As the world faces increasing social and environmental challenges, it's more important than ever for businesses like IKEA to reinforce our commitment to sustainability and inclusion. Social entrepreneurship is a growing global movement, with around 10 million enterprises addressing social and environmental issues and providing employment to nearly 200 million people worldwide.
Supporting and partnering with social enterprises is one way for us to contribute to social impact actively. Together with social entrepreneurs and our partners, we continue striving to reduce poverty, challenge inequality, improve livelihoods, and support more inclusive societies.
Strengthening support for social enterprises worldwide
This year, we increased support for social enterprises from 104 to 120, spanning 21 countries across five continents. These enterprises focus on inclusive employment, inclusive agriculture and food, and inclusive circularity, benefiting smallholder farmers, artisans, people with disabilities, refugees and migrants, and LGBTQIA+ communities.
We continued our partnerships and investments to support social enterprises in IKEA markets, including Chile, Colombia, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, Poland, and Romania.
"We have not only gained access to a larger market and a wide range of potential customers, but also invaluable support and guidance. The programme has helped us create meaningful jobs for our community and provided an opportunity to enhance the positive social impact of our business. Most importantly, the programme has given us hope that through our business, we can contribute to reducing inequality and poverty in the world."
Rengkuh Banyu Mahandaru, co-founder and CEO of Plépah, a social enterprise participating in the I-SEA programme.
In Sweden, we launched a new partnership with Reach for Change to co-create Everyone's Business to support local social enterprises in scaling their businesses and impact. Together with Ingka and Yunus Social Innovation, we also explored how social enterprise solutions can meet local needs in IKEA markets.
Creating jobs through social business partnerships
In FY25, we partnered with nine social businesses in IKEA production to create handcrafted products that generate meaningful income opportunities. These partnerships provided over 11,000 income opportunities across five countries.
We expanded MÄVINN, our social entrepreneurship collection, through two global launches featuring 18 handmade products. These pieces combine local craftsmanship with IKEA design and uplift artisans from Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Jordan, and Thailand.
Gangadevi M, an artisan at ROPE in India, shares, "Whatever problems are happening at home, I can take my mind off them when I'm here. Here I have a lot of friends, and there is a sense of freedom."
ROPE (Responsibility Of People and Environment) is one of our social business partners in Tamil Nadu, India. The region is known for unsafe work in firecracker factories. ROPE offers an alternative: safe workplaces, fair pay, and training in crafting with natural materials. Today, ROPE provides work for 370 artisans and has plans to grow further.
Co-workers learning, mentoring, and making a difference
In FY25, 158 IKEA co-workers contributed their time, skills, and experience to mentor and coach social entrepreneurs. Since 2018, over 500 co-workers have supported social entrepreneurs around the world.
Co-worker engagement is a key driver of our impact. Through mentoring, co-workers support enterprises on their scaling journey while gaining deeper insight into global challenges and new ways of working.
"I'm very happy to be both a Thought Partner and Mentor. Each session, each talk, and each discussion is a big learning for me, helping me understand the challenges of social enterprises and become more agile in my thinking. It's not about sharing, it's a give-and-take."
Martin Otahel, IKEA Supply Southeast Asia, who supported two social enterprises in Indonesia.
Our commitment to improving the everyday life for people from vulnerable and marginalised groups continues to guide everything we do. The stories, partnerships, and progress in this year's review show what's possible when business and social entrepreneurs join forces. We invite you to explore the 7th Annual Review and be part of a growing movement shaping a more inclusive, fair, and sustainable world.
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