National Society Financial Sustainability through Social Enterprise and Entrepreneurship

REDpreneur - The business skills and enterprise development program by the Austrian Red Cross (AutRC) is now evolving from its pilot phase to a fully launched program. A lot has happened in the past month and we are eager to share an update with you.

On the 19th of September REDpreneur kicked-off the 2023 Global Online Training Academy, welcoming over 30 changemakers working on 13 business cases in 14 countries, from CSOs, impact startups and the RCRC Movement.

Additionally, AutRC and the Ukrainian Red Cross (URCS) are collaborating on the REDpreneur program to boost business development and innovation within URCS. Therefore, a second REDpreneur Training Academy kicked-off in Ukraine in September 2023, consisting of 70 participants from 18 regions of Ukraine working on 20 different venture ideas, discovering impact business opportunities in a crisis situation. Furthermore, a long-term tailor made Business Incubator for Ukraine is in the planning stages, set to launch in 2024, aiming to develop capacities and seed funding for URCS social services and local social enterprises.

Social Enterprise and Entrepreneurship is increasingly gaining traction throughout the RCRC network. As a result, the REDpreneur team from AutRC, New Paradigm Ventures and Impact Hub Vienna were invited together with the French RC to the National Society Development Services (NSDS) department of IFRC in Geneva. A collective discussion took place to consider possibilities on how to support RCRC National Societies in achieving financial sustainability through social enterprise and entrepreneurship. Additionally, we had the pleasure of hosting IFRC NSDS in an online REDpreneur session broadcasted live from Geneva.  The REDpreneur Team looks forward to further constructive talks on the next steps of a cooperation, to collectively support RCRC National Societies in their journey to financial sustainability.