Social entrepreneurs increasingly professional

In the third round of the Social Entrepreneurship Program in the summer semester of 2022, twelve valid applications were received, which were even more diverse and thus correspondingly difficult to compare. From an app for organizing development cooperation, to a stair-climbing wheelchair, to sustainable packaging, and beyond that, projects in many other industries.

In the end, a well-known project finds itself right at the front: Recycoal. Pyrolysis is used to turn harvest waste into biochar. This provides an urgently needed sustainable fuel to reduce further cutting down of forests. The Enactus project won the SEP a year ago and has since made promising progress.

In second place is Nisaba from Aktion Sodis, an application for organizing development cooperation. International cooperation is characterized by actors from different cultures and technical backgrounds. The software offers the possibility of integrating local partners and also making projects more easily scalable.

Right behind it is Autak, a newcomer. This diverse and exciting team is developing a wheelchair that, with its expanding spokes, also makes barriers such as stairs passable. A mounted robotic arm also provides additional support.

In fourth and fifth place are BeeBag from Enactus and CarbonOrbital. BeeBag uses previously non-recyclable mixed textile fabrics and coats them with beeswax to produce sustainable antiseptic packaging in workshops for the disabled. CarbonOrbital offers smaller conservation projects to become part of the global carbon credit trade by making certification easier and making progress transparent using satellite data.

Total project funding of approximately €45,000 was awarded. The funding period continues until the end of the semester, when the next round of the Social Entrepreneurship Program gets started. The program, with funding of 100,000€ annually, is made possible through generous support from Santander Universities.