The Unusual Partners Team from Yunus Social Business is building a global network of B2B social businesses. Our goal is to foster partnerships between social businesses and corporations where corporations can directly buy products and services from social businesses, giving social businesses the chance to scale. 

In order to achieve this goal, we must capture the diverse offerings and impact potential which the social business sector has to offer corporations. What we offer participating social businesses in return is the opportunity to enter into business partnerships with corporations and gain tailored support for continued growth along the way. 

👉🏼 Are you a social entrepreneur who wants to engage with corporations? Take 10 min to join our network.

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As we know that it takes time and effort to complete these surveys, we offer a small token in the form of a 500 EUR reward to 5 of the social businesses that answer the survey, whose impact and business model stand out based on the following criteria. 

  1. Strength of the business model 
  2. Demonstrated social impact 
  3. Willingness to supply to corporations 

There will be 1 social business selected per country (Brazil, Colombia, Kenya, Uganda, India). The winning social businesses will be announced and contacted directly by December 15th 2023.

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Frequently asked questions:

What do you consider a social business? 

A social business takes the engine of business and applies it to create social and environmental change. Impact is built into the social business model and rather than pursuing profits as a goal in itself, profits are used as a means to pursue its social mission. 

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Are you looking for social businesses within any sector?

We welcome social businesses working in all sectors, as long as they are interested in working with corporations. But we call for social businesses specifically located in these five countries: Brasil, Colombia, Kenya, Uganda, India.

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Why should I join this network?

  1. Potential engagement opportunities with corporates looking to work with social enterprises – be part of the selection process for corporations actively looking to purchase goods and services from social businesses.
  2. Get the chance to be selected as a social businesses to be added in our YSB funds pipeline for future investment opportunities
  3. Tailored support depending on where you stand in your supplier journey 

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  • If your social business has never supplied to any corporations, but is interested in doing so: get connected with other social businesses with the opportunity to sell your products/services to them
  • If your social business has started supplying to corporations: there will be the opportunity to access high-skilled pro-bono mentors and consultants via the MovingWorlds TRANSFORM Support Hub
  • If your social business has supplied to multiple corporations and wants to scale: get access to one of the largest procurement platforms in the world to be directly identified and contacted by procurement teams of large corporations.

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What will you do with the answers and data that I provide?

All information you provide will be kept stored in our internal Unusual Partners YSB database. In the case that a corporation is interested in working with a social business within a particular sector or geographic area, we will provide general, non-sensitive information of the social businesses that meet their search criteria, including:

  • Your social business name 
  • Your social business website 
  • Public details which are available on your website 

We will not provide sensitive information such as details about your employee base, yearly revenue, or direct contact details to any party outside of YSB. In the event that a corporation is interested in knowing more about your social business, a member from the YSB team will contact a member from your team directly. 

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How can I join this network?

It’s easy and should only take 10 minutes of your time. We ask you to fill up an application form that will require you to provide information about your social business, its mission, operations, financial overview, and key challenges.

Open your social business up to social procurement opportunities by joining our Unusual Partners network.🚀

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What happens next?

At the end of our open call, you will hear from us in December 2023 to know if you have successfully joined our network. We will then provide you with more information on the next steps to get access to different types of support and networking opportunities we have in store.