ABOUT THE FUND
USVF is a venture philanthropy organization that provides financial and non-financial support to strengthen social enterprises and develop social entrepreneurship ecosystem.
WHY?
Every year, dozens of social enterprises are established in Ukraine. They focus on work integration and improve the quality of life for those facing difficult circumstances. They provide critical social services, oftentimes adapting best practices from other countries in new and innovative ways. They create positive social change in the communities they operate in, and also tackle environmental issues, setting up recycling problems and such. Governmental bodies in Ukraine often have neither the purview, inclination, knowhow, nor the resources to solve many local and regional social problems; social enterprises can help address these. Their business is often volatile due to the lack of available capital and expert knowledge necessary to achieve effective sustainability and scalability.
Ukrainian Social Venture Fund was established to gather resources to aid in the development of social entrepreneurship and to cooperatively address challenges to the field.
HOW?
We help social enterprises to develop sustainable and efficient business models, and to maximize social and environmental impact. We provide financial support and business expertise aimed at employing new technologies and business practices, improving product quality and increasing social value.
WITH WHOM?
We are forming a circle of social investors, both individual and institutional, who seek to catalyze the impact of social entrepreneurs and stimulate systemic, qualitative change in our country.
Since 2021, USVF has been actively cooperating with the European Venture Philanthropy Association, a leading organization in the field based in Brussels. Within the framework of the Collaborate for Impact project, USVF studies the experience and outcomes gained by various European social investing organizations and tries to tailor them to both the unique opportunities and challenges present in today’s Ukraine.
CO-FOUNDERS
Development of impact-investment practices is the core activity of USVF
As USVF’s we believe that the viability of any business and its social impact are not mutually exclusive but mutually reinforcing. Enterprises based on the idea of changing the world for the better possess important qualities necessary for ongoing and sustainable growth and solvency, both in the short and long term, and we want to demonstrate this by supporting and developing such enterprises.
Read the report on our activities in 2020-2022:
WoodLike
A social enterprise from Donetsk region that produces ecological souvenirs from wood
Re:ban
Kyiv social enterprise, engaged in the production of accessories from recycled vinyl banners
Старе місто
The first cafe-confectionery in Lutsk that employs people with Down syndrome
ІнваФішки
Kyiv social enterprise that offers goods and services for people with disabilities, which help them significantly improve the quality of life
Сімка плюс
Ternopil network of remote contact centers focused on employment of people with disabilities and all those who, due to certain circumstances, find it difficult to work outside the home or full-time
