As a result of Sir Paul Marshall’s generous donation of £50 million to the LSE, 100x Impact Accelerator was created to support a new generation of social unicorns – organisations creating positive impact on the scale of billions.
100x brings together LSE’s world-leading evidenced based approach to impact and the Marshall Institute’s existing government and policy networks. The accelerator aims to create a philanthropic cooperative that brings together capital, expertise and passion for systemic change in one place.
100x’s goal is to curate expertise, mentoring, and capital for the world’s most promising social ventures that enable impact-driven organisations to think bigger and achieve more. It emulates the successful business accelerator model from the private sector and aims to show how impact-driven organisations can break the cycle of grant-seeking and weak governance. These factors often act together to limit organisations’ growth and impact potential.
Each social enterprise selected for 100x Impact Accelerator receives a £150,000 grant and access to the School’s world class expertise. This is in addition to a 12-week programme of bespoke support from experts and social unicorn founders – intended to help leaders determine how best to maximise their impact. The programme includes two weeks of in-person sessions in London, virtual meetings with experts, and an annual Summit Day, where all participants will present to philanthropists, investors, governments, and media.
100x Impact Accelerator supports two cohorts of ten social enterprises every year, with 70 per cent of these coming from emerging markets. The accelerator is looking for scale-up impact organisations that have a proven model, so it can help deliver their next big leap of growth.
Places are offered to organisations across eight sectors which closely reflect LSE’s research priorities. These are: climate and environment; health and social care; refugees and cohesion; equitable economies; happiness and wellbeing; democracy; education; and new frontiers.
Cohort 1 Announced
100x Impact Acclerator announced their inaugural cohort of future social unicorns on 26 June 2023. The diverse cohort consists of social ventures spanning a range of sectors, geographies, and demographics. These include Afya Pamoja, an innovative healthcare platform raising citizens’ voices to improve healthcare in Tanzania; Darsel, a Jordanian AI-powered solution that helps students to learn mathematics; Gramhal, a tech non-profit that designs digital solutions for agricultural communities in India; Taleemabad, a Pakistani EdTech venture creating higher quality curriculum for schools; Unlocked Labs, a US-based tech training platform for incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people. The cohort also includes Karya, Labhya, and Rocket Learning, all delivering impact across different sectors in India.
To find out more about Cohort 1, visit the 100x Impact Accelerator website.
LSE Research Grants
LSE researchers are invited to apply for research grants of between £15,000 and £100,000 under two streams: Social Enterprise Support and Accelerator Support. To find out more and apply, visit the 100x Impact Accelerator research grants page.
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