Oxfam Superstar Impact Business competition

Through the competition, Oxfam seeks to support impact-driven businesses that have the ambition to create tangible outcomes for women and youth by:

• Increasing the autonomy and activating the power of women and youth to act and make the changes they desire, for example by giving women and youth a seat-at-the-table or career advancement opportunities.
• Transforming beliefs, values, and attitudes that enhance women and youth empowerment, for example by creating awareness of the challenges women and youth face and addressing this through a product or service.
• Increasing opportunities, resources, and skills for women and youth, for example by including women as suppliers in the value chain and providing a living income or education programs for women and youth.
• Creating and promoting workspaces where women and youth are safe and free from oppression, harassment, and discrimination, for example by introducing measures focused on creating decent work for women and youth.

Oxfam aims to get better insights into the needs of businesses in empowering women and youth, accelerate their impact and inspire investors and policymakers in recognizing the importance and potential of supporting and investing in impact businesses.

To apply, your business needs to meet the following minimum requirements**:

• It focuses on women and/or youth empowerment:
  • The business is owned or founded by women/youth and/or women/youth represent more than 75% of the board
  • And/or women/youth are empowered by the business in their role as employees, suppliers, consumers, or in the community
• The applicant is a previous or current participant in either i) Oxfam’s SME Development project in Uganda or Cambodia; ii) the Work in Progress! project for Egypt, Nigeria, or Somalia (Somaliland); iii) Oxfam’s Empresas que Cambian Vidas (ECV) program in Bolivia***
• The business is a registered commercial company in Somaliland, Egypt, Uganda, Nigeria, Cambodia, and Bolivia.
• The business meets the requirements of an ‘impact-driven business’: namely: i) the business has ‘impact’ as its mission or key driver; ii) the business resolves a societal issue, not through charity, but through its business model; iii) the entrepreneur has a ‘social heart’, clear motivation and vision on impact.
• The business is not in any way involved in activities such as arms, tobacco, alcohol, and gambling industries, registered in so-called tax-havens, or involved in environmental or human rights abuses or corruption.
• Grant funding should be matched at least 50% with the applicant’s own contribution (cash and/or in-kind).
• The proposed project can be implemented in the period of July to December 2022.

**Additional local requirements can be added per country. Please contact the Oxfam office or the local partner organization in your country for more information.

*** In Egypt and Bolivia, businesses outside the Oxfam program are also invited to apply.

Step 1: Application

Candidates can apply by completing the application form. The application is only complete, in combination with a venture profile on VC4A. If you don’t have a venture profile yet, you will be asked to create this in the first step when clicking on the “Apply” button at the top of the page.

Please download the budget template here, as you will be asked to upload this in your application form. The deadline for applications is the 20th of May end of the day (12 midnight CEST).

Step 2: Selection

A local jury scores all applications and invites the best-selected applicants to pitch their business and project proposals. Winners will be announced latest on the 1st of July, after which grant contracts will be processed.

Step 3: Implementation

Projects will be implemented from July until December 2022

We encourage applicants to make use of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) framework to target, define, and assess the impact of their company and proposal. Examples of SDGs that focus on increasing women and youth empowerment are:

The following criteria will be taken in consideration when evaluating candidates:

1. Social / environmental impact of the business (35%): The business has a clear vision and strategy for positive social and/or environmental impact. It has good potential to grow and scale its impact. This is also shown in numbers (staff data and social indicators). Positive impact on women and youth is important.
2. Feasibility and relevance of proposal (25%): The proposed project is described clearly and is relevant in increasing the empowerment of women and youth. It is viable and feasible to implement the project in a short time frame. The budget and own contribution are realistic.
3. Strength of team / entrepreneur (25%): The team has the qualifications and experience to manage and implement the project successfully. Motivation and ideas are clearly communicated. The team has unquestionable integrity. Having a significant number of women and youth in the team is a plus.
4. Growth potential of business (15%): The Impact SME addresses a clear market need with a unique product or service. It demonstrates innovation. There is a clear business model and a realistic growth strategy. The financial figures (historic and projections) show good performance and/or potential.

The following activities are eligible for funding:

• Business support services (e.g. consultants/experts on scaling, sales, operations, investments, social impact);
• Investments (machines or equipment needed to scale up);
• Business development costs (e.g. test or launch new products, market study);
• Visibility costs (brand design, promotional materials, trade fairs);
• Scaling of impact (process redesign, sustainable production, fair trade certification).

The following activities are not eligible for funding:

• Purchasing and rent/leasing of land or buildings/facilities;
• Bank charges, cost of guarantees, and similar charges;
• Overhead costs such as office supplies, support staff, management;
• Value and registration costs of intellectual property rights.