Bertha Centre for Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Application Deadline: October 31st 2016

The Bertha Centre for Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship was established as a specialised unit at the UCT Graduate School of Business (GSB) in 2011, in partnership with Bertha Foundation, a family foundation that works with inspiring leaders who are catalysts for social and economic change.

Through this partnership the GSB strengthens its commitment to transformation and equality and UCT’s strategic goal to address key development challenges facing Africa.

While the Bertha Foundation supports activists, storytellers and lawyers across the world, who are working to bring about social and economic justice, and human rights for all; the Bertha Centre Scholars at the GSB are part of a larger Bertha Foundation network of “troublemakers/radical actors” whose purpose it is to challenge the status quo for social justice – in this case through social innovation and entrepreneurship.

Requirements:

If you are an African citizen (or a South African permanent resident for at least one year.)

If you have:

started or worked with a social/green/entrepreneurial innovative idea that seeks social or economic change; or
if you have worked on advancing social justice and pioneering inclusive opportunities through social innovation within an organisation for at least one year.

The Bertha Centre scholarships are open to innovators, entrepreneurs, out-of-the-box thinkers, system-entrepreneurs, change-makers, social activists and cross-disciplinary candidates from any field provided they are actively involved in the exploration of social, environmental and/or economic justice using innovative approaches.

Scholarship Worth:

The Bertha Centre Scholarship covers full or partial costs of a wide variety of programmes at the UCT Graduate School of Business.
These include the MBA [both full-time and the modular programme], the MPhil in Inclusive Innovation, and PhD programmes.
The scholarship caters for candidates* committed to advancing social justice and pioneering inclusive opportunities through social innovation and entrepreneurship.

Timeline:

Application deadline	31 October 2016
Scholarship shortlisting (internal committee meeting)	Early November 2016
Shortlisted applicants invited for interview	Mid November 2016
Interviews	End of November 2016
Scholarship committee meeting (internal)	End November / Early December 2016
Scholarships offered	Middle / End December

For More Information:

Visit the Official Webpage of the Bertha Centre Scholarships 2016

Application Deadline: November 30th 2015

The Global Social Venture Competition (GSVC) provides aspiring entrepreneurs with mentoring, exposure, and $50,000 in prizes to transform their ideas into businesses that will have positive real world impact.

The SSVP was established by the Bertha Centre for Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship in response to the relative paucity of African teams at global social business plan competitions, and the lack of technical, financial and institutional support and sponsorship at their disposal.

By supporting social ventures in Africa, the SSVP aims to improve the participation and performance of these teams in international social business plan competitions such as the Global Social Venture Competition and the Hult Prize.

As part of the SSVP, high potential teams are provided with the necessary support with a view to connect ideas and business skills to produce more scalable and robust social ventures that have the ability to create significant social change in the global context.

The SSVP is supported by a number of local foundations, businesses and investors, namely, SAB Foundation, Bertha Foundation, and Edge Growth.

Eligibility

To qualify for the Competition, a proposed venture must:

The ventures should not be a wholly owned subsidiary of an existing entity.
Ventures must not have received more than $250 000 in funding and its lifetime revenues should not exceed $500 000 as of 31 December 2015.
Plan to be financially sustainable or profitable; whether it is for profit, non-profit or a hybrid business model, it must be self-sufficient on its earned revenue.
Be scalable. This criterion will be unique for each business plan. Scalability will take into account the potential for growth of the business (and how well both the financial and social goals can be scaled).
Have a quantifiable social and/or environmental bottom line incorporated into its mission and practices.
Submitted ventures must be less than two years old. (The start of the venture is marked by incorporation or first income whichever occurred first as at 31 December 2015.)

Team Eligibility

Each entrant team must include at least one current or recently graduated student (within two years from graduation) from any post-graduate higher education programme from any African university / institution. Team members must be African citizens.
Your team must include a graduate student (current or within two years of graduation as of 31 December 2015) from a masters-level or post-graduate higher education programme in any area of study in the world. This student must be actively involved in the venture (i.e. actively participating in development of the business or actively working in the business.)
Your team should include a statement describing the graduate students level of involvement.
The graduate student or recent graduate must be one of the team presenters and must be available to answer the judges questions regarding the business in the final two rounds of the competition.
Teams are strongly encouraged to include seasoned entrepreneurs with relevant skills and experience.

Benefits

Eligible social ventures will also be put forward to participate in other international student competitions, such as the Global Social Venture Competition and the Hult Prize and will be sponsored if invited to these international competitions.
The top two eligible teams will be guaranteed a place at the Global Social Venture Competition regional round in London. Business plan preparation and presentation support will be provided by Edge Growth and Bertha Centre specialists.
As part of the programme, high potential social venture teams will be provided with the necessary funding and support to develop their business skills to produce more scalable and robust social ventures that have the ability to create significant social change in the Africa and global context.

Executive Summary Instructions

The following documents should be submitted by no later than 30 November 2015:

Executive Summary (1 page) in PDF format
Team Resume Booklet in PDF format; each individual’s resume should not exceed one page in length
Use template provided on this link.