This recognition is awarded through the Social Entrepreneurship category of the program and is aimed at entrepreneurs who promote the development of new products, initiatives, services or business models that seek to address different social and environmental challenges in addition to their economic utility; they are entrepreneurs who also include vulnerable groups in their value chain to improve their economic condition.

In this edition the winners were the ventures: Trail Works as first place, received US$30,000, second place went to the venture Altempo which was awarded US$20,000 and third place went to Ecolandia which received US$10,000, funds that will be used as seed capital for the growth of their ventures according to their projects presented. In addition, benefits in kind were provided by the foundation's partner companies: Banco de América Central (BAC), ADEN Business School, INNBOX, Applaudo Studios, Listaso and INCAE.

Additionally, US$5,000 was given to the JICAROS venture by a star investor and US$5,000 to FUNJIPI for being the venture with the highest score from the public present.

"Our community of social entrepreneurs has had an impact on the lives of more than 30 thousand people throughout the country, demonstrating significant progress in the way different and important social problems can be solved throughout the country in an innovative and sustainable way" explained, Fernando Kriete, member and secretary of the Board of Directors of Fundación Gloria Kriete.

The winning ventures are those that obtained the highest scores from the judges in the following aspects: Problem and solution, triple benefit (Social, economic and environmental), financial sustainability, scalability, reliability and credibility, body language and verbal language, among others.

With the awarding of competitive funds in the current edition, more than 40 salvadoran social enterprises have benefited in a period of 5 years, having made to date a social investment of US$460,000, directly benefiting more than 30 thousand people.

The Social Entrepreneurship category is part of the program Ayudando a quienes Ayudan since 2018, with the objective of accompanying and generating spaces for the growth of salvadoran social entrepreneurs whose business model includes the generation of positive impact on the lives of other people and that comply with the triple impact line: economic, social and environmental.

"We congratulate the outstanding Social Innovators of the 2023 edition of the program. Through the Social Entrepreneurship category of Ayudando A Quienes Ayudan we are recognizing and supporting an ecosystem of entrepreneurs who are working to innovatively address a social or environmental problem, focusing on the most vulnerable populations", said Juana Jule, executive director of Fundación Gloria Kriete.

The ten finalists who participated defended their projects with a 3-minute speech before a jury made up of renowned national and international professionals: Adda de Molina (General Director Honduras Digital Challenge), Alexandra Araujo de Sola (Director of Banco Azul in El Salvador), Juana Jule (Executive Director FGK), Fernando Kriete (CEO and founder of KODIGO and part of the board of FGK), Francisco Pérez (Director of the Entrepreneurship Center of INCAE Business School Costa Rica) and José Luis Giammattei (Co-Founder of Applaudo Studios).

This year's finalist social enterprises were: Jícaros, Grupo Infinito, Ecolandia, Aracari Studios, "Huerto en Casa" (by TOKA), Cooperativa de Ahorro y Crédito Mujeres Progresistas, FUNGIPI, Food for you, Altempo, Trail Works.

Complete information about the participating Social Enterprises can be obtained at https://fundaciongloriakriete.org/finalistas-emprendimiento-social.

Translated by: A.M