There is no doubt that the world today faces numerous serious problems. You don’t have to spend a lot of time or effort to find them – global warming, poverty, increasing economic inequality, hunger and pandemics are just some of them.

Developing and implementing solutions to these issues has become critical to our survival. Business – particularly a growing segment known as social entrepreneurship – is increasingly recognised as an effective source of solutions to a variety of social problems.

Social entrepreneurship has the DNA of collaboration, not competition. This is the key to making progress without reinventing the wheel.

By partnering, businesses seek to accelerate and expand the sharing of knowledge and lessons learnt that will help eliminate access gaps and promote progress taking into account territories, race and income.

Building partnerships has enormous potential to improve the reputation of a social business. What’s more, the ability to collaborate has become an important competitive advantage in the current industrial revolution, marked by rapid and disruptive change.

In the race to develop ever more memorable experiences and expand and capture new sources that add value, entrepreneurs are discovering that success depends not only on what their business can do, but also on the capabilities they can leverage in partnership with others.

For almost 21 years, the Social Entrepreneur Award, organised by Folha in partnership with the Schwab Foundation, has been committed to building partnerships. For the first time, in 2023, impact business investor Intr3s joined the award’s network of partners.

One of his investments, Solos, was a finalist for the award that year. From Ceará, to Bahia, to Brazil.

In 2024, it was the turn of entrepreneur Simony César, CEO of Super Nina, to win in the Solutions that Inspire category. Another Intr3s investment. From Ceará, to Pernambuco, to Brazil.

As a promoter of impact businesses, Intr3s is inspired by the principle of “universal through regional”. The investor is committed to fostering solutions to local problems, without losing sight of the universal impact of these initiatives.

We are committed to expanding and making the competition more widespread, offering an acceleration programme to bring social technologies and impact startups recognised by the award to the Northeast region, where Intr3s operates.

There is the possibility that, at the end of the process, we will invest in the most promising projects or services.

Recognising this ambition, Intr3s seeks to consolidate its partnerships with a strategic and coordinated approach. To do so, it focuses on jointly defined priorities, leverages the strengths of each partner and expands the collective impact, both through new collaborations and by strengthening existing ones.

Establishing strategic partnerships ensures the exchange of information and coordination needed for effective collaboration.

The photograph to be revealed by the award certainly has the direction of working together – an essential requirement for accelerating change, adapting to technology-driven trends and exploring new paths amid growing complexities.

Taking advantage of the opportunities presented is fundamental for 21st century social innovation and productive inclusion, addressing inequalities within and between Brazil’s regions without leaving anyone behind.
The generation of social impact businesses reinforces the maxim that “we can’t solve problems using the same kind of thinking we had when we created them”. Not least because social entrepreneurship doesn’t work like an island, with businesses competing independently with each other for the biggest profits and the brightest human capital.

Remaining competitive while collaborating and building a better world is more challenging than ever.

Collaborative partnerships are roles that should be fostered by private social investment. Intr3s’ investment points to action and the generation of shared prosperity.