We are building a global network of ordinary cooperative members worldwide that organise within cooperatives to increase cooperation between cooperatives. We have started doing this by launching a campaign to pass resolutions at these two old giants to divert a tiny portion of their surplus towards funding grants for small, new co-operatives.
The idea is not without a precedence. In the US, a number of well-established cooperatives came together and helped fund an accelerator program called “Start Co-op” which gave a no-strings attached grant of $10,000 alongside mentoring to it’s first cohort of 8 early stage cooperatives with an unique and innovative business model.
The program was a success, with one of the ventures becoming the first cooperative in US history to receive venture capital investment. Another one became the first worker cooperative to have acquired a conventional business and converted it into a worker owned cooperative.
No accelerator program that gives out grants for new cooperatives exists in the UK. Our campaigns seek to change that.
Read the rest at Mutual Interest Media
Add new comment