With the digital revolution, banking is being fundamentally redefined. At 50, DBS, like banking, is at a crossroads. The "Live More, Bank Less" ethos embodies the belief that the bank needs to remain at the forefront of change in the next 50 years. This includes providing the next generation with opportunities to come together to create innovative solutions that solve sustainability issues. The DBS Foundation is an endeavor from DBS Bank to make an even greater impact in addressing Asia's evolving social needs, by enabling social entrepreneurs to bring their ideas to life through grants, banking services, mentorship and a platform to showcase their work.
The campaign – Meet the Social Innovators of Asia's Future – shines the spotlight on 14 up-and-coming changemakers who are living life larger themselves and whose innovative ideas in the areas of inclusivity, sustainability and agriculture will play an important part in ensuring Asia's continued growth. These 14 social entrepreneurs from across Asia have been awarded DBS Foundation Social Enterprise Grants ranging between SGD40,000 and SGD160,000 to deploy social innovations in areas such as education, environmental sustainability, inclusivity and innovation in agriculture. These grants will enable SEs to bring their prototypes to market, improve existing processes or scale up their existing business for greater social impact.
Calls for 2018 grant applications will go out in March this year. To find out more about the DBS Foundation SE Grant Programme, visit go.dbs.com/Grants.
A three-part video series was launched mid-January 2018 to introduce the 14 social entrepreneurs in their respective fields. A common thread was woven across the diversity of social enterprises by asking three questions: (1) How do we meet our needs today while looking after the needs of tomorrow - Sustainability (2) How do we create a future worth sharing – Inclusivity; and (3) How do we harvest enough for generations to come – Agriculture.
The campaign spread online through our social enterprise community, like-minded organisations, public and social sectors across Asia, specifically in Singapore, Indonesia, Taiwan, India and Hong Kong. The videos were also played at the Bank's branches in Singapore and Hong Kong.
The campaign had a positive impact in making people aware of the potential solutions to social problems in their communities.
More importantly, the campaign boosted the public awareness of social enterprises. "The awareness from getting the DBS Foundation Social Enterprise Grant was very valuable! It increased our credibility and literally put us on the map online…" - Jeremy Lee, Co-Founder, UglyGood Pte Ltd.
