Impact Pioneers (Swedish Institute)

Overview

Impact entrepreneurship refers to the efforts to create, develop, and sustain new business that pursue environmental and/or social goals as an integral part of the business model, along with financial success. It is a global phenomenon in many ways rewriting the rules of traditional business with its much broader and bolder ambition. It is a potential driver of both economic and social development, as well as a force that can help accellerate the global green transition. If nurtured and empowered, it has great potential to bring forward new businesses needed today and in the future, bringing sustainable innovation and jobs to local communities. This potential has inspired the question: how can we work together to make the ecosystems for impact entrepreneurship – and the entrepreneurs within them – thrive and grow? 

Impact Pioneers seeks to explore just that, by engaging local entrepreneurship ecosystem leaders and enablers working (as innovation hub managers, startup coaches or similar) in organizations and networks that want to develop their support for impact entrepreneurs.

The programme aims to grow participants skillset through exchange of experiences, perspectives, cases, tools and frameworks that help promote successful coaching and support for impact startups. The programme also aims to promote future partnerships, to the benefit of impact startups and scaleups as they seek to expand their international reach, growth and impact.

Impact Pioneers offers participants the opportunity to:

• Grow from the exchange of experiences with an international community of peers.
• Be supported and inspired by new insights from the Impact entrepreneurship and Impact innovation forefront, such as practical cases, tools and frameworks.
• Get first-hand experience of the Impact entrepreneurship community in Stockholm, recognised as one of the leading ecosystems in the impact entrepreneurship domain.
• Build long-term relations with Swedish foreign missions and Swedish Impact entrepreneurs that seek to expand their international reach, growth and impact.

Programme structure and format

Timeline and expectations
Impact Pioneers is scheduled to run across ten weeks, from mid-August through October 2024. A final schedule and timeline will be provided upon acceptance to the programme.

• Participants should be prepared to spend around two hours per week in online activities such as participating in sharing sessions and working an idea for a collaboration project.
• As a participant, you should also be able to join the one week summit onsite in Stockholm 7 – 11 October (excluding travel days).

Programme components:

1. Online networking, sharing and masterclass sessions (August-September)
   Networking sessions are conducted online in both large and small group formats (organised by region and randomly mixed). Other than the social element, they will include case sharing and high-quality masterclasses, highlighting latest developments within the field of impact entrepreneurship and green transition. These sessions aim to equip participants with network, frameworks and tools, and inspire work on a partnership/exchange project.
2. Partnership/exchange project (September)
   Each participant is asked to identify an opportunity relevant to their role or based on their organisation’s overall needs and current approaches to managing impact entrepreneurship and exchange with the international community. The goal of the partnership/exchange project is to develop an idea for continued collaboration after the programme ends.
3. Sweden week, onsite (7 – 11 October, excluding travel days)
   During this week, programme participants will gather in Stockholm Sweden. The week will be an interactive and immersive onsite experience, offering a unique opportunity to network with peers and engage with Swedish impact entrepreneurship leaders and experts. The week will feature workshops, field visits to leading innovation hubs and impact entrepreneurship environments in Stockholm, as well as exploration of Swedish nature and culture. This experience aims to strengthen participants’ impact entrepreneurship management skills and network, and create new connections with the Swedish entrepreneurship ecosystem. Participation in Sweden week is exclusive to participants who have successfully completed the programme’s previous components.
4. Way forward, online & regionally onsite (November and onwards)
   In the final component of Impact Pioneers, participants put their new skills and network into action. They share their expertise and skills with colleagues and stakeholders back home and establish relationships with the Swedish embassy in their home country.

Programme timeline 2024

Applications:

• 1-31 May: Open call for applications
• 1-20 June: Screening of applications
• First week of July: Selected participants to recieve letter of acceptance

Programme:

• mid-August: Kick-off and weekly online activity/sessions
• 7-11 October: 1 week onsite experience in Stockholm, Sweden
• 31 October: End of weekly online activity/sessions > Collaboration/exchange to continue