The SEED Awards for Entrepreneurship in Sustainable Development is an annual international competition, managed for the fifth time in 2011 by adelphi. SEED rewards innovative start-up ventures that have the potential to make tangible improvements in poverty eradication and environmental sustainability, and assists them in strengthening and developing the impact of their activities.
In addition to the implementation of the award cycle, adelphi provides tailored short-term consulting measures for the SEED Winners and their partners. Based on the “Sustainability Entrepreneurship Toolkit” that adelphi developed especially for the SEED Awards, this support is provided during a remote support phase, complemented by an individually tailored in-country workshop. The covered topics range from marketing strategies, partnership management and acquisition, community involvement and benefits management up to funding & financing. In addition, adelphi organises bilateral meetings between the initiatives and international organisations to explore possible financing and partnership opportunities.
As in the previous projects, responsibilities include the preparation and management of the award cycle and the provision of capacity-building support to the awards winners. In this context, adelphi implemented more than 30 in-country workshops in Africa and Asia to help the winners scale up and increase their impact. Further capacity-building support is provided through online platforms, as for example webinars on sustainability entrepreneurship topics. Additionally, adelphi conceptualized a funding event to link up SEED Winners with interested investors and grant makers during the international prize ceremony.
