ONCE again, the Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI), through its social arm BPI Foundation is looking for the country’s most promising social enterprises as it launches its BPI Sinag.
For its fifth year, BPI Sinag spread its glow when it went to Davao City on April 22, 2019 for its roadshow to reach to more social entrepreneurs. Other roadshows are being held in different areas in the country, namely Iloilo, Pampanga, and Laguna.
During the roadshow, participants are given time to present their business pitch to enable them to be shortlisted for the top 45 who will participate in bootcamps. Previously, BPI Sinag only chose the Top 40, but this time they make it Top 45 in consideration of the “fallout”.
The first bootcamp will be for a five-day entrepreneurial process and social enterprise development course while the second bootcamp will be for a five-day deep dive and social enterprise development plan pitching. Both bootcamps will be held in Manila and will be all-expense paid for all shortlisted participants.
The second bootcamp will be for those who will make it to Top 20. From the top 20, 10 social enterprises will be chosen to receive grants and or prizes and will be named as awardees of BPI Sinag. These 10 entrepreneurs are those who can showcase their business viability and social impact.
The top one to five will receive P500,000 and the top six to ten will get P100,000 cash grants. Other awards to be expected are Online People’s Choice Awards with P20,000 cash grant from BPI Business Banking, Most Viable Social Enterprise Development Plan Award with P50,000 cash grant from BPI Business Banking, Negosyo Ko Award with P20,000 cash grant from BPI BanKo, and Tech for Good Award with P100,000 worth of Globe services from Globe Telecom.
Mentorship opportunities will also be given to two social enterprises by Start-up Village.
This time, BPI Sinag focuses on “acceleration” program, thus the name Sinag Accelerate, meaning the enterprise must not be a startup or in its ideation stage yet. Unlike when the BPI Sinag started in 2015, this time they are looking for enterprises that must have stood for a minimum of two years already.
“BPI Sinag Accelerate targets social entrepreneurs whose social enterprises are ready to scale up and expand while deepening their impact in community development,” Maria Teresa Calalang, BPI Foundation Associate Director, said during their visit here in Davao City.
Critera for Sinag Accelerate are social entrepreneurs must be 18 years old and above who are equally passionate about business - scaling-up and expanding - and making a difference. They should be leading a registered social enterprise, operating for at least 2 years, which addresses a specific social problem and defined social impact.
BPI Sinag will be accepting entries until May 27, 2019 and for those interested, you may visit www.sinag.bpifoundation.org to download the application form and submit the accomplished form to info.bpisinag@gmail.com.
BPI partnered with several social impacts organizations such as Bayan Academy for Social Entrepreneurship and Human Resource Development, Villgro Philippines, and Start-Up Village, as well as internal bank business units such as BPI Business Banking and BPI BanKO.
It also collaborated with Globe Telecom to support both the bootcamps and the awards.
Learn more about BPI Foundation and its programs by visiting its official website (www.bpifoundation.org), official Facebook page (www.facebook.com/BPIFoundation), and official Instagram page (www.instagram.com/bpifoundationinc) or (@bpifoundationinc).