For the fifth year, the Regional Incubator for Social Entrepreneurs (RISE) is announcing a call for applications for its support programme for young social entrepreneurs in the Western Balkans—RISE Travel. This programme in Montenegro is implemented by IPC Technopolis, offering young people the opportunity to turn their ideas into sustainable social businesses.
As announced, the essence of the RISE programme lies in supporting young people in the Western Balkans as they transform their ideas into sustainable social enterprises. The RISE Travel programme offers participants a nine-month experience divided into phases of ideation and incubation.
- The Ideation Phase (from October 2024 to February 2025) provides young entrepreneurs with a series of training sessions, coaching, meetups, and a mentoring programme to help them develop their ideas into sustainable social and environmental projects. At the end of this phase, participants will have the opportunity to present their social enterprise models, highlighting their impact and sustainability.
The two most promising ideas will each receive €3,000 for business development, participation in the regional mobility programme, and access to the Incubation Phase. The third-placed idea will win €500 for the regional mobility programme.
- The Incubation Phase, which runs from March to June 2025, extends activities to the regional level.
- While testing and validating their social enterprise concepts, young social entrepreneurs will have the opportunity to meet their peers at an event in Serbia (RISE Bootcamp) and participate in a mobility programme in the Western Balkans (RISE Expedition).
The fifth call for applications is open until 7 October 2024 at this link. Applications are welcome from young people aged 16 to 35 from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia, North Macedonia, and Kosovo, who must apply in teams of at least two people.
All participating teams must meet certain requirements, such as a motivation to learn about social entrepreneurship, an ambition to develop an idea with social or environmental impact, the ability to participate in regular training, and a readiness to cooperate and engage in intercultural dialogue with peers from the region.
All information about the programme is available on the Technopolis website.