The Regional Youth Cooperation Office (RYCO) is pleased to announce the launch of the RISE Alumni Awards 2025, an opportunity for young changemakers from the Western Balkans to further develop their social enterprises and increase their regional impact.
This initiative is implemented jointly by the six RISE Local Incubators, reaffirming RYCO’s commitment to supporting youth-led innovation, regional cooperation, and social entrepreneurship.
Since its beginning, the Regional Incubator for Social Entrepreneurs (RISE) has become a unique space for young people to transform their ideas into meaningful actions. Over the past four journeys, RISE has supported 365 young individuals and more than 130 entrepreneurial ideas from all parts of the Western Balkans.
The RISE Alumni Awards continue this mission by celebrating the achievements of alumni and providing concrete support for their next steps. Two winning teams will each receive €5,000 to grow, scale, and sustain their social enterprises.
Who Can Apply?
The call is open exclusively to:
- Alumni teams from Journey #3 (2022–2023) and Journey #4 (2023–2024),
- Teams that successfully pitched during the RISE Demo Days,
- Teams that have continued developing their original idea, built a prototype, and stayed active since completing the program.
Teams currently participating in Journey #5 are not eligible for this edition of the Alumni Awards.
Applications are open until 6 September 2025, 23:59 (CET).
Each of the six Local Incubators will pre-select one team based on the quality of their application. The six finalists will then present their work at the Regional Pitching Session, to be held online on 18 September 2025.
An international jury of experts in the social economy will evaluate the pitches and select the two winning teams. The results will be announced at the Award Ceremony on 22 September 2025. The evaluation criteria include motivation, quality of the development plan, potential for sustainability and replication, and the capacity to create regional impact and employment opportunities.
Apply Through Your Local Incubator
Alumni teams are invited to apply by contacting their Local Incubator and submitting the required application form:
- Yunus Social Business Balkans – Albania
- Nešto Više – Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Balkan Green Foundation – Kosovo*
- IEC Tehnopolis – Montenegro
- ARNO – North Macedonia
- Smart Kolektiv – Serbia
The RISE program is made possible through the support of the Agence Française de Développement (AFD), the European Union (EU), the Franco-German Youth Office (OFAJ), and PULSE (Groupe SOS), and is implemented by the six local incubators in the Western Balkans with the support of RYCO.
*This designation is without prejudice to positions on status and is in line with UNSCR 1244/1999 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo Declaration of Independence.