Building ecosystems for innovation and social good

[Music]

an introduction um grace

which is the founder and ceo of revel

innovation

rebel innovation builds and design

programs for organizations that better

the world

so grace 2011 you spoke about social

entrepreneurship back then

and you were just starting impact hub so

10 years on

is this where you think you would be

yeah

wow so 10 years ago i was 10 years

younger

10 years more optimistic tedx singapore

was really special

it was really that talk and that video

that captured the essence of what i was

set out to do for the next 10 years

the first four years so from i would say

2012 to 2016

it was very much around ecosystem

building and

creating a market that did not exist it

was

educating people explaining to people

what are startups

right what is social entrepreneurship

people didn’t know that these

things were in fashion at that time and

people didn’t know that it was going to

be the future and my litmus test

is always to talk to a taxi driver right

if they can answer you what

you know what a startup is then you know

that it has been mainstreamed

i remember having had to have 400

conversations even before

having the courage to really start the

hub and

right now if you ask a grab driver or

taxi driver

they they can’t tell you what what the

startup is you know they can

quote local champions winners like

carousel

shopback or grab and you know 10 years

ago

none of them were as successful or even

existed yet

from 2016 onwards the ecosystem has

matured a lot

and there were a lot more actors coming

in

you know people have all found their

roles the government

knew how much to do what not so much to

do um the investors were all coming in

you’re definitely a pioneer in uh you

know the social entrepreneurship scene

can you just share with us some insights

so how do you think it has progressed

social entrepreneurship you know to

to those who don’t know i i define it

simply and it was also in my

bio during the first tedx talk you know

it’s the combination of having the heart

of mother theresa and the brain of

richard branson

right that was popularized by my mentor

um almost second mom a pioneer in the

global social entrepreneurship pamela

had pamela hartigan so these these

profiles of individuals right having the

heart of mother teresa and the brains of

richard branson they they form a very

niche market they they were at the

sidelines they were the mavericks they

were

the rebels they were the crazy ones

um but i’m glad to say that 10 years on

this is no longer a niche

industry social entrepreneurship impact

investing it has grown to become

a 31 trillion asset under management

world right and in 10 years by 10 years

now

it’s now became mainstream you see a lot

more

pension funds all the way to

investment funds all the way to

corporates and small startups of one to

ten people

integrating um a wider purpose that is

beyond themselves and beyond returning

um shareholder gains to including

stakeholder gains to including

the you know the tree piece right profit

people and

planet to measuring more than one bottom

line to measuring double bottom line

sometimes triple bottom line

and so that has became a mainstream

movement now

are we there yet i don’t think so i i

still think we have a couple more years

to go

where the taxi driver is able to to

explain

what a social entrepreneur or what a

triple bottom line is

but the big guys the allocators of funds

have definitely embraced it and that is

a very very positive sign

given the pandemic situation how do you

think this has impacted uh

the the social entrepreneurship scene

has he accelerated anything

or caused more stumbling blocks what’s

your take on that

i think research has shown enough that

responsible companies who are part of

communities who

are responsible towards their

stakeholders

have performed better during a pandemic

and

the demand for social entrepreneurial

solutions

market-driven solutions from impact

ventures sustainability ventures have

totally

increased during the pandemic you know i

think it is

really the pure sort of traditional

selfish

capitalistic myopic kind of companies

that have

perhaps been tested during the pandemic

and i always feel that is crisis like

that that

you know give everyone a chance to

re-imagine their purpose to reflect

on what is their role in the business

community sure but also

as a global citizen pandemics are not

equitable

it always affects the marginalized

communities more as we have seen in

singapore

it always affects the low-income

communities more

so more and more we have seen companies

who are again have welcomed the pandemic

as a wake-up call

to be more inclusive to be more

equitable

and to be more global in that sense

grace in all your 10 years

i’m personally very curious as well what

was

the most difficult decision that you’ve

you had to make the most difficult

decision

by far would be you know during a

consolidation phase in my industry back

in 2018

where we have had a couple of

acquisition offers

oh yeah that would mean a

semi-retirement for me

that would mean joining a bigger company

and you know just maybe have to work for

another one to three years and you know

you’re off

and so those were those were offers that

i’ve

taken seriously and i have gone to

shanghai and here to learn about the

potential acquirers company culture

management

business model but after that process

and that journey i’ve just

realized that they were going to not be

a cultural fit and they were not going

to extend

um or continue the mission of the

behind the work that i’ve been doing and

therefore i walked away

for vote from both and my friends my

other entrepreneur friends were saying

like are you crazy rarely do people walk

away from

acquisition offers but i would not have

forgiven myself

for taking those with the social

impact ecosystem growing and expanding

i’m sure we would also see a lot of the

next generation the younger generation

wanting to be part of this ecosystem as

well and you know

yourself as well um you have a 19 month

old

girl baby girl so just wondering from

your point of view you know what are

some words of advice

that you would give to the younger

generation um

that would want to be part of this

ecosystem moving forward

wow the younger generation is the

world’s best hope

in repairing the world and improving it

so my short word of advice is be

demanding be demanding ask for what you

want

ask for the better versions of products

and services that have been offered to

you

at first i thought it was a cliche when

people say that

oh once you have children your

you will get a different perspective on

the world you will

place purpose and impact and and doing

good a lot higher because you’re gonna

do it for them

right i thought it was just a cliche but

i’ve really experienced firsthand

how having a daughter really

accelerated my my commitment

a lot more even to going back to impact

work and and

and really doubling down on that you

know when when i talk about

bottom-up work and bottom-up ecosystem

then that generation is is what i mean

they are the reason they are the core

for it

you know large companies large fmcg

companies

large investment banks they are not

doing good for the world because a

government said so they are not

doing it primarily because of tax

rebates they are doing it because the

younger generation will not buy from

them

if they are not responsible corporate

actors

if they destroy the planet if they

are unfair to their equals um

to their communities and their

stakeholders

younger generations of wealthy families

and wealthy businesses will not go to a

bank

that practices unethical behavior

that that siphons of money to left and

right

so it is the younger generation that

will

be the new north star of how corporates

behave

it is really them who will dictate and

determine

what new generation of products and

services

of food of non-meat food

right that will be produced at scale

because it is them

who will be the new budget holders

purchasing power

and everything else so i am super super

excited and so optimistic

to see what they will demand of

the the people in power yeah and

i think it can only be better than

all our hundreds of years before

you