Sources of Financing for Social Entrepreneurship

The following chapter discusses the main forms of financing for social entrepreneurship. The ultimate goal of social entrepreneurship is to create social value. To this end, financial means act as intermediaries to achieve this goal. These means must be aligned with the mission, vision, and values of the new venture. Therefore, there must be certain parallelism in the modus operandi of the entrepreneurial companies and the institutions supporting their launch in the market with economic resources. Since social entrepreneurship arises as a new paradigm to create the business, its financing sources represent a new method to obtain economic resources. Ethical banking is the core concept of these alternative ways of financing; thus, this chapter revolves around its foundations. Social crowdfunding and incubators are presented as financing sources with high potential for social entrepreneurs through the lens of practical examples, although government aid and subsidies also deserve special attention.