A new partnership to drive positive change in Malaysia

Together with Biji-biji Initiative, we've co-created SEAM (Social Enterprise Accelerator Malaysia) to foster innovative and sustainable solutions that prioritise social impact.  

In a world of growing social inequality and environmental challenges, Malaysia stands at a crossroads. Communities grapple with poverty, unemployment, and social exclusion, while environmental degradation threatens biodiversity and livelihoods. Through SEAM, we hope to empower the social enterprises tackling these pressing issues and strengthen the ecosystem supporting them.   

Social enterprises, champions of change, face their own set of hurdles. Despite the rapid growth of the social enterprise sector in Malaysia and its ability to generate positive impact, many promising social enterprises face their own set of challenges. Limited access to funding, lack of business support, and difficulties scaling their impact hinder their ability to address critical issues effectively.  

Supporting social enterprises to scale their impact

Through SEAM, we aim to create a more inclusive, resilient and impactful social entrepreneurship ecosystem. The programme empowers social enterprises to scale their business and impact by providing tailored capacity building, access to funding, sharing our networks and access to market, and advocacy.  

"SEAM continues IKEA Social Entrepreneurship's work to enable social enterprises already working to create social impact to scale their efforts", says Åsa Skogström Feldt, Managing Director of IKEA Social Entrepreneurship. "We're excited to launch a new programme in a new country with the Biji-biji Initiative. Together, we're not just launching a programme but continuing a movement that champions innovation, collaboration, and social impact in Malaysia."  

Providing tailored support 

SEAM is supported locally by IKEA Malaysia, with dedicated co-workers providing mentorship and guidance to social entrepreneurs, demonstrating our strong commitment to fostering social impact in Malaysia.  Learn more about IKEA co-workers engage with our programmes and support social enterprises along their journey to scale.

"We are thrilled to contribute to this new accelerator programme as part of our commitment to driving meaningful change across Malaysia," comments Malcolm Pruys, Country Retail Director of IKEA Malaysia. By engaging and connecting our co-workers with these social enterprises, we not only foster mutual learning and exchange but also contribute actively to their scaling efforts. We're excited to see how this partnership unfolds and to witness the collective local impact we can achieve together."  

Juliana Adam, CEO of Biji-biji Initiative, envisions SEAM as a catalyst for fostering a harmonious, symbiotic relationship among social enterprises, the government, corporate or private bodies, and grassroots players. "We strongly believe in the inherent value of this programme and its capacity to address the urgent needs of the ecosystem," she asserts.   

We'll announce more details about the programme and the open call for social enterprises to apply in the next few weeks, so keep an eye open for that.   

As we embark on this transformative journey, we invite government and private sectors to join us in shaping the future of social entrepreneurship in Malaysia. Together, we can foster a culture of partnership and create social impact for lasting change.