Appication Deadline: April 30, 2025
Applications are now open for the 2025 Swedish Institute’s Impact Pioneers Leadership Programme. Impact Pioneers ’25 is a leadership programme that sets out to convene leaders and enablers working in organisations and networks seeking to promote the nurture and growth of local entrepreneurship and innovation. The programme takes a starting point in the idea that entrepreneurship is a key driver of both economic and social development, as well as a force that can help accelerate the global green transition. The thematic focus of 2025 is ‘Enabling Climate Tech Entrepreneurship’, with ‘Climate Tech’ referring to technologies developed and used with the explicit purpose to help people, governments and others both address the sources and impacts of climate change.
Are you dedicated to nurturing and growing your local ecosystem for Climate Tech entrepreneurship? Impact Pioneers ’25 a leadership programme that welcomes you to exchange experiences with an international network of peers and gain first hand insights and experience from Sweden’s most successful Climate Tech entrepreneurship leaders and environments. The programme runs across 8 weeks, mixing weekly online sessions with a one-week onsite summit in Stockholm in October 2025.
Eligibility Requirements
The application is open to entrepreneurship ecosystem leaders and practitioners who work in organizations and networks that want to develop their support for entrepreneurs with businesses related to sustainablility and green transition. More specifially, we imagine applicants to work as:
- Startup hub/accelerator/incubation founders and managers
- Tech and innovation hub founders and managers
- University accelerator/incubator managers
- Public sector employees involved in work that supports Climate Tech entrepreneurship
In 2025, the application is open to 26 programme countries (applicants must be a citizen and resident of one of them):
AFRICA: Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, Uganda, South Africa, Zambia
ASIA: Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam
EUROPE: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Estonia, Georgia**, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Poland, Sweden, Ukraine*, Türkiye
MENA: Morocco, Egypt, Saudi Arabia***
Applicants must meet the following requirements:
- Be a citizen and resident of one of the 26 programme countries
- Work in an organisation or business systematically working to nurture and grow entrepreneurs.
- Have the mandate to develop new international partnerships for your organisation/business.
- Have a good working knowledge of both written and spoken English.
- Be willing to actively participate, provide support and share their experience and knowledge with other participants.
- Have identified opportunities and challenges that could be worked on during the programme to help their organisation improve its contribution to the local Climate Tech entrepreneurship ecosystem
An applicant’s home organisation/business must also meet the following requirements:
- Be locally owned and based in one of the programme countries.
- Be somehow hosting/coaching (or be in the process of starting up hosting/coaching of) entrepreneurs with business ideas that are related to sustainability and green transition.
- Run the organization/business with focus on contributing to the Sustainable Development Goals.
Programme structure and format
Commitment and expectations
Impact Pioneers ’25 is scheduled to run across 8 weeks during fall 2025. A final schedule and timeline will be provided upon acceptance to the programme.
- Participants should be prepared to spend around two hours per week in online activities such as participating in sharing sessions and working a personal Impact Journey project.
- As a participant, you should also be able to join the one week summit onsite in Stockholm in October, exact dates TBD.
Benefits
Participation in Impact Pioneers 25 is free of charge**.
The Swedish institute arranges and covers costs related to:
- Learning programme
- Flights to and from Sweden for the Sweden week onsite visit
- Accommodation, meals, transportation and insurance while in Sweden
**With the exception of Saudi participants who carry their own costs for flights and accommodation.
Programme components:
- Online networking, sharing and masterclass sessions
Networking, sharing and masterclass sessions will be conducted online in both large and small group formats (organised by region and mixed). Other than the social element, they will include case sharing and high-quality masterclasses, highlighting latest developments within the field of Climate Tech entrepreneurship and innovation, sustainable development and green transition. These sessions aim to offer participants new network, perspectives, cases, tools and frameworks. - Sweden week, onsite October 2025 (dates TBD)
During this week, programme participants will gather in Stockholm, Sweden. The week will be an interactive and immersive onsite experience, offering a unique opportunity to network with peers and engage with Swedish Climate Tech entrepreneurship leaders and experts. The week will feature workshops, field visits to leading innovation hubs and impact entrepreneurship environments in Stockholm. This experience aims to strengthen participants’ Climate Tech entrepreneurship network, and create new connections with the Swedish entrepreneurship ecosystem. Participation in Sweden week is exclusive to participants who have successfully completed the programme’s previous components. - Way forward. In the final component of Impact Pioneers ’25, participants make a plan on how to put their new skills and network into action. They share new perspectives, cases, tools and frameworks with colleagues and stakeholders in their local ecosystems, develop ideas for future partnerships across the international peer group and establish further relationships with the Swedish embassy and related network in their home country.
Programme Timeline
- mid June: Acceptance letter for granted participants
- late June: Online Kick-off
- August: weekly online activity/sessions begin
- October (dates TBD): 1 week onsite experience in Stockholm, Sweden
- October/November: Closing session (collaboration/exchange to continue in other ways)
For More Information:
Visit the Official Webpage of the Swedish Institute’s Impact Pioneers Leadership Programme
