The Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development Fund (SIE Fund) Task Force announced today (June 12) the successful appointment of four organisations as the second batch of intermediaries recently. New rounds of initiatives under the innovative programmes are being launched with a view to sustaining the momentum within the social innovation sector and facilitating the further development and enhancement of the ecosystem.

     The four intermediaries appointed are Fullness Social Enterprises Society Ltd (FSES), the Hong Kong Council of Social Service (HKCSS), PolyU Technology and Consultancy Co Ltd (PolyU) and the Society of Rehabilitation and Crime Prevention, Hong Kong (SRACP). While they share the common vision of addressing poverty and social exclusion by innovative solutions, individual programmes being designed and administered are unique in their own rights. The programmes also cater to different development stages of social ventures by nurturing and supporting social innovators to develop innovative projects with diversity and impact.

     The FSES and SRACP are first-time appointees with new innovative programmes being launched. Organised by FSES, "Innovator Farm" targets at youngsters aged 15 to 25 by offering them a co-working hub to incubate innovative ideas, explore and test possibilities of different ideas and thus realise their social innovation dreams. "BEHub" of SRACP sets sight on fostering interactions between the disadvantaged and social innovators in the hope of nurturing and inspiring the disadvantaged to become social innovators. The programme is expected to be launched in September this year.

     This is the second time PolyU and HKCSS joined hands with the SIE Fund, and their programmes have already commenced. "Good Seed" of PolyU continues to help students and alumni of higher education institutes unleash their innate ability to develop innovative solutions with applications of design, technology and business concepts for tackling social problems. "Impact Incubator" of HKCSS is open to individuals as well as organisations and companies registered in Hong Kong. It provides a one-stop platform to support and nurture innovative projects at various stages, including late prototypes, start-ups, growing and scaled-up stages to drive a sustainable impact. More information about the innovative programmes can be found on the SIE Fund website (www.sie.gov.hk/en/intermediaries/programme.page).
    
     The SIE Fund looks forward to working in close co-operation with the intermediaries. This would help the social innovation ecosystem to further prosper and enable the Fund to deliver a greater and more extensive impact through connecting existing resources and working in collaboration with social innovative experts to nurture and incubate more social entrepreneurs and innovative projects, hence benefiting more people in need.
      
     The SIE Fund was inaugurated in 2013 and is overseen by the SIE Fund Task Force under the Commission on Poverty. By facilitating social innovation and cultivating social entrepreneurship, the SIE Fund aims to drive impact in alleviating poverty and social exclusion, promote social integration as well as enhance the well-being and cohesion of society. The Fund engaged the first batch of intermediaries in 2015 to enable continuous development of the social innovation ecosystem and to build a larger, more diversified and sustainable cross-sector community for social innovators and entrepreneurs to flourish in.

Ends/Friday, June 12, 2020
Issued at HKT 19:35

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