TRANSFORM, an impact accelerator that supports visionary enterprises across Asia and Africa, marked more than a decade of collaboration on Thursday, according to a press release.
Since its launch in 2015, the initiative has supported 13 enterprises in Bangladesh, reaching 247,313 people, including business owners, workers, customers and others in the wider community, it said.
With TRANSFORM’s support, these enterprises have generated tangible benefits for local communities and the environment and, since 2022, more than 39,000 customers have benefited from enterprise products and services. Over the past decade, the enterprises have also raised more than BDT 1.56 billion (£9.6 million) in follow-on funding, the release added.
Shamima Akhter, Director of Corporate Affairs, Partnerships and Communications at Unilever Bangladesh, said: “In Bangladesh, local entrepreneurs are delivering some of the most powerful solutions to global development challenges, from creating functional waste management initiatives to providing jobs and livelihoods.
“Embedded within the communities they serve, these innovators are uniquely positioned to create practical, context-driven approaches. Some of their solutions have also been embedded into Unilever’s own supply chain, contributing to our sustainability goals on plastics and livelihoods through innovation, collaboration and lasting behaviour change.”
The press release highlighted several enterprise projects in Bangladesh, including work with HappyTap to reduce barriers to hand hygiene by making portable sinks more accessible to low-income households.
Through local manufacturing partnerships and targeted marketing, the project has also encouraged behaviour change, enabling more than 600,000 people to wash their hands at home and in local healthcare facilities, it said.
TRANSFORM has also collaborated with Deshifarmer to advance climate-smart farming by equipping smallholder farmers with tools and knowledge for more environmentally friendly practices and improved market access, benefiting 3,000 farmers and 20,000 consumers in its first year, it added.
Led by Unilever, the UK Government’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and EY, TRANSFORM is a long-lasting public-private partnership that combines grant funding with the skills, networks and resources of each organisation to help impact enterprises scale into thriving, self-sustaining businesses tackling global development challenges, the release said.
It added that the programme has supported more than 140 impact enterprises worldwide, reaching over 19 million people – up from 10 million in 2023 – and involved 750 employees from EY and Unilever sharing business expertise to support participating enterprises.
Since 2023, it has also hosted seven regionally led challenges to identify new enterprises, giving local colleagues from Unilever, EY and British High Commissions decision-making roles across East, West and Southern Africa, as well as India, Indonesia and Bangladesh, it said.
Pragyal Singh, Partner, Government and Public Sector at EY, said: “With a strong 10-year track record, TRANSFORM’s win-win model is an example of the incredible impact we can achieve by combining our strengths.
“Leveraging our EY people’s skills, knowledge and networks, TRANSFORM provides tailored business support to scale inspiring entrepreneurs, fostering innovation that has ripple effects across the ecosystem.
“TRANSFORM’s combined support has helped validate these innovative ideas, enabling our enterprises across Bangladesh to raise over BDT 1.56 billion in follow-on funding and further scale their impactful solutions. We are proud to help create a better future for everyone, together.”
