Under a new program from Sydney’s UTS Business School, top postgraduate students will help social enterprises develop new business models and become more “investor ready”.
Under the newly established Social Innovation Fellowships Program, selected MBA students will work with a social enterprise to analyse its business model, review market research and look at ways to make it more attractive to institutional and private investors.
Run in conjunction with charitable organisation, the Benevolent Society, the purpose of the pilot program is to give social enterprises access to cost-effective advice they might not otherwise afford. On the other side of the coin, it also gives the MBA students business advisory experience.
Dr Danielle Logue, co-founder and director of the Social Innovation Fellowship Program, commented that while millions of dollars in investment opportunities are available, many worthwhile social enterprises miss out on funding because they fail to meet investment criteria.
“The aim is for the fellows to help build capacity inside those social enterprises so they can access capital from impact investors,” Logue said.
