DBS opens new sustainability grant programme for SMEs

Businesses’ proposals must cover reducing waste or sustainable supply chains.

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) may apply for a new grant programme if they are looking to shift to a more sustainable business, financial services group, DBS Foundation, said.

The DBS’ new social enterprise grant programme, which has an amount from $100,000 to $250,000, will be offered to SMEs with innovative sustainability solutions and have proposals that will address reducing energy consumption, decreasing waste, or sustainable supply chains.

Grant awardees may get the following:

• Grant amount – up to $100,000
•  Structured mentorship and advisory support 
•  Support from broader DBS franchise to help promising grant awardees scale their businesses 

SMEs incorporated in Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, India and Indonesia are eligible for this programme. Applicants must demonstrate the innovativeness and scalability of their solution, clear plans to integrate sustainability into business operations, and a strong leadership team with demonstrated commitment towards building a sustainable enterprise

The grant programme also includes a “Zero Food Waste” category, which seeks to aid social enterprises whose solutions help tackle food waste woes. Social enterprises who can apply for this grant must tackle areas such as social impact, environmental impact and zero food waste.

They will receive the following:

• Grant amount – up to $250,000
• Holistic support to strengthen business foundations and scale growth
• Access to other businesses-for-impact in DBS Foundation’s ecosystem

The Zero Food Waste grant is applicable to social enterprises that are in seed to initial scale-up stages, incorporated in Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, China, or Indonesia. Applicants must demonstrate a market-validated business model, a clear roadmap for achieving dual bottom-line growth, and demonstrated commitment to a social and/or environmental mission​​​​​​.

DBS is taking applications for both grant programmes from 15 April 2022 to 31 May 2022. All these applications received before 31 May 2022 at 11:59 p.m. will be reviewed in 2022, and applications received after will be evaluated in the next grant cycle. 

Successful applicants will be announced at the end of 2022.