Along with the 32 startups selected for the main track of University of Chicago's annual New Venture Challenge, the Social Enterprise Initiative (SEI) also announced 14 social impact startups have been chosen to move forward in the Social New Venture Challenge, the impact arm of the competition.
In the Social New Venture Challenge, startups can be for-profit or nonprofit but must have social impact in its core mission. These 14 startups will participate in the New Social Ventures course taught by professor Robert Gertner. At the end of the quarter, seven will be chosen to move forward to compete in the final Social NVC competition.
Social entrepreneurship has seen a boost at Booth in recent years. Booth alum and retired Chairman and CEO of tech solutions company CDW John Edwardson gave Booth $5 million last year (following a $5 million donation in 2013 which supported the school’s Social Enterprise Initiative) to create SEI’s Edwardson Social Entrepreneurship program, which supports social impact entrepreneurs through a "social entrepreneurship boot camp," funding social impact startups in Polsky's summer accelerator, and offsetting living expenses for those pursuing social impact ventures. Previous winners of the Social NVC include Luminaid, BallotReady and HelloTractor (pictured above).
Here's a look at the 14 startups moving forward in the Social New Venture Challenge: (descriptions per Polsky Center)
American Direct Philanthropy (Booth & Harris) American Direct Philanthropy provides a platform for the wealthy to commit a significant portion of their current and future earnings to fight growing income inequality through unconditional cash transfers to low income households in their communities.
ArtVent (Booth) ArtVent aims to enrich the arts in communities by creating a subscription service (think Birchbox) for cultural experiences. Each month, customers will receive tickets to cultural events in their city. Such events will be curated by a community of tastemakers and will include opera, ballet, local theater, and special art exhibits.
Boundless (Booth) Boundless is a platform that provides high-quality training on soft skills for job candidates and employees, through a curriculum of interactive exercises, with support from certified coaches. We partner with midsized employers to empower prospective and current employees with skills to navigate team work and other important dynamics.
ExecConnect for Student Success Inc. (Booth & Harris) ExecConnect is a 501c3 organization that’s mission is to connect students from underresourced communities with dedicated executive mentors. With a focus on community college students, ExecConnect’s hope is that in connecting with committed mentors our students will transfer to a 4-year college and acquire the skills needed to build a meaningful career.
Electric Spokes (Harris & The College) Electric Spokes is IKEA for wind turbines. ES will deliver wind turbine parts to developing regions that can be assembled directly on site. When available, ES will contract local wood workshops and electrical engineers to manufacture the turbine parts, reducing cost of inputs in order to deliver an affordable product.
Fix-My-Community (Booth & Harris) Fix-My-Community is an interactive technology system for anti-corruption in Uganda. Citizens will submit corruption complaints through SMS to an online database. Through FMC, local government officials and regional organizations will be able to access and investigate complaints about corruption or poor service delivery from their communities and act upon them.
FlipSide (Law School & College) FlipSide uses machine learning to reduce online political polarization through an interactive platform integrated into the user’s social media. The platform exposes users to viewpoints counter to their own and fosters a more informed debate about current issues.
GoodWerk (Booth) GoodWerk is an online platform that increases civic engagement by connecting citizens with candidates and causes that share their values. Its mission is to convert online “slacktivism” into real-world engagement by creating an action roadmap tailored to those who want to respond to news with more than a thumbs-up button.
Halal This Way (Divinity School) Halal This Way, LLC is an LGBTQ multimedia company with three areas of focus: a publication house (ex. books), a digital media producer (ex. documentaries), and a resource provider (ex. mental health resources). Additionally, a not for profit division will be formed to employ the resources provided by the company.
JuryCheck (Law School) JuryCheck is a legal tech, web-based application that provides a comprehensive platform for criminal defense attorneys, courts, and criminal justice reform advocates to detect and monitor racial and gender underrepresentation in the composition of jury pools.
ParenTelligence (Law School) ParenTelligence is a development app for parents. Parents click on the parenting situation they face to see the top research?based conclusions regarding that issue. App aggregates research, translates it into laymen terms, and groups results into categories. Goal of the app is to give parents the tools to enhance their child’s development.
Provide (Booth) Provide’s mission is to build good jobs for childcare workers and help low-income families find affordable care. We offer a software-based back office solution that allows daycare business owners to track expenses, file taxes and enroll in government subsidies. Additionally, we help providers advocate for full public funding of early childhood education.
Tallgrass Tanning (Booth) Tallgrass Tanning endeavors to create a supply chain for capturing, transporting and processing the hides of American grass fed cattle to deliver them for final tanning. This will result in a more humane and higher quality product.
VeteranStay (Booth) VeteranStay will make traveling more affordable for US veterans. As part the VeteranStay network, a traveling veteran can spend the night at another veteran’s home for a fee below market rate.
