One potential source of funding for green and social entreprenuers is through an award, competition or fellowship. These program vary and include cash prizes for one-time contests, seed funding for new ventures, and later-stage funding for existing organizations. Note that some of these program provide funding for non-profit ventures only.
The amount of funding provided by these programs vary, but can be as large as $1 million. These programs also can provide a variety of other resources beneficial for entreprenuers, including technical assistance and connection to a network of other entreprenuers.
To suggest an addition to this list send an e-mail to info [at] greenvc.org
Green and Social Entreprenuership Awards, Competitions and Fellowships:
- $100,000 Lemelson-MIT Award for Sustainability
- Ashoka
- Ashoka’s Changemakers – Competitions
- Design 21: Social Design Network – Competitions
- Draper Richards Foundation
- Echoing Green Fellowship
- Equal Justice Works Fellowships (law-related)
- Hub Ventures
- Social Entrepreneur of the Year (Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship)
- Southern California Clean Energy Technology Acceleration Program
- Skoll Awards for Social Entrepreneurship
- The Purpose Prize
- Venture Well
- We Media Pitch It Challenge
- Wireless Innovation Challenge (Vodafone Americas Foundation)