10 top Sabah entrepreneurs to undergo social impact accelerator programme

 By Olivia Miwil - December 28, 2021 @ 3:24pm

Dubbed as ILTIZAM Social Impact Accelerator SABAH (ISIAS) programme, which will run from February until July, aims to promote social innovation and entrepreneurship. - - Pic credit ISIAS

KOTA KINABALU: A six-month mentorship programme will help Sabah entrepreneurs to accelerate their business growth.

Dubbed as ILTIZAM Social Impact Accelerator SABAH (ISIAS) programme, which will run from February until July, aims to promote social innovation and entrepreneurship.

Apart from mentorship, the top 10 selected social enterprises will also benefit from receiving financial assistance, access to potential investors, markets, talent and additional capital while enabling them to meet crucial social outcomes.

The programme is managed by the Youth Trust Foundation (myHarapan) and supported by Ekuiti Nasional Bhd (Ekuinas) through its corporate social responsibility arm, ILTIZAM and Sabah Creative Economy and Innovation Centre (SCENIC).

Together, these organisations aim to collectively foster sustainable growth amongst Sabahan social entrepreneurs by providing them with highly engaging experience and opportunities, skills and knowledge to build resilience in developing more positive impact.

Ekuinas stakeholders' interest director Hizwani Hassan said they believe the programme would be a good launching pad for participants.

"It is our hope it will benefit social entrepreneurs in Sabah, especially in the remote areas, to learn new skills as all of us adapt to an age where we can no longer ignore technology and digitalisation in order to be relevant.

"This is even more so now in the age of Covid-19 where it forces them to embrace technology faster than ever," he said in a statement.

SCENIC general manager Viviantie Sarjuni said there is a need to expand similar support of social entrepreneurship in Sabah as how the ecosystem has been around since 2014.

"With proper guidance and support we are confident that we can churn out as many social enterprises as we can in Sabah as it will not only help the economy but solve pressing issues within the community.

"The social enterprise's business model will allow you to not only make money for yourselves but you will be able to elevate the economy of the affected communities, even solving environmental issues,"she added.

The application for the programme is opened until Jan 5 via https://bit.ly/ISIAS2022 .