S4S Technologies from India is one of the recipients of the grant
MUMBAI: DBS Foundation, the foundation in Singapore dedicated to championing social entrepreneurship said that it has awarded around Rs 6.79 Cr)to nine social enterprises (SEs) as part of its 2019 DBS Foundation Social Enterprise Grant Programme.
The grant funding will support this year’s awardees from India, Singapore, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia and Taiwan to deploy social innovations in areas such as healthcare, nutrition, employability and income generation, education, energy, environment protection and waste management.
This year, the DBS Foundation Social Enterprise Grant Programme received a record 600 applications from SEs across Asia.
The final nine SEs were selected based on rigorous criteria including the ability to address social needs, innovation, as well as the sustainability and scalability of their business models. They were also required to demonstrate a path to achieving key business and social impact milestones.
The 2019 DBS Foundation Social Enterprise Grant Programme (please see appendix for full list of awardees) awardees include S4S Technologies from India, a food tech company serving the global dehydrated food market with its patented UN-award winning solar dehydration technology.
S4S aggregates farm produce, performs necessary quality checks, undertakes secondary processing at its ISO grade factory making the products available to a wide range of B2B and B2C consumers.
The enterprise empowers women farmers to earn enhanced incomes through an assured market, by reducing farm level losses and creating value added products. S4S will use the grant to conduct a self-financing pilot with a farmer group in a new geography of India which can be later replicated several times, scaling up impact.
Last year, two Indian social enterprises Phool (formerly HelpUsGreen) and Haqdarshak were the recipients of this grant.
Karen Ngui, Board Member of DBS Foundation and DBS’ Head of Group Strategic Marketing & Communications said “The record number of grant applications received this year is testament to the fact that more people, especially millennials, are passionate about creating innovative solutions to address a myriad of pressing social and environmental issues. From empowering the disadvantaged and marginalised, to creating nutritious food that benefits both the environment and smallholder farmers, we are delighted to support these inspiring social entrepreneurs as they strive to build a better future for all.”
This year in India, DBS Bank entered into a strategic partnership with Social Alpha, a technology business incubator supported by Tata Trusts. The DBS-Social Alpha Social Entrepreneurship program focuses on providing holistic support to social innovators for the growth of their enterprises through business mentoring and seed capital.
