DBS Foundation (DBSF) has selected 22 Businesses for Impact (BFIs) from across its key markets, including four enterprises from India, to receive funding under its annual grant award programme. Chosen from over 1,500 applicants, the cohort of final grantees will receive total funding of SGD 4.5 million, to help scale their businesses and hence help communities in need.

The impact from these 22 ventures is projected to collectively benefit over 8,00,000 beneficiaries over the next two years. The BFIs are aligned with the DBS Foundation’s focus areas - providing essential needs (e.g. basic education, nutrition, healthcare) and fostering inclusion through upskilling, increasing employability and other opportunities.

The DBSF grant programme aims to empower innovative social enterprises and small-and-medium enterprises (SMEs) that drive positive impact by providing them with both capital and expertise to scale. Beyond the funding, grantees benefit from comprehensive support from the bank, including targeted guidance, mentorship, capacity-building, networking opportunities.

“We are incredibly proud of this year’s grantees, comprising the four outstanding Businesses For Impact from India, whose work aligns with our vision of uplifting the lives and livelihoods of the most vulnerable. By providing them with mentorship, expertise and the resources needed to scale their solutions sustainably, we aim to create a better, more equitable future for all,” stated Azmat Habibulla, Managing Director and Head - Group Strategic Marketing and Communications, DBS Bank India.

The four Grant Awardees from India are Hasiru Dala Innovations, Atypical Advantage, Neurosynaptic Communications and Last Mile Care. Hasiru Dala Innovations is a social enterprise on the mission to build a world with no waste and no waste pickers through its unique ethos of Inclusive Circularity.

Atypical Advantage is a livelihood platform for Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) that bridges the inefficiencies on both the supply and demand sides to ensure that PWDs can earn a dignified income. Neurosynaptic Communications brings healthcare to rural areas with telemedicine to make sure no one is left behind.

Last Mile Care offers comprehensive, affordable healthcare services for workers and their families in workplace settings which include periodic health checkups, teleconsultation and allied healthcare services from a single roof.