Vale Foundation > News > “Entrepreneur Network” is launched by Vale Foundation and Mandū to connect and strengthen social businesses

“Entrepreneur Network” is launched by Vale Foundation and Mandū to connect and strengthen social businesses

Espirito Santo

Maranhão

Minas Gerais

Rio de Janeiro

29/11/21

Woman in white shirt smiling behind the products she sells in her stall, during the "Sabor e Arte" fair

Cristiana Silva, owner of Bananinha J.B, entrepreneur who is part of the “Entrepreneur Network” platform

The Vale Foundation and Mandū Inovação Social are launching the Entrepreneur Network , an online platform that connects 39 social businesses, consumers, and supporters with the objective of expanding knowledge about management and providing support in accessing new markets, fostering the economic viability of these ventures so they can prosper and generate income. In this virtual space, entrepreneurs can exchange experiences, find solutions to their challenges, and receive financial support..

Currently, the platform is connecting 39 social businesses from 17 municipalities in Espírito Santo, Mato Grosso do Sul, Maranhão, Minas Gerais, Pará and Rio de Janeiro. The businesses are divided into five different segments: food production, family agriculture, commerce, services and culture, selective collection, and industrial production.

In the first stage of the project, which took place from January to May 2021, Mandū mapped all 165 social businesses supported by the Vale Foundation during the period from 2013 to 2020, and checked what conditions each one was in. The search was consolidated in a tool that brought subsidies for the “network” to be designed and the first entrepreneurs were invited to join it. In the second stage, which took place from June to July, the project evolved from the creation of an online platform capable of stimulating networking, creating forms of continuous acceleration, commercial and managerial support for the businesses invested in, and continuous training for the entrepreneurs.

The platform has an open environment for all audiences to access business products and information. This marketplace enables entrepreneurs to create their own online stores, and the platform’s internal environment offers business support with access to training, e-books, knowledge pills, video tutorials, and mentoring to boost their sales.