Big news: Rotterdam wins the Global Mayor Challenge with Rikx!

A proud moment … Bloomberg Philanthropies named the city of Rotterdam a winner of the Global Mayors Challenge with Rikx! We’ll receive $1 million and technical support to scale Rikx in the Netherlands and beyond, to cities like Dublin, San Francisco, and Barcelona.

Rikx was 'born' at Rotterdam-based consultancy agency Rebel in 2018. At the time, Rebel consultant Wouter Vos was looking for a solution for social impact initiatives’ dependency on public funding – initiatives working to combat things like inequality and joblessness in the city of Rotterdam. In Michiel van Keulen he met his Rikx counterpart and together with the municipality of Rotterdam and Voorgoed Impact agency, they developed a financing system for social impact – and voilà: Rikx! A marketplace connecting social entrepreneurs who help people return to work or education, with companies looking to invest in social impact.

Fast-forward three years later: the hard work is being rewarded by Bloomberg Philanthropies, naming it one of the most innovative solutions to combat the disastrous effects of the pandemic.

Rikx is going global!