Problem addressed

Within the Social Economy ecosystem, there is significant potential for innovation and territorial development, which risks remaining untapped due to a series of structural and cultural challenges that IKIGAI Social Hub aims to address through training and support. The main identified needs are:

• Lack of specific entrepreneurial skills
  Many young people and social organizations have high-value social ideas but lack the skills necessary to transform them into economically sustainable projects.
• Limited access to dedicated support programs
  Unlike traditional start-ups, social economy initiatives rarely find acceleration or incubation programs tailored to their hybrid characteristics.
• Weak connection between innovation, territory, and community
  Innovative social solutions struggle to take root in local contexts, often due to a lack of networks, local partnerships, and spaces to engage with other ecosystem actors.
• Challenges in idea validation and resource mobilization
  Social organizations face barriers in accessing funding, investors, and impact measurement tools, all essential elements for consolidating a business model.

Innovative solution

IKIGAI Social Hub adopts a distinctive approach to supporting start-ups and organizations in the social economy, adapting the tools and methodologies typical of the for-profit sector to the specific characteristics of the social economy. The project stands out for the following elements:

• Integrated and modular pathway
  The program combines practical workshops, individual coaching sessions, and group activities, guiding participants from idea generation to business model validation.
• Collaborative networks and co-creation
  The program fosters interaction between social start-ups, sector experts, investors, and local stakeholders, creating opportunities for partnerships and territorial synergies.
• Personalized support and mentorship
  Each project receives tailored guidance from mentors with experience in the social economy and innovation, who support participants in strategic development and resource mobilization.
• Integration with the entrepreneurial ecosystem
  IKIGAI Social Hub leverages the experience of both EURICSE and Pluriversum in accelerating traditional start-ups, adapting business innovation tools and methodologies to the social context, thereby creating a hybrid and replicable model.
• Active learning approach
  The program encourages hands-on experimentation, rapid prototyping, and continuous feedback, allowing participants to test ideas and models in real contexts before scaling.

Key results and benefits

The first edition of the program has just concluded and is still undergoing a thorough evaluation regarding the results achieved. Among the main outputs, the following can be highlighted:

• 8 start-ups supported;
• 7 sprints (comprising planning sessions and demo-days);
• 7 thematic workshops;
• 50+ hours of one-to-one mentoring;
• €48,000 in grants awarded.

The program also included a research study conducted by EURICSE, which resulted in the report “Youth, Activism, and the Social Economy in Tuscany: Trends, Challenges, and Contrasts”, available here: https://euricse.eu/it/publications/25002-2/ 

Potential for mainstreaming

IKIGAI Social Hub has developed a modular and flexible support model, designed to be easily adaptable to different contexts. The main elements that ensure its transferability are:

• The workshops, coaching sessions, and sprints are designed as independent modules that can be combined according to participants’ needs or replicated in new contexts, both territorial and sectoral.
• Business innovation tools, originally developed for for-profit start-ups, have been adapted to the social context, creating frameworks that can be easily transferred to other social entrepreneurship support programs.
• The creation of networks among social start-ups, mentors, investors, and local stakeholders fosters an ecosystem capable of sustaining and replicating acceleration practices, even without the direct presence of the original team.
• Mentor training and documentation of practices allow for the creation of an operational “manual” of the program, making it possible for other organizations or institutions to replicate the model.
• The model can be integrated into territorial strategies for social economy development, youth innovation programs, public funding initiatives, and capacity-building activities for non-profit organizations, thereby increasing long-term impact.