How we work with

Social Entrepreneurs

Wilstar is a non-profit venture which is focused on social impact and supporting people who initiate sustainable lasting change to create a better world

At Wilstar we believe in solving some of the world’s greatest challenges, through innovation and through supporting social entrepreneurs and businesses that provide sustainable solutions to these challenges. The social entrepreneurs we support are typically early-stage socially or environmentally focused businesses, we believe have true scaling potential, thereby maximizing their impact. However, we also support more mature social businesses where impact is already evident though there is still growth potential, on these occasions we hope to assist in scaling the proven concept to other communities, so they can benefit from the innovation.

We seek to work together with social entrepreneurs over a period from 3-6 years providing varying funding amounts. The largest funding amounts are typically reserved for social entrepreneurs that have potential for systemic change. Additionally, Wilstar provides business development support to all our investees and we are especially focused on putting in place good governance procedures and impact measurement and management processes. This, we believe, allows our investees to accelerate their growth, both in terms of impact and financial independence. We are also invested catalysing likeminded capital into social and environmental investments and so support various ecosystem initiatives globally, to encourage that movement of funds into impact focused investments.

The social entrepreneurs that we support typically:

Are early-stage.
Provide innovative solutions to social or environmental challenges.
Have true scaling potential, thereby maximising their impact or they are mature social businesses where impact is already evident though there is still growth potential.

How we

Work with...

How we work with

Other Funders and Supporters of Social Impact

We strongly believe that in order to create social and environmental impact at scale, we are reliant on working in partnerships with other likeminded organisations.

How we work with

Businesses

Wilstar acknowledges that to create accelerated social impact, we cannot purely rely on social innovation, we need businesses in general to adopt principles in line with global goals for people and our planet, creating shared value for all stakeholders.

Frequently

Asked questions

Does Wilstar support individuals?

Wilstar is a funder of social entrepreneurs and organisations who look to create sustainable, lasting change. We, therefore, support organisations, which typically have a business model or long-term funding strategy. Consequently, we do not financially support individuals.

How long does Wilstar typically support an investee?

Wilstar believes in providing security for our investees and nurturing them to grow to a place where they can create impact at scale without Wilstar financing. Wilstar, therefore, invests in companies at a 3 to 6-year investment horizon to allow our investees to prioritise working for long-term sustained growth, instead of having to worry about short-term survival.

How do I apply for funding?

Wilstar does not have a direct application process. We primarily source our investments through our network and through the accelerator programme we finance, Impact StartUp.

Do you measure impact?

We are highly focused on measuring and managing our impact and also support the social entrepreneurs we finance to measure and manage their impact. We measure the impact of all our investees before and during investment, focusing on measuring outcomes to understand the true change created through our support.

How do we add value to our investees?

We know that being an early-stage social entrepreneur is not easy, and that the founders we support face many challenges. We, therefore, provide capacity building to all our investees in various forms. We provide support on governance structures, impact measurement and management, and financial strategy. Depending on the needs of the Social Entrepreneur, additional support may also include helping to establish a professional board, through being active members of the team, through connecting different social entrepreneurs, and by providing access to a valuable network of supporters and consultants.

How do we invest?

We provide financing that is appropriate for the stage of growth of the individual social entrepreneur or organisation, with higher funding amounts typically provided to the ones who are focused on systems change. We believe in the power of partnerships and prefer to invest with other like-minded investors to create even more impact. Typically, we act as lead funders and aim to provide capital that opens the door for other funders to join us.

How we select social entrepreneurs to support?

We mainly support early-stage social entrepreneurs who have a “proof-of-concept”, and there needs to be a potential to create a sustainable business model for the social entrepreneur. Additionally, the social entrepreneurs need to show some impact results, with this impact growing alongside the financial results. Finally, we also focus on supporting entrepreneurs who we believe are capable of growing sustainable organisations that create impact at scale.

What do we look for?

Wilstar provides financial support and capacity building to social entrepreneurs and projects that intend to solve prioritised societal and environmental issues with the potential and intention to be self-sustained after an agreed-upon period of time. The organisations and projects we support should have the potential to create profound large-scale impact, with a vision to create real systems change. Wilstar is committed to creating impact within four main focus areas: education, female empowerment, Marine Environment, and Climate Change. These four areas touch upon important societal and environmental issues, where there is a need and potential for innovative solutions to appear and grow.