Google.org provides €500,000 to support Ireland’s social entrepreneurs

Google Ireland has announced that its philanthropic arm, Google.org, is providing €500,000 in funding to Social Entrepreneurs Ireland (SEI) and INCO. The grants will support social entrepreneur-led organisations in Ireland to grow their impact and those interested in being considered can submit an expression of interest from today, 5 December.

Leveraging the funds from Google.org, SEI and INCO will support underserved social entrepreneurs to scale their organisations. SEI will use the funding to run the Changing Ireland Accelerator Programme (CIAP), a twelve-month initiative for underserved social entrepreneurs needing support to accelerate their impact. Running in parallel to the CIAP, INCO will disperse the funding as cash sub-grants administered to the participants.

Speaking at the announcement in Google’s EMEA HQ, Dublin, Adaire Fox-Martin, President of Google Cloud International and Head of Google Ireland said:

“Social enterprise is an increasingly crucial component of a resilient, equitable, and sustainable economy. By providing the sector better access to capital, talent, markets, and technology, businesses such as Google have the opportunity to meaningfully serve the communities they operate in and advance impactful humanitarian and environmental causes.  These grants reflect Google’s continued commitment to supporting social entrepreneurs around the world and to the principle that entrepreneurship can be the best way to tackle some of the world’s greatest challenges. 

“We want to encourage ambitious change-makers to submit their expression of interest in the Changing Ireland Accelerator programme today.”

Tim Griffiths, CEO of Social Entrepreneurs Ireland said:

“Social Entrepreneurs Ireland is thrilled to work with INCO and believe that this catalytic funding will help brilliant, social entrepreneur-led organisations to scale up and accelerate the impact they are having across Ireland reaching the most underserved communities.”

Mathieu Planchard, Global Head of Development at INCO said:

“This initiative represents a concrete step towards building a more diverse and inclusive entrepreneurial ecosystem. The combination of capacity building support and strategic grant funding is the right recipe to break down the barriers faced by underserved founders in Ireland today. It’s a real privilege for INCO to work alongside SEI and to receive support from Google.org.”

Social Entrepreneurs Ireland is a not-for-profit organisation committed to the vision of accelerated social change through the power of people. Its mission is to harness the cumulative power of people through programmes, direct funding and an experienced community of alumni, funders, and sector leaders. Since its foundation in 2004, SEI has supported more than 550 social entrepreneurs across the country. Alumni of SEI programmes include Pieta House, AsIAm, Irish Community Air Ambulance, GIY, FoodCloud and the Irish Men’s Sheds Association.

INCO is a global nonprofit on a mission to create a more socially inclusive and environmentally sustainable economy. Across 40+ countries around the world, INCO  accelerates the growth of impact-driven businesses, and offers free education programs to the workforce of tomorrow. Since 2021, INCO has been leading StartSocial, an initiative supported by Google.org, to provide funding and capacity-building to over 400 social enterprises across Europe.

Today’s announcement by Google is an integral part of its European-wide commitment to supporting Social Entrepreneurs building on a pledge of €20 million cash funding through the Google.org Social Innovation Fund to support underserved social innovators across Europe.

Expressions of interest in the Changing Ireland Accelerator Programme are welcome via the dedicated page on the SEI website from 5 December 2022. The selection process will launch in February 2023 with successful applicants appointed to the programme from June 2023.

Google.org will be fully funding the costs of this programme in 2023 with a grant of €500,000.

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