Our story hero — the Impact Hub Phnom Penh community

Our story

Over the past decade, our young, energized team and community of impact makers has been working to build a better Cambodia.

OUR VISION

A more innovative, sustainable, and inclusive Cambodia.

OUR MISSION

We inspire, connect, and enable a new generation of impact makers — including youth, entrepreneurs, and innovators — through programs, consultancies, community building, and online learning to support them in making a positive social and environmental impact.

Two Cambodian entrepreneurs sit on a hammock and smile as they review a diagram

Our "Why"

This is a pivotal time in Cambodia.

55% of Cambodia's population is under 30. With this demographic dividend comes a window of opportunity — and responsibility — to shape a more equitable, sustainable future for all Cambodians.

Impact can't happen without collaboration.

We believe in the power of collective action. By bringing together entrepreneurs, changemakers, and communities, we unlock solutions that no single organization could achieve alone.

We are optimists at heart.

We meet impact makers every day that prove to us that a better world is possible. Their energy and ambition inspire us to keep building, keep learning, and keep creating space for change.

Our impact journey

A group of friends who founded Social Enterprise Cambodia in 2013

2013

Planting the seeds

Recognizing the lack of a coordinated network for social enterprises in Cambodia, a group of like-minded friends founded Social Enterprise Cambodia in 2013. It started with a simple website and newsletter. As the popularity of the online network grew, the team started organizing more events, building partnerships, and connecting with the regional social enterprise ecosystem — which led to discovering the global Impact Hub network!

A man draws the Impact Hub Phnom Penh logo on a wall

2015

Cultivating community

We were thrilled to officially become Impact Hub Phnom Penh in June 2015 and join the global Impact Hub network. Partnering with Joma Bakery Café, a regional social enterprise, we opened a small co-working space and welcomed our first members. It wouldn't be long before we put down roots in a larger new office, which would become our physical home for the next eight years.

Building a thriving entrepreneurship ecosystem

2016–2019

Building a thriving entrepreneurship ecosystem

At the time, Cambodia's entrepreneurship ecosystem — let alone its social entrepreneurship ecosystem — was nascent. We set out to build a space for and by Cambodian changemakers. In addition to organizing workshops, convening national and international experts, and building community, we launched Cambodia's first social entrepreneurship incubation program, EPIC, in 2016. From there, we expanded our programming — supporting hundreds of diverse entrepreneurs and youth leaders through tailored capacity-building, mentorship, and experiential learning.

Spreading our wings — Impact Hub programs across Cambodia

2019–2021

Spreading our wings

Recognizing the tremendous hunger and opportunity for innovation across Cambodia's provinces, we expanded our impact beyond Phnom Penh through new in-person and online programs. Towards this end, we launched our online learning platform in 2019 (just in time for the Covid-19 pandemic!) and began working with universities to integrate an entrepreneurship curriculum. We also expanded our training-of-trainer and youth mobilization programs to cultivate a vibrant pipeline of social impact leaders.

Ongoing work driving progress towards our vision

Ongoing

Driving progress towards our vision

Today, we have become Cambodia's largest community of social innovators. We are actively working to diversify and strengthen our impact: nurturing start-ups across new thematic areas, particularly in agriculture and rural development; mainstreaming more inclusive and equitable practices across everything we do; fostering impact in emerging sectors, such as online media; and continuing to build Impact Hub Phnom Penh as a thriving workplace and home for social innovation in Cambodia.

A more
innovative
Cambodia

Want to be part of our story?

We're always on the lookout for passionate people who want to make a difference in Cambodia. Check out our open positions.