Bet on impact business: how it will help Ukraine survive the war and win on the economic front
In 2022, extremely difficult tests fell on the fate of Ukraine. The war made adjustments in the lives of millions, but the strength of Ukrainians, their resilience in the face of a ruthless and insidious enemy, their willingness to fight for their future to the end on all fronts is impressive and inspiring.
Thanks to strong support from international partners, unprecedented and timely actions of the government and efforts of private business, Ukraine managed to stop the collapse of the economy, which suffered terribly due to Russian aggression and continues to suffer significant blows. After all, everyone perfectly understands that victory at the front requires not only modern weapons and trained brave fighters, but also a working economy. Without the functioning of an economy adapted to modern realities and challenges, the heroic efforts of the Armed Forces may prove to be in vain.
“Ukraine’s economy has shrunk by more than 35% in 2022 due to massive destruction of infrastructure, including railway and other connections with neighboring countries, road network and bridges. Production and trade activities have been disrupted, there are large losses of labor force due to migration or conscription” – it is said in reports United Nations “World Economic Status and Prospects, 2023”.
The economic situation currently remains extremely difficult. European Bank for Reconstruction and Development worsened the forecast for the growth of the Ukrainian economy to 1% in 2023, although back in September he predicted an 8% recovery.
During the year of full-scale war, many Ukrainian businesses went from deep shock, numbness and destruction of all plans for the future to gradually resuming work, implementing more adaptive business models, using new logistics schemes, supporting staff and the communities in which they work. The business has demonstrated resilience, willingness to adapt and has become more social, because volunteering and helping is in the blood of Ukrainians, and there are a lot of people who need to be helped. This has borne fruit and helped to solve the most acute problems that arose in the first months of a full-scale invasion, but, unfortunately, the resources of private business are not inexhaustible.
It is already obvious that private business will play a decisive role in overcoming the consequences of the war and rebuilding Ukraine in both the social and economic spheres. First of all, social entrepreneurs and impact enterprises that are ready to combine a social mission with the desire to make money, provide certain services and sell goods.
Impact entrepreneurship aims not only at profit, but also at having a positive impact on the world around us. The main difference between such entrepreneurship and charitable projects is that the latter finance their activities through donations. Impact projects, on the other hand, can provide services by reinvesting profits into their business to continue making a social impact and solving real societal problems.
Social entrepreneurs can and will be the agents of change that bring a deep understanding of the needs of local communities and offer flexible and effective solutions. But this requires constant systematic work and the creation of a powerful ecosystem that will encourage more entrepreneurs to become social and focused on the development of their business in parallel with solving the current urgent problems of society and communities.
Creating such an ecosystem requires efforts at various levels, including a regime of full support from the government and local authorities, targeted assistance from international partners and investors, an increase in the number of business incubators and accelerators that will provide mentoring, financial and technological support to those who want to integrate social impact into the development strategies of their companies. And also the desire of business to get involved, learn, cooperate and implement new models. Ukrainian entrepreneurs have a desire, everything is fine.
According to research Mastercard SME Index, 61% of entrepreneurs, although most of them suffered as a result of the war, continue to work, believe in recovery, and are already working on it, “reflashing” their activities and building new strategies.
It was presented at the World Economic Forum in Davos in mid-January the Impact Business acceleratorcreated by Impact Force in partnership with SiLab Ukraine, USVF, MovingWorlds.org, Netguru, Tech To The Rescue, Phineo and LCF Law Group and with the support of the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, Office for Entrepreneurship and Export Development, Diya.Business, Social Entrepreneurship Fund Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship, WEF Global Alliance for Social Entrepreneurship.
Currently, the accelerator is conducting the first competitive selection of Ukrainian companies and startups seeking to participate in the post-war recovery of Ukraine’s economy.
25 teams will be selected to participate in the program, which will receive relevant knowledge (online lectures, workshops and research aimed at effectively integrating social impact into their development strategy), advisory support from world-renowned experts, coaches and mentors, access to investors and global technological resources.
In addition, based on the results of the program, the two companies with the best results will have the opportunity to attract financial support of up to 20,000 euros per team in the form of smart grants provided by the Ukrainian Social Venture Fund as part of the Collaborate for Impact project, financed by the European Union and implemented in partnership with EVPA.
Due to the great interest of Ukrainian businesses, the deadlines for submitting applications for participation in the program were extended until the end of February. You can find out details about the program, requirements for participants and apply for selection on the website
We are in Impact Force we strive to spread the ideas of social entrepreneurship and educate leaders who will become creators of change for the better. Launching Impact Business, we focused our efforts on building an effective ecosystem that will support a new generation of entrepreneurs in Ukraine, promote the development of social entrepreneurship, and help social innovators navigate challenges and make their impact louder and more visible. Everyone will benefit from this, and Ukraine first of all! Join in! Together we can do more!
