Welcome to our Q1 2026 newsletter! We began the year on a high note following our 10-year anniversary celebration, and with renewed excitement for the next decade at BfE. Over the past quarter, we welcomed a new Global Programme Manager to the team, onboarded 10 new social enterprises through our Spring 2026 cohort, and revived our biannual cohort welcome session. As we move into Q2, we’re excited about what’s ahead, with new projects already underway and more opportunities to engage our global community.

The Bridges for Enterprise Global Team

As we continue on our path of growth, we’re excited to welcome Nne Boma Hart to the Bridges for Enterprise team as our Global Programme Manager. Boma brings extensive experience in social impact strategy and operations, having managed programmes, processes, and teams across the education, technology, and sustainability sectors. Her commitment to global development aligns closely with our mission to empower social entrepreneurs who are driving meaningful change in their communities. We’re delighted to have her expertise and fresh perspective as we enter the next chapter of the organisation and continue working to create lasting impact. Welcome to the team, Boma!

Jordan Wolken, President & Trustee, Bridges for Enterprise

For the Spring 2026 cohort, we saw strong growth in interest, with 107 applications from 39 countries—a 75% increase in applications and 30% more countries represented compared to the previous cohort (recorded from 7th May to 31st December 2025). The diversity of applicants reflects the growing global interest in building impactful, mission-driven ventures. Here’s a snapshot of the applications we received, broken down by geography and sector.

True to our mission, BfE continues to partner with both non-profit and for-profit social enterprises working to build a more inclusive and sustainable future. Our Incubation Programme applications are open year-round, so there’s always an opportunity to get involved.

If you’re interested in joining our Autumn 2026 cohort, now is the time to apply. Applications submitted after April 2026 will be considered for our Spring 2027 cohort. Apply here or share the opportunity with a founder in your network! 

This quarter, we welcomed 10 new startups into our Spring 2026 Cohort: Gofer PLC, Farming by Faith, Development Shade Uganda Limited, Mt Gerizim Nursery and Primary School, Timeless Bamboo, Abuja Women Livestock Farmers Association, Association for Humanitarian Development, Soil Doctors, Teeg Wende Service, and Techo.

From climate solutions to sustainable agriculture and improved access to clean water, this cohort represents a group of inspiring ventures working to address some of today’s most pressing global challenges. Learn more about the impactful work they are doing here.

This March, we were excited to revive our biannual cohort welcome sessions. The session brought together our incoming startups for an introduction to Bridges for Enterprise and the Incubation Programme, an opportunity to hear insights from our startup alumni, and a chance to connect with their fellow founders in the Spring 2026 Cohort.

If you missed it, you can watch the replay here (Passcode: cJ5hr#y). 

We’re inviting experienced professionals to join us as volunteer mentors. Our model is remote and volunteer-led, making it possible to support high-impact ventures across regions while fitting around your professional commitments. If you have experience in strategy, finance, operations, technology, growth, or impact measurement, and are working in or around Sub-Saharan Africa (particularly Nigeria and Uganda), Latin America, or Southeast Asia, we’d love to hear from you! Apply here

Our website may soon be getting a refresh! We’re working on improving the site to better showcase our programmes, highlight the work of the social enterprises in our network, and make it easier for entrepreneurs, students, and mentors to engage with BfE. Stay tuned for updates as we continue enhancing the platform to better serve our growing global community.

Our 2025 Impact Report is currently in the works. Over the past year, BfE has supported numerous social entrepreneurs, collaborated with talented students and mentors, and continued to contribute meaningfully to the global social impact ecosystem. All of these milestones and stories will be captured in our upcoming report, and we look forward to sharing it with you soon—so keep an eye out!

The Cascador ScaleUp Program is designed for growth-stage founders based in Nigeria or other Sub-Saharan African countries who have demonstrated traction and are ready to scale their ventures and leadership capacity.

Programme benefits:

Applications open: 1 April 2026
Deadline: 15 June 2026 (11:59 PM WAT)
Application link

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