Social Innovation Accelerator and Fund

Set up in 2010 as one element of the broad-based black economic empowerment transaction conducted by South African Breweries Ltd (SAB), the SAB Foundation is an independent trust that annually invests millions of Rands towards developing entrepreneurship in South Africa and the benefit of the wider South African community. Recognizing the unique challenges confronting social enterprises, the Foundation created the Social Innovation Award (SIA) in 2011. As the SIA matured, it became clear that many of the previous awardees needed more time, resources and support to realize their ambitions. In response, SAB Foundation created a new Accelerator and Fund for its previous SIA winners, which provides investment readiness support and financial resources. The programme was launched in October 2017, and now has accepted three separate cohorts of 8-10 businesses each over the last three years.

Impact Amplifier manages this acceleration programme and supports the allocation of funding to the businesses in the programme, which become investment ready. The programme is designed to offer entrepreneurs the skills, knowledge, documentation and funding required for immediate success, but also to position them for future rounds of funding from other investors. The businesses in these cohorts focus on a diverse range of social issues, such as:  Financial Inclusion, Education, Disabilities, Small Scale Agriculture, Early Childhood Development, Healthcare, and Gender Equality.

January 2025

In November 2024, Impact Amplifier selected seven businesses for Cohort 8 of this acceleration and funding programme. These businesses reflect a range of innovations in waste treatment, energy access, circular economy, housing, micro finance and higher education funding. To-date, this programme has included over 58 businesses across these eight cohorts. Additionally, we secured R4.4M in 2024 for four businesses from Cohort 6 and 7.  
After selecting the next cohort, we have reflected on the remarkable success of the businesses that have participated over the last 12 months. Read more about the impact here