You’re creating a safe space to test ideas through the Polak Fund

Have you ever been nervous about trying something new? Did you have a safety-net in place if something didn’t go as planned?

Since 2021, your support has been providing a safety-net for innovators and entrepreneurs through iDE’s Paul Polak Innovation Fund.

Thanks to your generous donations, the Polak Fund has distributed 50 awards in 11 countries around the world. These awards create a safe space to test ideas for new or improved ways to earn income.

One of these projects, led by Fatima Shehata at the iDE Innovation Lab, is working on a mushroom growing kit for small farmers in Cambodia. Mushrooms are a high-value crop, so growing them is an opportunity for farmers to earn more money. This project has faced challenges, but those challenges have provided learning opportunities as they re-design and continue testing the grow kit.

Fatima says that iDE shouldn’t place the risk of failure on farmers whose livelihoods depend on growing mushrooms.

Thank you for creating a safe space for innovators to try, fail, try again and fail better – ultimately leading to solutions that work for entrepreneurs to earn more income!