Launch of Grant Competition 'The Best Minds of the Country'
Yayasan BUMN
Jakarta, July 5, 2024 – The BUMN Foundation is proud to have launched the program Grant Competition titled 'The Best Minds of the Country' under the shade Ministry of State-Owned Enterprises held at Gedung Sarinah, Central Jakarta. Pikiran Terbaik Negeri is a social entrepreneurship initiative in Indonesia that supports innovative solutions to social, environmental, and economic challenges through grants, investments, and collaborations conducted by Yayasan BUMN. Pikiran Terbaik Negeri is conducted to empower Indonesia's best minds through competitions for social innovation. In this Pikiran Terbaik Negeri program, Yayasan BUMN presents WIND as a program organizing partner that has experience in helping develop entrepreneurship in Indonesia for a decade, as well as bridging more than 30 million USD of investment from hundreds of individual and institutional investors.
The focus of the Nation's Best Minds topic is to find social enterprises that are committed to addressing issues that are relevant to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as follows: (TPB): Zero Hunger, (TPB 3): Healthy and Prosperous Lives, (TPB 4): Quality Education (TPB 7): Affordable and Clean Energy, (TPB 13): Addressing Climate Change.
In the Best Minds in the Country program, the finalists will receive 4 benefits, namely: (1.) Access to strategic networks, (2.) Exposure at the national level, (3.) Incentive Learning and (4.) Grant. Total Grants distributed are worth Rp. 3,000,000,000++. Currently, Pikiran Terbaik Negeri is looking for 20 social enterprises with innovative solutions and will be supported through the Pikiran Terbaik Negeri program to create sustainable impacts across Indonesia.
The Best Minds Program in the Country has the following target achievements: (1.) 500+ potential solutions for Indonesia, (2.) Grant recipients, (3.) 3 billion Rupiah will be distributed, (4.) 500+ beneficiaries and (5.) SDG topics focused on. The following are the main activities of the Best Minds in the Country program:
- Grant-Pitching: Showcasing innovations from 20 selected social enterprises to determine the 3 best innovations that will receive additional funding for project implementation.
- Boot Camp: A short-term training program that provides essential knowledge and skills to selected social enterprises.
- Project Implementation: execution period of the activities and strategies written in the proposal to achieve the agreed business impacts and objectives.
- Impact Reporting: Aims to detail achievements during project implementation, including measuring the impact of the success of the efforts implemented.
- Final Showcase: Re-presenting selected social enterprises with their stories of change (TOC) and the impacts they have achieved.
- Matchmaking: A strategic and organized approach to facilitating meaningful connections between social enterprises and strategic stakeholders.
The implementation of the Best Minds in the Country program will be carried out with the following timeline:
- Kick-Off: July 5, 2024
- Registration: July 5 – July 21, 2024
- Announcement of 40 Social Entrepreneurs: July 24, 2024
- Announcement of 20 Grant Recipients: July 24, 2024
- Due Diligence Period: July 31 – August 9, 2024
- Grant-Pitching: 24-25 August 2024
- Boot Camp: September 15 – November 7, 2024
- Project Implementation & Monitoring: September 15 – October 10, 2024
- Impact Reporting: October 13 – November 7, 2024
- Final Showcase: November 20, 2024
On the other hand, the Best Minds in the Country program has several social entrepreneur criteria to be selected, namely:
- Operating in Indonesia and having a legal entity: PT, CV or Foundation.
- Has passed the Minimum Viable Product (MVP) stage and already has interventions/programs/projects/innovations currently running in one of the regions of Indonesia.
- Have the ability to receive funds from financial providers, demonstrated through good and healthy financial records.
- Having a strong team capable of running projects on a large scale.
- Having an impact-focused mindset, meaning that applications must have an explanation of the impact they want to create, if they already have a matrix or achievement target and a system to measure progress over time, will be considered an added value.
- Ready to collaborate with the country's Best Minds team to gather evidence of activity achievements.
- Commitment to participate in the Best Minds in the Country program, including attending 2 offline activities in Jakarta and around 8 online activities.
BUMN Foundation believes that by supporting brilliant ideas from the community, we can create a healthier and greener future. Let's together empower Indonesia's Best Minds through a competition for social innovation. Build their Souls, Bodies, Minds, Nature, Nation, Life for Greater Indonesia.