BPI Foundation, the social innovation arm of the Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI), is once again on the look-out for ten of the country’s most promising social enterprises as it announces the launch of BPI Sinag Year 5.
“BPI Sinag returns on its fifth year to champion more Filipino social entrepreneurs through an enhanced incubation program that integrates updated modules in business and technology,’’ said Maricris San Diego, BPI Foundation Executive Director. “This will allow us to empower our social enterprise to leverage the latest digital tools and platforms today to further scale up their impact on communities.”
To reach more social enterprises around the country, BPI Sinag held a roadshow in Davao. Roadshows will also be held in Iloilo, Pampanga, and Laguna. At these tours, social entrepreneurs can present a 7-minute business pitch to fast-track their entries and be shortlisted as one of the top 40 who will participate in bootcamps, which will include trainings on business strategy and planning, marketing, operations, finance, organization & HR development, and social innovation, among others.
In Davao, Rose Villamor, representative for Virtualahan, shared how BPI Sinag influenced the business. Virtualahan provides employment opportunities to disadvantaged and differently-abled people, while helping digital businesses grow using technology and human intelligence.
Previous Sinag winners such as Virtualahan received cash grants and benefited from capacity-building activities from the BPI Sinag boot camps and network, linking them to investors and mentors who can help them scale their businesses and maximize their impact.
“We encourage Davao-based social entrepreneurs to join BPI Sinag Year 5. If you are 18 years old and above and have been operating your social enterprise for at least two years, do visit www.sinag.bpifoundation.org to download the application form and submit the accomplished form to info.bpisinag@gmail.com. We will be accepting entries until May 27, 2019,” said San Diego.
BPI Foundation will continue its partnerships with social impact 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.
Starting this year, BPI Foundation will collaborate with Globe Telecom to support both the bootcamps and the awards.
Top ten social enterprises that will be able to showcase their business viability and social impact will be named as awardees of BPI Sinag, with the top one to five receiving Php 500,000 and top six to ten accepting Php 100,000 cash grants. Other awards to be expected are Online People’s Choice Awards with Php 20,000 cash grant from BPI Business Banking, Most Viable Social Enterprise Development Plan Award with Php 50,000 cash grant from BPI Business Banking, Negosyo Ko Award with Php 20,000 cash grant from BPI BanKo, and Tech for Good Award with Php 100,000 worth of Globe services from Globe Telecom. Mentorship opportunities will also be given to two social enterprises by Start-up Village.
Assisting over 150 social entrepreneurs since its launch in 2015, BPI Sinag also offers a supportive network of social entrepreneurs and like-minded individuals. In line with this, BPI Sinag Year 5 is set to launch the BPI Sinag book which will feature 15 case studies aimed at sharing tools and framework for other social enterprises.
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).
