The Picha Project Wins Future Generations Award
4 July 2018 - Impact Hub

The Prize Winners

Malaysian social entrepreneurs Kim Lim, Suzanne Ling and Lee Swee Lin have won €40,000 as part of the first Allianz Future Generations Award, an initiative run by Impact Hub. The winners received the prize for their work on the Picha Project: a social enterprise that empowers marginalized communities in Malaysia through a sustainable food catering and delivery business.

The Competition

This award was presented to the Picha Project after their founders took part in Allianz & Impact Hub’s Investment Ready Program “Encouraging Future Generations”. This is a unique acceleration program, tailored for purpose driven entrepreneurs aiming to foster social inclusion of children and youth in Brazil, Germany, Malaysia and Turkey.

Over 6 months, the 10 teams that participated in the program engaged in a systematic review of their business models, strategies and teams before crafting a validated growth and investment plan. At the end of the program, all participants pitched in front of a jury for the Allianz Future Generations Award, with the Picha Project coming out on top.

The Impact

Founded in 2016, the Picha Project provides job opportunities to families, groups and refugees by creating a platform with which they can cater food to the public, using their existing cooking skills and equipping them further with professional guidance. “We plan to use this grant to develop an online platform that will directly link these refugee families to customers,” says co-founder Kim Lim. “We also plan to use part of the funds to develop non-perishable products and expand our business to other countries.”

The Fellow Nominees

Delighted to receive the award, the winners were also surprised to hear their names announced as winners due to the outstanding calibre of their fellow participants. The Picha Project was one of just 9 program finalists, each worthy of the spotlight in their own rights:

  • Volunteer Vision is a software company that provides digital mentoring solutions to maximize collaborative learning, employee engagement and social impact.
  • Verbem offers a solution to vision-related school dropouts by democratizing access to eyeglasses.
  • Scode uses the age-old craft of storytelling to teaching young people how to code.
  • Reflect uses fashion to fuel creativity and social impact for vulnerable communities, including children and youth.
  • KiD – Kind in Diagnostik is an expert institution for child trauma diagnostics and treatment, and forerunner in youth welfare.
  • Carlotas helps people to develop social and emotional skills like empathy, fairness and respect through a program based on playfulness and art.
  • Binyaprak provides a digital marketplace for young women to find role models, capacity building events and networks.
  • AMANDLA EduFootball uses football to educate and empower vulnerable youth in South Africa and Germany.

Congratulations to the Picha Project, and to all participating teams!