Impact Engine, the Chicago accelerator that gives resources to startups that focus on societal and environmental issues, announced its latest group of companies today.
Of the seven companies selected, six hail from Chicago and one is based in San Francisco. Each startup will receive free workspace in 1871, mentorship, and $25,000 of upfront funding. This is Impact Engine's third cohort since it launched in 2011. A total of 16 companies have completed the accelerator, raising more than $12 million in Seed and Series A funding, Impact Engine announced. The four-month program begins September 29.
Here's a look at the seven companies:
- Basic Transfer - (Chicago) - Basic Transfer is a mobile money startup sending cash transfers to the people who need it most. Through its peer-to-peer giving platform, Basic Transfer raises funds from individuals around the world and wires money via mobile payment directly to poor women living in developing countries.
- Guard Llama - (Chicago) - Guard Llama is a simple and powerful way to keep students safe on and off campus. Through Guard Llama’s wireless handheld remote, students can easily send their profile information and GPS location to authorities in the event of a crime or emergency.
- Inifiniteach - (Chicago) - Inifiniteach is a digital learning platform for the one in 68 children diagnosed with an autism. Its first product, Skill Champ, makes it easy for parents and teachers to create customized lessons that are rooted in evidence- based autism interventions.
- Prana Diabetes - (Chicago) - Prana Diabetes is tackling the growth of diabetes in India through a tool that brings together technology and social ties to promote good habits. The Prana platform enables simple phone-based monitoring and record keeping of key health parameters while also leveraging a patient’s personal support network.
- Project SAM - (Chicago) - Project SAM is an inventory management platform targeted at multinational NGOs operating health clinics in developing countries. Project SAM allows workers in these health clinics to digitize and manage inventory records simply via automated voice calls.
- StoryPort - (Chicago) - StoryPort is an educational, entertaining, and empowering writing portal for young authors and their guides. Its rich online writing environment empowers K-12 students to create stories of all kinds, educators to connect those stories to educational objectives, and parents to participate in the process.
- Totus Power – (San Francisco) – Totus Power develops battery packs for schools in developing countries by reusing lithium ion batteries from electric vehicles. Most of these schools lack access to reliable electricity to run their learning devices. By reusing these batteries, Totus Power captures their often-wasted value before recycling.
“There are a lot of exciting things happening at Impact Engine, the announcement of our new class being one of them,” Jessica Droste Yagan, Impact Engine’s Chief Executive Officer said in a news release. “We’re eager to help these teams grow their businesses in addition to showing investors and the community as a whole that impact-focused businesses continue to be worthwhile financial opportunities.”
Screengrab via Impact Engine
