveen Jain founded microbiome testing and supplements company Viome by believing he didn't need expertise to disrupt an industry.

Growing a Business

To Make Your First Million Dollars, Draw Up This Venn Diagram: 'You Want to Fall Right In the Middle. If You Do, I Think It'll Take 5 Years'

The hosts of 'My First Million' believe anyone can make it happen if they follow this formula.

Side Hustle

He Started a Luxury Side Hustle at Age 13 — Now the Business Earns More Than $10 Million a Year: 'People Want to Help You When You're Young'

Michael Morgan, now the owner of Iconic Watch Company, always had a passion for "old things" — and he turned it into a lucrative venture.

Business News

James Clear's Atoms App Promises to Help Break Bad Habits and Create Better Ones — Here's How It Works

The app turns Clear's best-selling book, "Atomic Habits," into something actionable.

Productivity

10 Tools to Keep Creatives Happy and Productive

This band of rebels is a breed unto themselves with a blend of desirable skills that ensure your brand not only stays intact, but one step ahead of the competition.