World University Service of Canada

Published purpose

The "Advancing Growth Innovation and Leadership for Enterprises" project implemented by the World University Service of Canada (WUSC) and Sarona Assets Management Inc (Sarona) aims to increase the resilience of Vietnam’s populations vulnerable to climate change. It aims to drive ecosystem enhancements that lead to increased investment in and support for Vietnamese women-focused climate enterprises. The enterprises provide resilient employment opportunities, products, and services that help stakeholders adapt to and mitigate the negative impacts of climate change. Project activities include: (1) strengthening capacity of BK Holdings and other local business support organizations in providing business acceleration services for women-focused climate enterprises; (2) working with investors to deploy a challenge grant for the climate enterprises that are ready to attract private capital; and (3) providing trainings and support services for local women`s business support organizations to strengthen their capacity to promote gender lens investing in Vietnam. The project aims to reach 160 ecosystem actors to improve conditions in the climate enterprises business and investment ecosystem in Vietnam. These actors are supported to offer technical assistance and acceleration services to at least 56 enterprises, reaching 2700 employees, 23,700 customers and 19,050 value chain actors. The project also provides support to 450 early-stage entrepreneurs through climate entrepreneurship bootcamps. This collective set of interventions is expected to lead to climate adaptation solutions that seeks to reach 90,900 household and community members, benefitting 136,960 individuals (75,823 women).