14 years, 123 Champions, 1.4 million lives: BC4C’s impact at a glance
An overview of the programme’s cumulative impact across 14 cohorts, from B.E. 2554 to B.E. 2568, covering both incubation and acceleration programmes
Translated from Thai · reviewed by the CF team
Over the past 14 years (B.E. 2554–2568, excluding B.E. 2563 due to the COVID-19 situation), BC4C has incubated a total of 123 teams of Champions across 14 cohorts. 80% are still operating in the social enterprise sector at least 3 years after completing the programme, and 49% of survey respondents have had positive net profits for 2 consecutive years. The Champions’ work has had an impact across 7 main areas: education, agriculture, health, the environment, livelihood creation, finance, and intermediary organisations/volunteers, reaching a total of more than 1.4 million people over the course of the programme.
Since B.E. 2565, the acceleration programme has extended this pathway to alumni who have grown beyond the start-up stage. It has supported a total of 20 enterprises (17 through business plan development in B.E. 2565–2567 and 3 through a pilot intensive mentoring model in B.E. 2568), completing BC4C’s cycle of support from the idea stage through to growth as enterprises generating tens of millions of baht in revenue.
Just as important as the numbers are the reflections of alumni who remain connected with BC4C to this day.
"From Ping’s perspective, BC4C is more than a programme that provides funding, because it is a ‘space that offers opportunity and confidence’ to ordinary people who want to change society in their own way. For many people, including me, it was the starting point that enabled us to take real action, learn from direct experience, and see that social enterprise is not at all out of reach. I think BC4C has helped bring more life to Thailand’s SE sector because it has not only created a new generation of entrepreneurs, but also a ‘community of people doing good’ who believe in the power of supporting one another, sharing and growing together. Today, many enterprises that started with BC4C are still working in their own communities, and that is the most quietly beautiful and lasting impact." — Wilolak Phuchang, Khiri Farm (cohort 12)
"It gives SEs the funding to take their businesses further and grow, and provides SEs with advice and knowledge across all areas [...] It has enabled some of Thailand’s small SEs to grow into medium-sized or large SEs thanks to the funding, knowledge and excellent advice from the Banpu team." — Chiraphan Bunma, Karen Design (cohort 13)