The Venture, a worldwide competition by Chevas Regal, targeting social entrepreneurs is finally here.

Open to social entrepreneurs who use their business concepts and technology to bring about significant social transformation, The Venture is open to participants from 32 countries around the world including Kenya and Uganda.

The competition is open to entrepreneurs who are over 25 years old, hail from eligible countries and have a solid start-up plan that delivers both financial and social value.

The submissions deadline is November 30, after which the top 10 finalists will be coached by a group of business experts who will then select the entrepreneur who will represent their country on the world stage.

The most promising candidate from each country will attend The Venture’s Accelerator Week programme in the UK in March 2017 for intense mentorship, pitching support and business master classes. Before the finals, 25 per cent of the jackpot money is awarded to one social enterprise that is selected through a voting process open to the general public.

The Kenya launch, which took place at the Lord Errol Restaurant in Nairobi last week, was attended by aspiring social entrepreneurs and established business people.
The Venture is a $1 million investment fund set up by global whisky maker Chivas Regal.

“The Chivas The Venture is inspired by the founding brothers, James and John Chivas, who realised early on that success is much richer when we share it with others,” said Denis Ochanine, the East Africa regional director for Pernod Ricard, owners of Chivas Regal.

In 2014, Chivas Regal introduced The Venture in 25 countries to motivate upcoming, innovative and socially conscious business people with a chance to share in the million-dollar prize.

In 2015, WEFARM, a farming information network that was pioneered in Kenya, Uganda and Peru, took the second place in the finals and won $200,000. The first prize of $300,000 went to a plastic waste innovator from Columbia, while the other winners were an eye-stimulated communications device for paralysed patients, a solar-powered medical cooling system and a fashion accessories firm.

TED fellow and co-founder of Brave Venture Labs Jessica Colaco was a keynote speaker at the Nairobi launch. She noted that there is growth of socially-aware enterprises in the East African region because, “they bring the self-sufficiency of for-profit businesses and the incentives of market forces to bear on global social problems.”

Chivas The Venture final takes place in New York city, in July 2017. The five global finalists must convince a panel of judges in front of live and televised audiences that they have the best business plan. The prize also includes mentorship from international entrepreneurs.

Since 2014, over 3,500 enterprises from around the world have applied for the annual $1 million fund that year. Younger generations of workers and entrepreneurs are motivated by businesses that leave positive social footprints in the world, according to a Chivas-commissioned global study.

“Young people believe that business also has a social responsibility not just government.”

The social entrepreneurship movement uses business concepts, technology and innovative products to create solutions that benefit many people, particularly those in the periphery of society.

While many social entrepreneurs have traditionally been business magnates or successful corporations, endeavours such as Chivas The Venture recognise that small-scale initiatives can have strong vision and deliver widespread positive change if they are supported with funding and sound business advice.