26 November 2024 – Nine social enterprises will benefit from grants totalling USD 300,000 from the International Olympic Committee (IOC), through its Olympism365 Innovation Hub. These grants are designed to support social enterprises – businesses that generate profit to fund social initiatives – working on sport-for-development projects. The funding will enable these organisations to develop income models which will, in turn, finance initiatives that use sport for sustainable development.

The nine recipients of the Enterprise365 grants, selected in collaboration with Women Win and Beyond Sport, are all using innovative ways to leverage sport for sustainable, positive change:

• The Grass Skirt Project (Papua New Guinea) reinvests profits from their innovative Gymbox model, which transforms shipping containers into community spaces, into their “10 Million Strong” leadership programme.
  
• Ba Nga Afayo Initiative (Uganda) offers young people from marginalised communities affordable and practical courses to help address unemployment, poverty and limited access to education.
  
• Tanjun Associate LLP (India) develops sustainable bamboo table tennis tables, donating them to rural schools.
  
• Arena Recycling Industry (Tanzania) transforms plastic waste into sustainable, eco-friendly building materials and supports programmes that integrate sports with clean-up campaigns.
  
• Power Meri (Papua New Guinea and Australia) is a gender-equality merchandise start-up that reinvests profits into education and vocational training programmes for women’s rugby teams.
  
• AMANDLA (South Africa) provides resources and economic development opportunities to underserved youth through their Safe-Hub social enterprise model and “EduFootball” sport sessions.
  
• Alive and Kicking (Kenya) creates affordable, hand-stitched sports balls, including for those with visual impairments, to improve children’s access to play and health education in underserved communities, while providing employment for women and people with disabilities.
  
• Tomorrow Women In Sports Foundation (Uganda) is a sport learning centre that focuses on advancing the rights of women and the LGBTQ+ community.
  
• Oasis “Reach For Your Dreams” (South Africa) is developing a mobile small-sided football arena designed for corporate, sporting and private events.

This is the second group of grantees announced from the four funds of the Olympism365 Innovation Hub, following the earlier selection of 12 grassroots projects using sport to drive social development within their communities.

Empowering communities through sustainable sports equipment and climate education

The work of each of the grantees illustrates the powerful impact of combining sport, sustainability, and social development. For example, Tanjun Associate LLP has worked with the International Table Tennis Foundation to donate sustainable bamboo table tennis tables to rural schools in the northern Indian states of Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh.

With the support of the grant, Tanjun aims to support the Indian sports equipment industry to transition to a circular economy model. This will be achieved by training and upskilling women to develop sustainable sports equipment, and by delivering community sport for development programmes focused on climate education in underserved schools.

“This is a great opportunity to bring our climate solutions to a stage designed for sports and innovation, and to continue to train a workforce of women who will create sustainable opportunities for themselves alongside participation in sport. We look forward to receiving guidance and support from an international community that places climate goals at the top of their agenda.”

Rekha Dey, Managing partner at Tanjun

Transforming lives through inclusive sports and skill development

In Kenya, Alive and Kicking is addressing the chronic shortage of affordable, durable sports balls – a problem which further limits children’s access to sport, especially in underserved communities. Since its inception, the organisation has been developing transferrable skills for women and people with disabilities by teaching the art of hand-stitching balls, which are then donated. It has also implemented sport for development programmes in community schools to address key health issues.

The grant will allow Alive and Kicking to scale up the production and donation of hand-stitched balls for visually impaired sports. This includes disability-focused programs that will provide training for teachers to deliver inclusive sports sessions in schools across Kenya.

“The funding will enable us to further develop our sound ball for visually impaired youth while training educators to help children learn goalball and blind football. This aligns with our mission to use sport as a powerful tool for social change and development, as we aim to create a more inclusive and equitable environment for individuals with visual impairment.”

Sehba Nyaronga, CEO of Alive and Kicking

Funding the future

The grants for social enterprises are split into two tiers to reflect the broad range of this work:

• Seed funding is aimed at newly or recently registered enterprises (up to two years old) in order to provide the initial investment and resources to kick-start new projects.
  
• Scale funding is designed to enhance, evolve, or expand existing initiatives for established enterprises (two years or older), helping them become more impactful and sustainable.

In addition to direct support, the Innovation Hub aims to build a network of social entrepreneurs all working in the field of sport for sustainable development. This network will support and learn from each other and will provide business models for the global sport-for-sustainable-development sector.

Driving innovation through the Olympism365 Innovation Hub

The Olympism365 Innovation Hub, a collaboration between the IOC, Beyond Sport and Women Win, is a bespoke programme and fund that will support 50 innovations/grantees that use sport for development around the world, through a multimillion-dollar investment that will benefit thousands of people and communities by 2026.

Aiming to foster new and innovative ways to use sport for social change, four distinct funding opportunities have been launched through the Innovation Hub: Grassroots365, Enterprise365, Collective365 and Tech365.

For more details on Olympism365 Innovation Hub initiatives and funds, visit the Olympism365 Innovation Hub.