The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in Indonesia has teamed up with Silicon Valley global investor 500 Startups to launch ImpactAim Indonesia, an accelerator targeting social enterprises in the country.
ImpactAim Indonesia aims to help the Southeast Asian nation achieve the sustainable development goals by 2030. The accelerator will target eight to ten business-to-consumer social impact startups that have raised seed capital or more. These companies must set out to address the UN’s sustainable development goals in order to join the ten-week program, which requires no fee or equity offering from the participants.
Held in Jakarta, ImpactAim Indonesia will provide guidance on impact measurement and acceleration, as well as tailoring business. It will also help connect them with potential investors from around the world.
ImpactAim was first launched in Armenia in 2017, and complementary initiatives are underway in other parts of Asia and Eastern Europe. Indonesia is the second official leg of the program.
According to the resident representative of UNDP in Indonesia, Christophe Bahuet, ImpactAim Indonesia is part of the UNDP’s effort to foster innovative solutions to some of the world’s most entrenched problems.
Establishing and scaling a social impact startup can be challenging, especially if the founder is unable to balance impact with profit. Thus, it is important to link up with partners that have the same vision, such as 500 startups, which invests in impact-driven deals. Recently, 500 Startups partnered with Petronas to launch Petronas FutureTech, a Malaysia-based accelerator program to drive innovation in the oil and gas industry.