How TRANSFORM is helping impact entrepreneurs scale

Across continents, visionary entrepreneurs are developing market-based solutions to some of the world’s toughest challenges. Yet many of these entrepreneurs face barriers that prevent their solutions from reaching the people who need them most.

While these entrepreneurs are solving problems that governments or markets have struggled to address, they often do so without the commercial expertise, networks or the monetary investment required to scale sustainably. The result is a persistent gap: Powerful ideas with the potential to transform communities remain stuck at pilot stage, unable to grow into the high-impact, self-sustaining businesses the world urgently needs.

TRANSFORM is a program that aims to bridge this gap. Led by Unilever, the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and the EY organization, TRANSFORM is a unique impact accelerator that brings together corporates, donors, investors and academics to support visionary impact enterprises across Africa, Asia and Latin America.

It provides grant funding and technical support to help these innovators develop, test and prepare their ideas for scale.

Established in 2015, TRANSFORM assists enterprises that meet the needs of low-income households in their communities. The entrepreneurs are individuals like Nivedha RM, an engineering student who was determined to do something about what she calls the “soul crushing” levels of landfill in her home country.

She founded TrashCon and developed a first-of-its-kind technological solution to segregate and process municipal solid waste. RM’s pioneering prototype could process 2 tonnes of plastic per day – but not the 2,000 tonnes she was aiming for. Her startup lacked the resources to take its solution to the next level.

For RM, it was a crisis moment. “All we had was a proof of concept. It was something that everyone said cannot happen. I wanted to give up every single day,” she says. Where could she turn to get the support she needed to transform waste management in India – and across the world?

Just when RM was about to give up, she was connected to TRANSFORM, which gave her faith in her ideas and then financial backing. EY business support teams helped TrashCon develop its business model to transition from a donor-supported organization to a profit-making enterprise. TrashCon has since scaled its waste processing system by 1,000 times and established its main revenue stream – furniture boards made from non-recyclable plastics. Finally, TrashCon became integrated into Unilever’s supply chain, helping the global business meet its recycling targets.  

The strength of the TRANSFORM model is that it offers more than innovation grants from FCDO. Unilever also provides funding, marketing expertise and private sector resources – and the opportunity for enterprises to test their solutions and services across Unilever’s value chain.  In addition, EY is committed to offering £15m of in-kind contributions, including mobilizing a vast team of professionals who volunteer their time to provide technical support through pro-bono consulting and coaching.

TRANSFORM also convenes an ecosystem of other partners, including Microsoft and the Global Innovation Fund, that provide their own particular expertise. Together, this synergistic cash and in-kind support have helped TRANSFORM ventures go on to raise £55m in follow-on funding. 

TRANSFORM’s model recognizes that while public and private actors help impact entrepreneurs de‑risk innovation and scale solutions, enterprises can generate mutual value by integrating these solutions into corporate value chains — strengthening both business performance and sustainability outcomes. This “win‑win” approach actively scales innovation through corporate value chains.

EY derives unique value from being part of TRANSFORM

For EY, TRANSFORM is more than a partnership – it’s a platform that creates shared value for our clients, for society and for our people. By working side-by-side with impact enterprises, TRANSFORM demonstrates what shared purpose looks like in practice, and TRANSFORM can bring richer, real-world insights back to the organizations we advise.

TRANSFORM also directly contributes to the EY Ripples ambition to positively impact one billion lives. The social enterprises supported are improving livelihoods, expanding access to essential services, and accelerating climate and gender equity outcomes across Africa, Asia and beyond. The ripples created by pro-bono services with these innovative companies have incredible reach and ongoing impact.

Most importantly, the partnership offers extraordinary opportunities for EY people to work hands-on with innovative entrepreneurs addressing real development challenges. More than 550 EY professionals have already taken part in the program – building new skills, expanding their global networks and experiencing the personal fulfillment of providing meaningful, life-changing work. 

In the 10 years since TRANSFORM was established, it has supported over 140 enterprises across 19 countries, reaching over 19 million lives, from business owners to workers, customers and people in the wider community.

RM says the TRANSFORM support was a game changer. “It’s thanks to TRANSFORM our company exists today. They gave us the funding – and provided invaluable knowledge to help us create the right business model and scale up.”

She notes that investors now take her and TrashCon seriously, with millions more raised from the market in follow-on funding. TrashCon is using this additional commercial capital injection to expand into 20+ Indian constituencies and three other countries.

Boosting livelihoods through digital innovation

TRANSFORM’s impact spans many sectors, countries and continents. In Senegal and Kenya, Boost, a B2B commerce platform, provides digital ordering solutions to help shopkeepers get more goods to their communities and grow revenue. Through TRANSFORM’s support, Boost is also addressing a critical local challenge: With 80% of Kenyan youth unable to enter the formal job market, new employment models to empower the informal economy are urgently required. By digitizing the ordering process and recruiting young people from informal economy as sales agents, Boost expands retail reach while creating new opportunities to earn a livelihood.

EY teams supported Boost through an eight-week pro-bono consulting engagement to build a commercial pricing model and strengthen their scaling strategy. This work helped Boost secure multi-market contracts with Unilever across Africa and accelerate their expansion. The result: more shopkeepers reached, stronger livelihoods for young sales agents and lower distribution costs.

For EY teams, the engagement provided rare exposure to innovative business models that create real, measurable community impact – experiences that have inspired people and deepened engagement across the firm.

Scaling reuse to cut single-use plastic at source

On another continent, in Indonesia, Alner is tackling one of the most persistent environmental challenges: single-use packaging. Through a refill-and-reuse model, the enterprise is helping consumers reduce plastic waste while making sustainable choices more accessible and affordable.

Through TRANSFORM, Alner received both catalytic funding and hands-on support from EY professionals. An EY team provided a six-week pro-bono consulting engagement to help refine Alner’s operating model, strengthen execution discipline and support its next phase of growth.

For Alner’s leaders, the value of TRANSFORM lies in the combination of capital, confidence and practical knowledge. As CEO and co-founder Bintang Ekananda explains, “Working with EY truly felt like collaborating with a team invested in our success. Their practical advice, data-driven insights and actionable recommendations have been transformative for our company. TRANSFORM’s distinctive combination of financial support, credibility and tailored guidance facilitated us to grow from 500 to 1,441 refill stations, add five new team members, and achieve ISO QMS certification.”

Alner’s journey shows how targeted business support, combined with patient capital, can help sustainability-driven enterprises scale proven solutions – reducing environmental impact while building resilient, investable businesses

Turning ocean plastic into community-driven opportunity

Back in South Asia, Baeru – India’s first ocean plastics recovery startup – is pioneering community-led models to reclaim ocean-bound waste and turn it into value. Founder, Divya Hedge, is proving that, when coastal communities are empowered, they can become powerful stewards of environmental change and catalyze the circular economy.

Through TRANSFORM, over a 12-week pro-bono engagement, Holly McCann, Manager, Business Consulting, Ernst & Young LLP worked closely with Baeru to clarify its strategic direction, redesign its business model and build a compelling investment case. This support helped Baeru strengthen its foundations for scale, unlocking new pathways to expand its impact along India’s shorelines.

McCann not only developed confidence by leading a full detailed consulting engagement but was also inspired to reduce her own plastic footprint.

“I led a project to define Baeru’s strategic objectives, assess their business model and build a value case for investment. This gave me insight into the challenges that social enterprises face and the agility and entrepreneur mindset and determination needed to succeed,” says McCann.

Collaboration at this scale changes what’s possible

TRANSFORM shows us what can happen when corporates, governments and social enterprises combine their strengths: barriers fall, pilots achieve scale and impact reaches communities that traditional systems overlook. This is cross-sector partnership at its most powerful. As Rianne Buter, Unilever’s VP of Sustainability, says, “When we work together, we can achieve far more than any organization could alone.”