The Regional Investment Support for Entrepreneurs (RISE) is a USAID funded pilot project implemented by Swisscontact in six ASEAN countries. Currently RISE provides pre- and post-investment business development services to social impact enterprises through technical assistance (TA). RISE partners with investors – currently includes Nexus for Development, Phitrust Asia, and UBERIS Capital – to find and support eligible companies. The RISE TA facility is designed to be a multi-investor standalone facility that can serve as a one-stop shop where businesses can access various forms of support through a pool of vetted consultants. This TA is meant to help mitigate risks for investors and support more resilient growth for social impact enterprises. The TA is a discounted repayable grant and TA repayment goes into a revolving fund that can then help other companies. This allows entrepreneurs to access TA when they need it but pay for it as their business grows and/or receives investments.
RISE provides TA facility for high impact enterprises within the ASEAN region
Investment readiness of the pipeline has widespread interest among potential investor partners.
The first recipient of RISE TA in 2019 will be NatureWild, a social enterprise in Cambodia.
NatureWild is seeking pre-investment TA in the area of branding and marketing strategy with associated training and coaching.
NatureWild works with community suppliers to ensure responsible harvesting of non-timber forest products (or NTFPs) such as wild honey, essential oils, and other health and beauty products and engages consumers interested in high quality, sustainable products that match an eco-friendly lifestyle. NatureWild provides forest-based community producers a sustainable link to the market through market research, product, branding, and marketing strategy development; production incubation; and sales. The company links community producers, companies (B2B sales), and consumers (B2C sales) for more sustainable rural livelihoods, businesses and lifestyles.
Discover more about RISE’s scheme and the learnings, risks and impact measurement they’re already using to assess this innovative model in this case study.