ESOs as Gardeners of Emerging Ecosystems

Mélanie Mossard, Impact Hub Asia Pacific Regional Board

I work for an Entrepreneur Support Organizations (ESO), and if I had to choose one metaphor to describe that work, it would be this: gardener.

Let me guide you through my observations, gathered over the past 11 years working in the Asia Pacific region, especially Cambodia, supporting the next generation of impact makers.

Flashback to ten years ago, youth entrepreneurship ecosystems across much of Asia-Pacific were barely visible. They existed in fragments as isolated initiatives, driven by passionate individuals, and small pockets of experimentation that struggled to gain legitimacy. For many young people, entrepreneurship was not even something they would consider as a career option.

Today, that landscape looks very different, and behind this transformation, there is a group of actors that often remain under-recognized: the Entrepreneur Support Organizations (ESOs). Like gardeners, ESOs have quietly cultivated the soil, planted seeds, and nurtured early growth, long before ecosystems began to flourish.

ESOs as Ecosystem Builders

Over the past decade, ESOs have evolved far beyond programme delivery for capacity building. They are now ecosystem builders who convene diverse actors such as youth, governments, investors, and communities, creating spaces where trust can emerge, and collaboration happens. 

Equally important is the shift from individual support to collective platforms. ESOs are building communities, spaces of solidarity where young people can learn from each other, collaborate, and find belonging. In many contexts, this sense of community is as critical as access to funding or training, as the founding journey also feels very lonely.

From Isolation to Ecosystems

One of the most significant shifts has been the transition from isolated actors to interconnected peer ecosystems. Initiatives like Springboard Amplifier from Youth:Co Lab have supported over 150 ESOs across five years through a peer-to-peer learning approach. 

I had the opportunity to co-host and co-design these sessions with practitioners from across the region who generously contributed their experiences and insights.  

All of us share the same goal to accelerate and mainstream impact entrepreneurship, and for the first time, we came together to share what works and what did not work in our local realities. We exchanged practices, shared our best tools and templates, and co-created together a database of resources that reflect our realities.

Inclusion as a Core Practice

Another defining evolution is about the intentional accessibility. ESOs have pioneered practices that make entrepreneurship more accessible such as small catalytic grants, human-centred programme design, and targeted outreach to underrepresented groups.

This includes rural youth, women, persons with disabilities, and those traditionally excluded from formal economic systems. Beyond direct support, ESOs are increasingly helping each other adopt inclusive practices, spreading these approaches across ecosystems. These practices and examples are documented in the Inclusive Youth Entrepreneurship Guidebook for Entrepreneur Support Organizations in Asia and the Pacific, published by Youth Co:Lab with contributions from the Impact Hub Network. A concrete example is our partnership with Nippon Foundation, which has supported the accessibility of our space for persons with disabilities and the beginning of a longer-term collaboration to support entrepreneurs with disability grow their businesses. 

In many ways, ESOs act as “first believers.” Besides providing technical support, ESOs also bring legitimacy, emotional backing, and safe spaces for youth who are often overlooked by traditional institutions.

The Under-Valued Infrastructure

Despite their growing importance, ESOs remain under-recognized and underfunded. They are critical infrastructure for entrepreneurship ecosystems, but are rarely treated as such.

Financing for ESOs is often fragmented, short-term, and project-based. This limits their ability to invest in their own capacity, retain talent, and sustain long-term ecosystem building efforts. At the same time, there is a persistent urban bias in ecosystem development. Most resources are concentrated in cities, while rural areas, where needs related to climate, livelihoods, and migration are often greatest, remain underserved.

This creates a paradox: the actors best positioned to build inclusive, locally grounded ecosystems are the ones with the least structural support.

What Is Needed Next:

The past decade was about planting the first seeds; now comes the time to cross-pollinate and strengthen the emerging ecosystems.

For policymakers, this means recognizing ESOs as core ecosystem infrastructure, beyond temporary project implementers. Long-term, institutional funding mechanisms are needed to support their role in convening, connecting, and capacity building. 

For donors, the shift is towards flexibility and trust. This includes providing long-term funding for ESO capacity, alongside small catalytic grants that allow youth entrepreneurs to experiment, fail, and grow. This includes exploring ways to fund technical assistance directly for entrepreneurs, helping them gain tangible value from the incubation programmes and improve their survival rates. 

For ESOs themselves, there is an opportunity to deepen collaboration. Strengthening peer-to-peer networks across countries, sharing toolkits, and building collective intelligence will be key to scaling impact. ESOs also need to be at the table, sharing insights about the realities of running impact-driven businesses and advocating for resources to move in the right direction.  

For UNDP and partners, a critical frontier lies in rural ecosystems. Investing in localized ESO networks can unlock new pathways for inclusive development, particularly in areas most affected by climate change and economic vulnerability.

Finally, for the ecosystem as a whole, it is time to redefine success. Moving beyond metrics focused solely on high-growth startups, we must recognize the value of locally rooted, resilient ventures that may grow more slowly, but contribute deeply to their communities.

From Gardening to Regeneration

ESOs have spent the past decade cultivating the foundations of youth entrepreneurship ecosystems. The question now is how to move from gardening to regeneration, where ecosystems are sustained, renewed and expanded.

This requires shifting how we value, fund, and support the very actors who have made this transformation possible.

Because without the gardeners, there is no ecosystem.

About the Author

 Mélanie Mossard is Chief Impact Officer at Impact Hub Phnom Penh and Value Lead for the global Impact Hub Network, with over a decade of experience supporting entrepreneurs and innovation ecosystems across Southeast Asia. She co-hosted the Springboard Amplifier, Youth Co:Lab's capacity-building programme for ESOs across Asia-Pacific, and works to strengthen the conditions that enable entrepreneurs to thrive across markets, capital, community, and policy.