The scheme supports ambitious social enterprises to grow through being investment ready and connects them with investors looking for social as well as financial returns.
It was introduced in 2014 as a three-year programme through National Lottery Funding. Since then it has helped 22 social enterprises to grow and increase their impact.
They include Locavore, Scotland’s first social enterprise supermarket; Homes for Good, a social enterprise letting agency; and sandwich-shop chain Social Bite.
Anne MacDonald, head of social enterprise development at HIE, said:
“We are delighted to be supporting this fourth round of LaunchMe, which offers a great opportunity to Highlands and Islands-based social enterprises. It can help them scale-up their activity quickly, widen their business opportunities and increase their social impacts.
“We will be offering funding help to successful applicants in the region to support their development proposals.”
Applications for the fourth round opened in August with a deadline of 5 November.
Interested participants can visit the Firstport website for more information