Organization · Community
Youth Co:Lab
Youth Co:Lab is a regional initiative launched by the UNDP and Citi Foundation to empower youth in the Asia-Pacific through leadership, social innovation, and entrepreneurship, aiming to advance the Sustainable Development Goals.
Overview
What Youth Co:Lab does
What Youth Co:Lab is
Youth Co:Lab is a regional initiative launched by the UNDP and Citi Foundation to empower youth in the Asia-Pacific through leadership, social innovation, and entrepreneurship, aiming to advance the Sustainable Development Goals.
How it participates in the startup ecosystem
The current public profile supports community capabilities. Each capability below is shown separately so organization identity and role-specific information do not get conflated.
Operational profile
Organization status and context
Organization status describes the entity itself. Funding and program availability appear within the relevant capability profile.
- Operational status
- Active
- Organization type
- Community
- Founded
- Founded in 2017
- Approximate age
- About 9 years
- Structured capabilities
- Community
- Last reviewed
- April 1, 2026
Official channels
Find Youth Co:Lab elsewhere
Open the official website or a supported primary organization account.
Capability profile
Youth Co:Lab as a community
Community overview
Youth Co:Lab is a network established in 2017, co-created by the Citi Foundation and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). It is focused on empowering young social entrepreneurs in the Asia-Pacific region. The organization aims to build an ecosystem that connects young social entrepreneurs with incubators, accelerators, and investors to facilitate the development of viable business solutions that address social issues.
Community focus
Youth Co:Lab invests in youth social entrepreneurship, aiming to empower young people to contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The organization operates across various sectors, including health, climate, gender equality, and digital transformation, and engages with youth in 28 countries and territories in the Asia-Pacific region.
Member value
Members gain access to a network of over 200 ecosystem players focused on youth empowerment, support for young entrepreneurs through various programs, and opportunities to engage in discussions about social entrepreneurship.
Membership
- Recorded members
- 9,500
- Pricing models
- free
Format and cadence
- Modality
- hybrid
- Schedule
- rolling-admissions
- Commitment
- light
Availability
- Membership state
- Accepting
Audience and fit
- Audience
- Founders · Students
- Benefits
- network-access and mentorship
- Program types
- community and other
- Selection criteria
- open
- Sectors
- Climate & Sustainability
- Regions
- Asia
Community activity
- Annual events
- 1
Events and activity
Youth Co:Lab organizes events such as the Youth Co:Lab Summit, an annual event that brings together young entrepreneurs, investors, and stakeholders to discuss and promote youth-led initiatives.
Notable members
Youth Co:Lab has supported over 9,500 youth social entrepreneurs and more than 1,200 enterprises, with notable projects including N'ditarun Tano (Philippines), CoffeeCat Cafe (Bhutan), and Borac Energia (Bangladesh).
Common questions
What to know about Youth Co:Lab
Upseed classifies Youth Co:Lab under the Community organization type. Its current public profile includes community capabilities.
Source and update disclosure
Know what this page is based on
Source basis
Public organization and program material, official websites, and structured Upseed records.
Last reviewed
April 1, 2026
Known limits
Capability profiles appear only when a structured public profile also contains decision-useful role evidence. Terms and availability can change.
Upseed is an independent guide. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by the organization described on this page.