Discover Top Accelerators and Fellowship Programs for Aspiring Social Entrepreneurs in 2024
If you're an aspiring social entrepreneur looking to make a difference in the world, you're in the right place. We've meticulously curated an extensive list of the leading accelerator and fellowship programs for 2024, all designed to empower you and elevate your social venture. These programs provide invaluable resources, mentorship, and funding opportunities to help you turn your innovative ideas into impactful realities.
From transformative fellowships like The Resolution Project, which connects participants with experienced mentors and essential seed funding, to dynamic accelerators such as Uncharted, which offers robust resources and networking opportunities with established founders, there’s a perfect program tailored to your unique needs. Whether your focus lies in environmental sustainability, women's economic empowerment, or addressing critical global health issues, you’ll find organizations committed to propelling your mission forward.
Explore this essential resource to uncover the ideal launchpad for your impact-driven venture! With the right support, guidance, and connections, you can transform your groundbreaking concept into a powerful force for good in your community and beyond. If you believe there’s a program we should add to our list, don’t hesitate to reach out to us at info@we-rule.com.
Featured Programs for Social Entrepreneurs
Women’s World Banking (WWB) Fellowship
The WWB Fellowship Program enables future global leaders in microfinance and women’s economic empowerment to experience the challenges and rewards of creating financial opportunities for low-income women. Fellows will immerse themselves in the work of WWB and learn critical business and organizational skills to help WWB achieve its mission.
Tory Burch Foundation Fellows Program
The Tory Burch Foundation Fellows program is designed to provide women entrepreneurs a community of support to connect, learn, and grow their business. They offer a 1-year Fellowship in which participants receive three days of workshops and networking with innovative founders and business experts, a $10K grant to advance their business education, and the opportunity to pitch their business to Tory Birch and a panel of industry leaders for an additional investment.
Uncharted
Uncharted (previously the Unreasonable Institute) unites and resources the people most likely to put a dent in our biggest problems. Drawing from their vast network, they build coordinated movements of people – ventures, companies, foundations, government agencies, policy makers, funders, and more – who are all positioned to make a dent in the problem. They run several accelerators focused around specific challenges in different locations.
Unpitch
Inspired by conversations at the 2013 MassTLC unConference, Unpitch is designed to facilitate connections between entrepreneurs and investors. Held in Boston, Unpitch is a chance to have lunch with an Angel investor or VC in a casual environment, discuss your business, receive meaningful feedback, and make connections that will help you get to the next stage.
Uptima Business Bootcamp
Uptima Business Bootcamp is a network of member-owned business accelerators in the SF Bay Area dedicated to providing entrepreneurs with greater access to the education, resources, and community needed to create thriving businesses. Their business accelerators offer training in entrepreneurship for the “next economy” – balancing the need for financial sustainability with personal goals and the desire to create positive social, environmental and economic impact.
Urban Future Lab (UFL)
The Urban Future Lab (UFL) is NYC’s hub for smart cities, smart-grid, and clean energy. Their space hosts several programs focused on educational, policy, and market solutions concerning issues of sustainability. In partnership with NYCEDC, they host exhibitions and events centered on sustainability policy, innovation, and education.
Urban X
Each URBAN-X cohort participates in 20 immersive weeks of product development, user testing, and network-building in Munich, San Francisco, and other cities. URBAN-X companies work shoulder-to-shoulder with world-class electrical and mechanical engineers, industrial design talent from MINI and BMW, and user experience and interface designers.
VC-List
VC-List was created to educate founders about how best to seek startup funding. They publish educational articles covering all aspects of how to raise capital for startups, whether venture capital funding or equity crowdfunding.
Venture Well
VentureWell supports faculty and teams of student innovators in creating socially beneficial businesses through training and funding. The VentureWell website include links to free tools and toolkits for social entrepreneurs, from business and strategy to sustainable design.
Village Capital
Village Capital selects, trains, and funds entrepreneurs working on issues in two major problem areas: access to opportunity for underserved communities (through health, education, and financial inclusion ventures) and resource sustainability of the planet (through energy and agriculture ventures). Selected entrepreneurs undergo a curriculum designed to help them scale their business and become investment-ready. Upon finishing, a handful are selected to receive seed capital using a unique peer-selected investment model process.
Verb U | Dell Social Innovation Challenge
The Dell Social Innovation Challenge identifies and supports promising young social innovators who are dedicated to solving the world’s most pressing problems. All university students at different stages of the entrepreneurial journey are eligible to enter.
WeNYC
WeNYC is an initiative of the NYC Department of Small Business Services (SBS) that is dedicated to helping women start and grow their own businesses. They offer several free services, including networking events, business courses, financial and credit counselling, funding options, and mentorship sessions.
The Slavin Fellowship
The Slavin Family Foundation provides support to dedicated students with a desire to contribute to humanity and the ability and discipline to bring entrepreneurial ideas to life. The Slavin Fellowship leverages the expertise and connections of Foundation trustee Nick Slavin, as well as the Foundation’s board, to provide advice, support, and connections to awardees. Fellows receive a $2,500 scholarship and must be nominated by a sponsoring professor with whom the Slavin Foundation coordinates throughout the year.
Social Enterprise Greenhouse
Social Enterprise Greenhouse creates positive social and economic impacts by supporting entrepreneurs and enterprises with the tools and networks they need to thrive. Their menu of programming creates a supportive ecosystem that enables social entrepreneurs to grow their networks, incubate their ideas, find more customers, and access additional capital.
Social Impact Ventures
Social Impact Ventures provides hands-on interim executive management and advisory services to social enterprises, corporations, investors, and funders. They apply their operational knowledge and skills to incubate business and revenue models they think have potential and seed these ventures with a mix of their own capital and crowdfunding. They are also launching Propeller to accelerate black founders, entrepreneurs, and business owners by connecting them with investors, entrepreneurs, and technologists who will provide the tools, assistance, and support they need to accelerate and grow their business.
StartingBloc Fellowship
StartingBloc convenes, supports, and grows leaders using an experiential model for leadership development in cities across the U.S. Their signature 5-day Institutes introduce participants to analytical frameworks, skill sets, and models for mindset transformation.
Parsons ELab
Parsons ELab adopts a distributed network model that includes a 12-month experience for second-year graduate students and recent alumni. ELab Fellows have access to discounted co-working spaces, mentorship, professional business advice, and networking opportunities.
Project Entrepreneur
Project Entrepreneur ignites bold ideas by providing women access to the tools, training, and networks needed to build scalable, economically impactful companies. Project Entrepreneur’s annual competition is for women who intend to build a high-growth company using an existing prototype or beta technology. Winners receive a $10,000 grant to be used in building their business and are accepted into a 5-week accelerator program in NYC.
Propeller
Propeller is a New Orleans-based nonprofit that supports entrepreneurs in tackling social and environmental disparities. They offer a range of space and programming designed to support small businesses and nonprofits at every stage of growth.
Public Policy Lab
Public Policy Lab is a nonprofit that works at the intersection of human-centered design and public policy. They partner with governments to design great public services with low-income and at-risk communities.
The Resolution Project
The Resolution Project awards fellowships to young leaders with compelling personal leadership characteristics and promising social venture proposals. Through their Resolution Social Venture Challenge (SVG) they identify and support fellows with dynamic hands-on mentorship, seed funding, and access to a world-class global pool of advisory resources from their dedicated team of guides and volunteers. Potential applicants must contact a local partner organization to begin the application process for the SVC.
RippleWorks
RippleWorks pairs top business and technology experts with innovative, rapidly growing social ventures around the world. By applying their skills and experiences, experts help play a critical role in empowering ventures to scale their business and impact. To apply as a venture, email ventures@rippleworks.org. To volunteer as a mentor or expert, visit the RippleWorks website.
Seed Spot
Seed Spot is a nonprofit dedicated to supporting social entrepreneurs creating a product, service, or technology that improves lives or makes the world a better place. They support entrepreneurs by surrounding them with access to mentors, community partners, business fundamentals, sources of capital, and other resources. Their programs are designed to support impact-driven entrepreneurs in Phoenix, Wash DC, Arcosanti, Boise, Santa Barbara, and Tampa. They also have an extensive online list of resources for startups.
Mecate
MECATE is the international program of the Laboratory for Entrepreneurship and Transformation, a community focused on actively impacting the public sphere through the promotion and development of a trans-disciplinary collaboration model that enables diverse resources to reach and transform lives. MECATE brings together entrepreneurs from all over the world for a week of collaboration to develop solutions for problems within the social sector.
Mentor Capital Network
The Mentor Capital Network connects entrepreneurs who are passionate about their ideas and inventions with a team of mentors who have the experience and perspective to support these entrepreneurs in creating and growing successful enterprises.
Microsoft Imagine Cup
Imagine Cup is a global competition that empowers the next generation of computer science students to team up and use their creativity, passion and knowledge to create applications that shape how we live, work and play.
The Nantucket Project (TNP) Scholars Program
The Scholars Program supports socially conscious leaders with purpose-driven ideas to reach their full potential. Each year, 15 curious, humble, and passionate innovators who are making a positive impact on society are selected to participate in the program, which includes a network of expert advisors, mentors, and champions, as well as workshops and instruction.
Net Impact
Net Impact mobilizes a global community of students and professionals to use their skills and careers to drive transformational social and environmental change.
NEW INC
Founded by the New Museum in 2014, NEW INC is the first museum-led cultural incubator dedicated to supporting innovation, collaboration, and entrepreneurship across art, design, and technology. Each year, they select an interdisciplinary community of 100 members who are investigating new ideas and developing sustainable practices to work out of their space.
New Voices Fund
New Voices Fund is a $100 Million Fund created to empower women entrepreneurs of color to reach their full potential. This groundbreaking initiative, designed to level the playing field, provides unprecedented access, capital, and expertise to excel.
Nexus
Nexus is a global movement that aims to catalyze new leadership and accelerate solutions to global problems by bridging communities of wealth and social entrepreneurship. They connect, inspire, and activate exceptional social innovators and the next generation of influential families around the world through various programs, including local engagement salons, working groups, annual summits, research, and labs that support projects in philanthropy.
NY Designs
NY Designs is an incubator dedicated to the success of design and hardware tech startups in NYC. In addition to receiving three years of private studio space, participating companies have access to a network of mentors and advisors, as well as a Fab Lab. NY Designs also produce events and programs for creators and innovators.
MaRS Centre/MaRS Discover District
Located in Toronto, MaRS is the world’s largest urban innovation hub, a launchpad for startups, as well as a platform for researchers and home for innovators.
International Innovators Initiative
The International Innovators Initiative (IN2NYC) facilitates collaborative partnerships between international entrepreneurs and City University of New York (CUNY) schools, enabling entrepreneurs to qualify for cap-exempt H-1B visas, while helping CUNY schools attract innovators that can develop entrepreneurship and technical programs for their students. IN2NYC is designed for international entrepreneurs who have started a business overseas and would like to relocate or expand their business, and international students graduating from U.S. universities who have started their own businesses.
ioby
ioby mobilizes neighbors with good ideas to become powerful citizen leaders who plan, fund, and make positive change in their own neighborhoods. Their crowdsourcing platform connects leaders with funding and support to make neighborhoods safer, greener, and more livable.
Good Work Institute
The Good Work Institute is dedicated to educating and connecting a network of local community members and actively supporting their collaborative efforts to regenerate their places. They offer a 6-month Good Work Fellowship that brings together a cohort of engaged, local community members in the Hudson Valley and supports their collaborative efforts to build a thriving future for people and places in the area.
Grand Central Tech (GCT)
Grand Central Tech (GCT) is a community of startups and strategic partners that breaks from the traditional accelerator model by providing accepted companies with free office space for a year with zero equity fee to participate. GCT surrounds participating companies with the best possible resources in a program tailor-made to each.
Green Worker Coop Academy
The Green Worker Coop Academy is an intensive 5-month program that helps teams of aspiring entrepreneurs develop worker-owned green businesses through a combination of classroom training, business coaching, and technical services.
Halycon Arts Lab Fellowship
This 9-month Fellowship in Wash DC that provides emerging artists with time and space to explore new ideas and ambitious projects that promote meaningful social impact. Accepted Fellows receive a dedicated studio, free residential accomodation, $18K financial scholarship for project expenses and living costs, entrepreneurial curriculum, mentorship, and a range of workshops, lectures, and networking opportunities.
Halycon Incubator
The Halycon Incubator provides early-stage entrepreneurs with the support needed to transform audacious ideas into scalable and sustainable ventures that can change the world. Individuals selected for their 18-month Fellowship receive free residency and workspace, mentorship and leadership coaching, support from business consultants, and a living stipend.
Harlem Garage
Harlem Garage is a coworking space for Harlem-based businesses and a community space for the Harlem area. In addition to providing office and collaborative space, they partner with local schools to host networking events and classes.
IdeaGist
A collaboration platform for people, communities, and companies with ideas and those who are interested in new ideas who are looking for collaborators.
IDEO CoLab Fellowship
IDEO’s CoLab brings together like-minded organizations to understand and shape how emerging technologies will affect the world (ie blockchain, artificial intelligence, internet of things, augmented, and virtual reality). Each year, they bring together students, freelancers, entrepreneurs, and industry experts to participate in sprints of exploration and building.
Global Good Fund
The Global Good Fund is a leadership development enterprise build by and for social entrepreneurs. Their 12-month Global Good Fellowship invests in high potential leaders committed to tackling some of today’s greatest social challenges by connecting them with mentors, providing leadership assessment resources, peer networking, sector expertise, and targeted financial capital.
Entrepreneur Space
Entrepreneur Space provides small and start-up businesses affordable commercial kitchen and/or office space, paired with free or low cost business counseling.
Fast Company World Changing Ideas Awards
Fast Company’s World Changing Ideas awards reward ideas, projects, and products that have the potential to alter the lives of people and the direction of the planet for the better. They seek ideas at different stages of development and base their decisions based on feasibility and potential for impact.
The Founder Institute
The Founder Institute is the world’s premier idea-stage accelerator and startup launch program. Through a challenging curriculum and strong post-program support, they provide aspiring entrepreneurs with structure, mentorship, and a network to start an enduring company.
Free Range Studios
Free Range Studios is a purpose-driven innovation and storytelling consultancy that helps people committed to causes or socially innovative ideas invent powerful brands through various modes of communications–web, film, movies, print, and strategies.
Clinton Global Initiative University (CGI U)
Building on the successful model of the Clinton Global Initiative, President Bill Clinton launched CGI U in 2007 to engage the next generation of leaders on college campuses around the world in taking action on global issues. Each year, CGI U hosts a meeting where students, university representatives, subject matter experts, and celebrities come together to discuss and develop innovative solutions to pressing global challenges.
Creative Startups | Entrepreneur Accelerator
Creative Startups supports creative entrepreneurs around the world with accelerators and strategic initiatives aimed at developing a stronger, more connected entrepreneurial ecosystem via pre-accelerator programs, workshops, training, and seminars. Their intensive 8-week accelerator course includes both an online component and mentorship, as well as on-site Deep Dive Week with Demo Day and investor pitching.
D-Prize Competition
The D-Prize is dedicated to expanding access to poverty-alleviation solutions in the developing world, including girl’s education, agriculture, energy, global health, education, and governance and infrastructure. Winners receive up to $20,000 to launch a pilot in Africa, India, or another region in the developing world.
digitalundivided
digitalundivided uses innovation to foster the economic growth and empowerment of Black and Latina women entrepreneurs. Their programs empower middle- and base-level earners to realize improved work opportunities by providing mentorship, training, and access to funding that enables them to launch and scale their own companies.
DreamIt
DreamIt is a Health Tech and Urban Tech incubator that provides startups with access to investors and a pre-built network of potential customers. Accepted startups participate in a 14-week program focused on partnering, piloting, and selling to large enterprise customers that can propel their startups to the next level.
Echoing Green Fellowship
Through its Fellowships and other innovative leadership initiatives, Echoing Green identifies emerging leaders and invests deeply in their success to accelerate their impact. Fellows receive seed-funding, leadership development, hands-on support, and networking opportunities.
CFDA Fashion Incubator
This business development program is designed to support the next generation of fashion designers in NYC by providing a creative professional environment that helps top talent grow and sustain their businesses. They offer several scholarships for both students and graduates, as well as low-cost studio space, mentorship, seminars, and networking opportunities.
CivicX (CVCX)
CivicX is the first national accelerator and investment fund in the U.S. focused on civic ventures, early-stage for-profit and nonprofit ventures that include people as part of the solution to critical social problems. They offer a 10-week startup accelerator that supports teams in seeking investments and scaling social innovation, as well as Rapid Innovation Summits that teach social innovators how to apply design thinking to more effectively address social challenges.
Buckminster Fuller Challenge (BFI)
Each year, BFI invites people from all over the world to submit innovative solutions to humanity’s most pressing problems. A $100,000 grand prize is awarded to support the development and implementation of one outstanding strategy, however, BFI also seeks to leverage further resources for Finalists and Semi-finalists through its network and Catalyst Program.
Code 2040
Code 2040 is a community of black and Latinx technologists and their allies who seek to diversify tech in an effort to create a more equitable, inclusive, and prosperous economy. Through high-impact service programs, in-person and online engagement, dynamic storytelling, and knowledge sharing, Code2040 mobilizes diversity champions across the industry.
Camelback Ventures Social Venture Fellowship
Camelback Ventures is committed to leveraging the genius of all people, regardless of ethnicity, gender, or class. In an effort to diversity social innovation, they provide coaching, capital, and connections to underrepresented entrepreneurs through a 6-month Fellowship that supports the development of both founder and venture.
The Catalyst Fund
The Catalyst Fund awards small grants for innovative, early-stage ideas that address urgent challenges in various sectors where innovation is needed. Anyone can apply for a Catalyst grant, from seasoned social entrepreneurs to first-time changemakers.
Brooklyn Law Incubator & Policy Clinic (BLIP)
BLIP trains a new generation of lawyers in the skills needed to represent emerging technology, internet, communications, and media companies. They helps clients with incorporation, intellectual property protection, structuring licensing agreements, and web documentation, in addition to providing general advice and hosting events about law and emerging technology.
Black and Latino Tech Initiative (BLT)
This 3-month “pre-accelerator” supports founders of color in developing critical skills, relationships, and business ideas to attract capital investment. Hosted by the Rutgers Business School’s Center for Urban Entrepreneurship and Economic Development, BLT assists Black and Latino founders with admission into accelerators and develops a pipeline of Black and Latino technology entrepreneurs for established venture capital partners.
Astia
Astia provides exceptional startups with access to capital and a global community of 5,000 entrepreneurs, investors, and industry leaders. Companies that complete their Astia Expert Sift™ are invited to present at Astia Venture Showcases and will be considered for direct investment by the members of Astia Angels.
4.0 Schools | Tiny Fellowship
The Tiny Fellowship supports aspiring founders with early traction in further developing their proof of concept. Participants learn how to plan, run, and evaluate a recurring pilot and have access to a peer community, coaching from experts, and $10K in funding.
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