Social Innovation

New data highlights global momentum for social innovation and its role in sustainable development

Speaker sharing view on the "Why Social Innovation Matters for Business?" session at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2024.

Raj Kumar, Julia White, Sabrina Soussan, Geoff Martha and Anna Marks speaking at the "Why Social Innovation Matters for Business?" session at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2024. Image: World Economic Forum/SAE.

Alexandra van der Ploeg
Head of Corporate Social Responsibility, SAP
Wieteke Dupain
CEO, Euclid Network
Katerina Hoskova
Lead, Social Innovation (Private Sector), World Economic Forum
This article is part of: World Economic Forum Annual Meeting
  • Ten million social enterprises employ 200 million people globally, generating $2 trillion in revenue.
  • The Rise Ahead Pledge – signed by 25 organizations – is a collective promise to allocate more resources to social innovation.
  • New tracking data of 150,000 supply chain issues highlights the need to invest in social issues along global supply chains.

In 2024, collaborative efforts have elevated social innovation as a key driver of sustainable development and growth. The 120+ members of the Schwab Foundation’s Global Alliance for Social Entrepreneurship unite a wide-ranging ecosystem of academia, impact investors, corporations, and international organizations. Over 30 international organizations, governments, and ecosystem leaders have formed the Policy Leadership Council to advance policy actions in support of the social economy and social innovation. In addition, over 40 companies have joined the Corporate Leadership Council on Social Innovation, launching the Rise Ahead Pledge – a commitment by over two dozen companies to expand investments in social innovation.

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Reporting on progress of social innovation

These companies report on their past expenditures on social innovation and outline their planned spending increases. Collectively, they invested over $277 million on social innovation initiatives in the baseline year 2023, channeling resources into several key areas:

  • $95 million was allocated to social procurement, prioritizing purchases from social enterprises.
  • $86 million contributed through non-financial support, such as pro bono services and technology access.
  • $47 million directed towards financial support for social innovators.
  • $29 million invested in internal innovation to develop impact-first products and services.
  • $21 million dedicated to strengthening the social innovation ecosystem.

The Rise Ahead Pledge continues to welcome new signatories. An important new member is Schneider Electric. The company is committed to driving a just transition by addressing energy poverty and expanding access to essential services like efficient housing, healthcare, agriculture and education, which are vital for socio-economic development. Its Impact Investing practice supports early-stage, impact-focused startups, delivering scalable and innovative solutions for energy transition with a focus on underserved markets.

Since 2009, Schneider has invested in over 60 startups and projects across Europe, Africa, and Asia, benefiting 38 million people, creating 7,306 jobs, and avoiding 10.4 MT of CO2e emissions. Beyond capital, Schneider can also provide technical assistance notably thanks to the employees who can contribute through the VolunteerIn program, leveraging their teams expertise and network to foster innovation and impact.

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What is the Global Alliance for Social Entrepreneurship?

The growing field of social entrepreneurship

These leading companies are recognizing the growing importance of social entrepreneurship around the world. In 2024, the Schwab Foundation joined forces with Bertelsmann Stiftung, Catalyst 2030, Euclid Network, SAP, Social Enterprise UK, and the Social Enterprise World Forum, incorporating data from the British Council, to publish the State of Social Enterprise. This landmark study synthesized insights from over 80 country-level surveys to provide a comprehensive estimate of the global scale of social enterprises.

The findings revealed that social enterprises are not just impactful, but also an economic force. Approximately 10 million social enterprises worldwide are employing 200 million people – 6% of the global formal job market – and $2 trillion in annual revenues, surpassing the size of the global fashion industry.

Early insights from the soon to be published European Social Enterprise Monitor now reveal more detailed information about the demographics and behaviours of established social entrepreneurs. Social enterprises are already highly engaged in social procurement, selling their goods and services to businesses or governments. Over 50% are selling to governments, 70% to businesses, and close to 30% to multinational corporations.

Social procurement

Recognizing this critical role of social procurement in social entrepreneurship, members of the Schwab Foundation’s Global Alliance for Social Entrepreneurship collaborated with Austria-based technology company Prewave to analyze over 150,000 supply chain events (January 2023 to October 2024).

The report outlines top categories of critical supply chain events included:

  • Legal disputes (e.g., lawsuits, investigations, sanctions) at 26%.
  • Social disruptions (e.g., protests, labor strikes) at 19%.
  • Environmental disruptions (e.g., severe weather, floods) at 13%.
  • Health and safety concerns (e.g., injuries, fatalities) at 11%.
  • Criminal activity (e.g. fraud, corruption, or theft) at 9%

October 2024 marked an absolute high of social disruptions, with 1,268 supply chain events driven by social factors. Industries most affected by social issues included transportation and logistics, automotive, metals & minerals, utilities, food & beverage, and retail.

These findings underscore the urgency of linking procurement strategies to social impact. Buying from social entrepreneurs is a practical pathway to resilience and value creation, as demonstrated by numerous case studies outlined in the report. Beyond the quantitative data, the report also highlights new regulatory developments and financial innovations that support social impact in supply chains. It features 10 country and regional profiles -specific studies from Latin America, North America, Europe, Africa, and Asia, offering a global perspective on the potential of social procurement.

Data and insights that drive impact

For 2025, the Schwab Foundation has launched a new collaboration with the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) and a range of ecosystem actors to surface further longitudinal insights on social and environmental priorities and behaviours among entrepreneurs around the world. The data surfaced through this work will indicate whether the principles of social entrepreneurship continue to transform the mainstream business world.

This growing body of evidence shows that social innovation has become a transformative force for sustainable development. As partnerships deepen across sectors and geographies, social enterprises can further scale their impact – just like Industree Foundation or Rangsutra improved livelihoods for thousands of women artisans by selling high-quality textile products to IKEA and others.

At the same time, companies like AXA integrate social innovation into their core business, developing affordable insurance products for 14 million people in low- and middle-income countries. Others, like SAP, are strengthening the ecosystem for social procurement by integrating novel verification processes for social enterprises in the supplier platform Arbia. The Rise Ahead Pledge, the Corporate Leadership Council, and the growing community of Schwab Foundation social innovators are signs of hope that we can leverage business means to address our key issues and lead systems change globally.

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