APPLICATIONS ARE CLOSED FOR 2024. 

Please come back in January 2025 for the next round of applications. 

Our social enterpreneurs have powerful ideas for social impact. Our Social Ventures Incubator helps bring those ideas to life. 

Our aim is to support ventures whose objective is positive social impact. They must have a strong social mission at the core of what they do and they must make a commitment to demonstrate their social impact.

What's involved?

Social entrepreneurs accepted will join our incubator for one year (May-April) and will receive the following to help grow their ventures:

• Workshops and training on topics such as human-centred design, business models, impact measurement, legal, etc.;
• One-on-one business advising;
• Funding of $2,500 with potential for additional funding;
• Meeting space at our centre; and
• Connections to the local social enterprise ecosystem.

Successful applicants must establish at least one social impact metric along with relevant business metrics that will be monitored regularly with progress reports.

Who can apply?

Students from any discipline at Memorial and recent graduates (within 12 months) are eligible. Ideally, applicants will have a track record within social entrepreneurship or a significant level of expertise in their chosen social challenge, which may include lived experience.

MBA-SEE students:

Students in the master of business administration in social enterprise and entrepreneurship (MBA-SEE) program are invited to apply for the incubator to complete their mandatory four-month internships, allowing them to work on their ventures as they complete the program.

Note: Teams may apply for the incubator; however, an individual social entrepreneur/founder must be identified and responsible for the requirements of the incubator.

Social ventures applying for the incubator should have the following characteristics:

• The intention to be financially sustainable (a blend of revenue generated through business activity with grants and donations is acceptable);
• Strong social mission at the venture’s core; and
• Based in Canada.

Any legal form (e.g. for profit, not-for-profit) where the social mission is embedded is acceptable for application purposes.