Tech giant Microsoft saw an opportunity to address global challenges like inequality and climate change by empowering entrepreneurs with bold ideas. The company aspired to build an ecosystem of innovators, whose impact could be accelerated through Microsoft's technologies, expertise and networks. To achieve this, Microsoft partnered with Ashoka’s Changemaker Companies to develop a program that would attract and support tech innovators while also developing its leaders.
Five years on, Microsoft has supported over 2000 impact startups to scale their businesses and impact via its Entrepreneurship for Positive Impact (EfPI) initiative. These startups are improving lives in areas like healthcare, education and clean energy, with solutions ranging from better telemedicine in underserved areas to AI tools for carbon emissions monitoring. Senior leaders at Microsoft serve as coaches and mentors to social entrepreneurs in the accelerator program, while also bringing back insights from these exchanges that inspire positive leadership within the company.
Ashoka's expertise in driving system change was invaluable. The team helped us optimize our programs by combining our technology-driven approach with their systemic understanding of social change. Their insights and recommendations influenced how we designed and executed our strategy, ensuring…
Anthony Virapin
Worldwide Leader, Entrepreneurship for Positive Impact, Microsoft
Key Programatic Elements
To enable this ecosystem development, we co-created and delivered the following:
Advisory: Ongoing input and guidance around the overall strategy, structure and impact measurement for Microsoft's flagship Entrepreneurs for Positive Impact (EfPI) program.
Accelerator program: Helped in sourcing social entrepreneurs and startups to participate in EfPI's 9 to 12-month cohort-based accelerator program.
Trainings: Workshops on topics like systems change, impact measurement and cross-sector collaboration, delivered internally to Microsoft employees, EfPI accelerator participants and key Microsoft business partners.
Changemaker Profile
Meet BeeOdiversity, a social enterprise that was able to scale its impact by participating in Microsoft's Entrepreneurship for Positive Impact Accelerator program. Co-founded by Ashoka Fellow Dr. Bach Kim Nguyen, BeeOdiversity uses bees as natural drones to collect environmental data that can inform insights for improving biodiversity.
Through the collaboration, Microsoft helped BeeOdiversity build and refine its custom AI model and facilitated connections with new customers, opening doors for partnerships and broader adoption of BeeOdiversity’s solutions.
Transformation Compass
Our CMC Transformation Compass outlines seven key elements we see in successful changemaker companies. So far our partnership has supported Microsoft in its journey towards three of the seven:
