MOSTI launches RM10 million SIM grant to elevate social enterprise recovery

Social enterprises, or businesses that proactively create a positive social or environmental impact in a financially sustainable manner, can accelerate their recovery, and look to scale out, with a RM10 million grant launched by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI).

This initiative by the ministry is timely as many social enterprises (SE) employ resources from marginalised or B40 communities which have been severely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Malaysia’s Social Impact Matching (SIM) Grant, previously the Social Enterprise Elevation (SEE) initiative under the government’s Short-Term Economic Recovery Plan (PENJANA), aims to support local SEs and other social impact businesses to sustain their initiatives and programmes, harness their capability to fundraise, increase public awareness in social innovation and scale their solutions for good social and/or environmental outcomes.

In a statement, Khairy Jamaluddin, minister of MOSTI, said, social innovation raises the spirit of co-operation, bringing together government institutions, private and community in shaping innovative solutions towards an inclusive and progressive economy.

The Government has developed various assistance towards generating greater social impact and strengthening the social innovation ecosystem structure.

At the event, MaGIC launched a #BuyForImpact campaign which encourages customers and buyers to reshape the market landscape by choosing to shop in support of social enterprises, through available channels.

“Under the #BuyForImpact campaign, we would like to increase market channels for social enterprises while instilling social awareness amongst consumers, offering purchase options which can provide an impact that will benefit the next generation. The campaign also aims to encourage more Malaysians to establish a deeper connection with the social innovation ecosystem, “said Dzuleira Abu Bakar, Chief Executive Officer of MaGIC.

Through an alliance with Lazada, Malaysians will, in the month of September, be able to purchase a wide range of products such as up-cycled denim and layered cakes made by B40 communities; heirloom rice, arts and crafts produced by marginalised communities and more.

The partnership also shines a spotlight on the top social innovators making a change in our communities.

The campaign aims to cultivate ‘doing good’ as the new norm and help rebuild the livelihood of communities which have been impacted as a result of the pandemic. “We believe the grant will promote inclusive and responsible businesses that create a positive impact in Malaysian society,” said Dzuleira.

To further assist SEs in their crowdfunding initiatives, MaGIC has partnered with 6 crowdfunding platforms. Successful SIM Grant applicants will benefit from a 20% rebate on platform fees, for the first RM1 million raised on each of these crowdfunding platforms – GIVE.asia, LaunchGood, NGOhub, Sedunia, SimplyGiving and Sociobiz by Alliance Islamic Bank.

The Social Impact Matching Grant is designed to prioritise applications that provide innovative solutions in five impact areas, namely community livelihood; food security; health and social wellbeing, environmental protection; and heritage preservation.

The SIM Grant will be deployed via a 1:1 matching mechanism, and made available to eligible applicants with successful crowdfunding initiatives. It provides a minimum of RM5,000, up to a maximum of RM500,000 matching grant per application. The threshold for maximum grant disbursement is based on the type of applicant, being, an accredited SE, non-accredited SE, and any other individual or entity.

The SIM Grant Joint Approval Committee will assess the applicant’s feasibility, effectiveness and intended outcome, and review due diligence findings towards making a decision. Applicants will undergo a 3-step qualifying process, and can expect to receive disbursements within a period of two months from submission, if all documents are in order.

Applicants will need to show how their solutions are innovative, in addition to viability to impact scalability. Grant proposals will need to detail the effective and feasible use of proceeds, as executed by a capable management team.

The SIM Grant application is open for a period of 12 months from today or upon full disbursement of RM10 million, whichever comes first. MaGIC will be administering SIM Grant on behalf of the Government of Malaysia, whilst also administering the SE Accreditation.