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Social Venture Prize

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Social Venture Prize – Startup funding for Social Entrepreneurship

Up to $3,000 in funding for socially impactful projects by Toronto Metropolitan University students.

The Faculty of Arts created the Social Venture Prize, to support Faculty of Arts students working on community-based projects and students who are incubating social innovation projects in the Zone Learning Network. The purpose of the funding is to advance an initiative and support the start-up costs, it is not intended to be used as salary. The prize is funded by individual donors, the Brookfield Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship and Toronto Metropolitan University. 

Prize Details

  • Startup Funds: 2 prizes of $1500 to be given for initiatives that are in the early stage, to advance their businesses to the next stage.
  • Development Funds: 1 prize of $3000 to be given for initiatives that are in the ‘development’ stage, to advance their business plan to advance the enterprise to market.

Eligibility

  • Applicants must have a clear academic standing and be a full-time Toronto Metropolitan undergraduate, graduate or continuing education student. 
  • Applicants must meet a minimum CGPA of 2.67
  • Applicants must be a full-time Faculty of Arts student, OR a full-time student registered in another faculty AND a registered member in one of Toronto Metropolitan's 10 zones.
  • If it is a team application, at least one member of the team must be a Toronto Metropolitan student and meet the eligibility conditions above.
  • Applicants who have received the award previously are not eligible to apply in the same calendar year.
  • Nonprofit/charitable organizations that do not yet have a charitable designation can partner with a charitable organization to receive funds

Weighted Criteria

  • Personal capacity, team profile: 25%
  • Business plan and budget (degree of innovation, potential impact, financial sustainability, and timeline with deliverables for 4 months after receipt of funds): 75%

Applications to Include:

  • Completed application form

Reporting

  • Prize winners will be required to submited receipts and a report 6 months after receiving the prize money

If you have any questions regarding the prize and/or application process, please contact Sarah Brigel, sbrigel@torontomu.ca

Applications for the Spring 2021 Social Venture Prize are now closed. Stay tuned for the Fall 2021 Prize details.