Both Poland and Romania have reduced poverty in the last two decades, but the job is far from done. The lack of employment opportunities, especially in rural areas and for households with fewer years of education or training in high-growth industries, has led to higher poverty rates across various communities.

Programme support

The three-year, co-created accelerator programme will support nine social entrepreneurs interested in scaling their impact. The supported social entrepreneurs come from different sectors such as sustainable agriculture, job inclusion, circular economy, and sustainability. These entrepreneurs offer services that provide dignified employment and income to five key vulnerable groups across the region: low-income women, small producers, people with disabilities/different abilities, ethnic communities and at-risk youth.

With tailor-made support and financing from NESsT and IKEA Social Entrepreneurship, it will focus on enterprises that have a social and environmental impact. Selection has been made based on those that lack financing options and that can most benefit from the programme’s advisory and mentoring services.

Our goal with this accelerator is to ensure the employment of 1,200 vulnerable and excluded communities in the region. These include youth, at-risk women, ethnic minorities, migrants and refugees, smallholder farmers, and people with different abilities to access better job opportunities and improve their income.