News & Blog

SMEs will play a vital role in the development of the clean tech industry, and on April 22nd at the Lalit Hotel in Mumbai, SEED will host a full day of discussions surrounding how to encourage investment in this key area. Read more

The Call for Nominations for the BDS+ workshop in Mauritius is now open. Read more

Call for application: SEED is looking for motivated potential entrepreneurs! Read more

Worldwide heaps of waste are expected to double by 2015 according to the World Bank. The majority of it is burned, dumped into landfills or ends up in our oceans. The small minority of the waste we are producing is taken for what it really is: an important resource. Read more

SEED and the Inclusive Business Accelerator have launched Deal Ready Programme to support selected SEED winners in the capturing of investment finance. Read more

Last week I had the pleasure of attending New Ventures’ Foro Latinoamericano de Inversion Impacto in Merida, Mexico.  It was an inspiring few days unpicking the latest developments in social entrepreneurship in the region and proved an interesting opportunity to compare to recent developments in Africa where I attended SEED’s African Symposium just a few months ago.  Read more

Want to become an eco-entrepreneur? Apply now for the SAG-SEED Starter, the three challenges are: Sustainable Agriculture, Manufacturing and Tourism Read more

The Switch Africa Green-SEED Starter Months invite entries from teams who develop green and inclusive business solutions to one of the key social and environmental challenges in South Africa. Read more

Every child in the world has the right to access high-quality early childhood care and education, and every woman deserves the opportunity to participate in the workforce and generate income, free of concern that their child may not be cared for properly. Read more

Start-up enterprises that solve pressing local issues by integrating social and environmental benefits into their business models can apply for the 2016 SEED Awards, which opened for nominations today. Read more

Financing! 20k-200k USD is needed for the ‘missing middle’ is one of ten critical aspects that SEED emphasises as crucial for the growth of SMMEs. Read more

As part of its extensive programme that has been built around an annual awards scheme promoting social and environmental entrepreneurship in developing countries, SEED developed a unique toolkit that addresses these key issues and lays out guidelines how to strategically integrate the imperatives of sustainability into businesses. Read more

SEED hosted a working dinner about "The Green Climate Fund and SMEs: How to ensure public climate funding reaches the Bottom of the Pyramid" Read more

It would be an understatement to say that finance is one of the big issues being discussed at COP21.  I’ve managed to pop into a number of side events on the topic and it comes up in even the most casual of conversations. Read more

Is it not time that we start to build green technology development capacity in developing countries? Read more

In just five days, politicians, policy makers, NGOs, businesses, entrepreneurs and activists will head to Paris, for the 21st Conference of the Parties (COP), to see whether the world can hammer together an agreement to move the world away from catastrophic climate change before time runs out. Will they be successful? Read more

When I was in Nairobi a few weeks ago, our team at SEED brought together more than 500 people at our 2015 SEED Africa Symposium to discuss the latest developments in social and environmental entrepreneurship. Read more

"Then the refugees came and started to cut down trees and soon there was no forest left, (..) The locals also chopped trees and made charcoal to sell to the refugees."  (UNHCR, 1996) Read more

Coffee has been the backbone of the agriculture-based economy of Tanzania for the last 100 years providing employment for an estimated 2 million people directly or indirectly, according to the Tanzania Coffee Research Institute (TaCRI). However, low productivity is making it difficult for farmers to retain their livelihoods. Read more

A few weeks ago I was in Nairobi where we (SEED) held our annual SEED Africa Symposium. The event was the biggest one yet, with over 500 representatives from government agencies, the private sector, civil society organisations and academic institutions from 34 countries; all gathering to build bridges for impact. Read more

Small, micro and medium enterprises (SMMEs) contribute an estimated 12 per cent towards Namibia’s gross domestic product and employ about 20 per cent of the country’s workforce. Read more

Three SEED Winners from Uganda joined the discussions at the “1st Practitioners’ Dialogue on Climate Investments in cooperation with the 3rd Sustainable Business Dialogue” on 7-9 October 2015 in Jakarta, Indonesia. Read more

"Where many conventional start-up enterprises fail after only two years, more than three out of four SEED Winners have not, that is the major outcome of this flagship report“, Ibrahim Thiaw, UNEP Deputy Executive Director and UN Assistant-Secretary-General. Read more

Chosen in an online vote with more than 5,500 participants 2013 SEED Low Carbon Winner Tambul Leaf Plates from India was chosen as the winner of the SEED Special Recognition Award. Read more

27 eco-inclusive enterprises are recognized at the 2015 SEED Africa Symposium. Read more