Ending 2023 on a high note, youth-led social enterprise Accelerate Global Sdn Bhd, which in Nov 2021 raised US$102,400 (RM470,000) from 69 investors via equity crowdfunding with Ethis Malaysia, stayed true to its promise to do its investors good by buying out 59 of them with a 20% premium, said the company in a statement. The buy-out process is ongoing.

Ethis Malaysia. co-founder Umar Munshi said. “Our investor community invests to make profit and do good. Accelerate Global has allowed us to fulfil both objectives and even over-delivered on the social impact created. We are happy and honoured to have participated in their journey and thank Raudhah for this opportunity.”

Surina Shukri, a Board of Director overseeing finance and growth, expressed her excitement that the social enterprise is able to provide a return on capital to investors. “We hope to be able to continue building on our track record as a purpose driven and investor friendly social enterprise.”

In the current market where liquidity is low, Accelerate Global said it hopes it buyback exercise brings new perspectives on social enterprises and an increase in investors’ confidence, especially retail investors.

The buy-back reflects the solid year Accelerate Global has had. With its expertise in creating and supporting micro entrepreneurs, Accelerate Global took it up a notch this year by successfully impacting over 5,000 youth while partnering with over six organisations; local banks, local investment firms and startups in strengthening its position in the market.

It joined forces with Zak Capital, the family-owned investment firm of corporate leader Nazir Razak, which has a strong social impact focus, to launch an accelerator program aimed at upskilling micro entrepreneurs to be investment ready so they can grow and scale their businesses.

Two other achievements came when Accelerate Global was chosen by a local Malaysian bank to further the economic empowerment agenda for the Asnaf community in Malaysia through entrepreneurship, and when it was picked by a local asset management firm to further the financial literacy part of its CSR program. Asnaf is a term used in Islam to refer to a group of people who are eligible to receive zakat aid collected from Muslims.

“You have to be willing to take risks in order to succeed even if it goes against the norm. Digital detox, especially for businesses, carries a high risk of being counterproductive. But if done intentionally, strategically, it can do you good and we are in better shape than ever,” enthused Raudhah Nazran, the 27-year-old founder and CEO who is also listed on Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia.

The digital detox the social media savvy Raudhah is referring to is a 6-month pause on all social media fronts Global Accelerate took since early May, following its agenda of working under the radar.

‘We just needed solitude, to be in our own cocoon, to re-centre and focus’

It recently resumed social media engagements with posts to celebrate the graduation of 11 participants from their Macropreneurs Accelerator Program (MAP) a Two-Month Upskilling Program with an added investment incentive for those deemed deserving of capital injection to scale supported by Zak Capital.

According to Raudhah, its pause on social media in no way hindered growth momentum. “Our commercial partnerships rose five-fold; our impact numbers by ten-fold; revenue tripled since the last audited financial year, and we are on the path towards profitability.”

This was the objective when the company decided to keep its head down and focus on work.