Ashoka
A global partnership to strengthen and scale the work of social entrepreneurs, IKEA Social Entrepreneurship and Ashoka will work with and support social entrepreneurs that contribute to equality, inclusion, and decent livelihoods around the world.
By supporting social entrepreneurs with their business scale-up plans, we enable both new and established social entrepreneurs to develop their solutions, and by sharing our learnings we help accelerate the social entrepreneurial movement.
Dela Accelerator Programme
Ashoka and IKEA Social Entrepreneurship have together co-created an accelerator programme ‘Dela’. This programme focuses on scaling established social enterprises that work at a system level in the areas of livelihoods, equality, and inclusion, that way increasing their impact.
In Swedish “Dela” means to share, which is exactly what this accelerator is all about. Sharing knowledge, perspectives and networks to support social entrepreneurs who are striving to make a positive impact on society and improve the lives of vulnerable and marginalised people.
The programme partners IKEA co-workers with social entrepreneurs to support them with their systems change and scale up challenges. But it’s not all one way. It is also for IKEA to learn from the social entrepreneurs, to adopt their business practices and test them within IKEA. Together, we offer a unique fellowship experience based on IKEA and Ashoka’s expertise and networks. IKEA also gets the chance to involve them as ambassadors and sparring partners on the journey to IKEA becoming fully circular by 2030.
Curious to know what systems change is and how the Dela programme supports the social entrepreneurs with their systems change strategies? Watch this short animation to find out:
Dela IV
Dela IV continues our partnership with Ashoka, co-creating a global accelerator to offer a space for scaling socially driven initiatives.
During the first three editions of the Dela Programme, over 200 selected experts from the global social innovation and corporate sector (including IKEA co-workers and colleagues from companies such as Microsoft) provided 35 leading social entrepreneurs the support to develop their impact-scaling strategies. We are excited to welcome another 12 social entrepreneurs in our fourth Dela Programme.
Dela III
The Dela III programme focuses on systems change, acknowledging that, in order to achieve long-lasting change and social impact, it is often required to alter the underlying structures of a particular system. Through this accelerator programme, 10 leading social entrepreneurs will receive support in scaling the impact of their systemic change solutions.
Dela II
Ashoka and IKEA Social Entrepreneurship have co-created a global accelerator, Dela, to support leading social entrepreneurs develop their impact and scaling strategies. In this second edition of the programme, twelve social entrepreneurs will participate and embark on a journey to accelerate their ideas, supported by IKEA co-workers, business leaders, and the social entrepreneurs themselves.
Dela I
The Dela accelerator programme was co-created by IKEA Social Entrepreneurship and Ashoka to support social entrepreneurs with their innovative solutions for solving systemic challenges. During the programme, IKEA co-workers, business leaders, and social entrepreneurs exchanged knowledge and inspired each other to contribute towards greater impact and systems change.
