AOL co-founder Steve Case and his wife Jean support a lot of good causes through their foundation, and now they're looking to help other entrepreneurs improve the world too. The Case Foundation is helping to fund a new $1 million social impact investment competition, the Forbes Under 30 Change the World competition, announced last month. Young entrepreneurs with a mission will have a chance to win a $500,000 first prize or one of five $100,000 semi-finalist award in October.
The competition will be fierce, with a couple thousand entrants expected. But Washington, D.C., and its surrounding communities are home to many social enterprise startups, some of which can be found at like-minded incubators such as Halcyon.
"D.C. is an impact investing hub," said Kate Ahern, the Case Foundation's vice president of social innovation. "We have a strong network here and we'll see plenty of local entrants."
This isn't the first time the Cases have been involved in supporting social entrepreneurs; in the past they've supported ventures including BRCK, maker of Wi-Fi connectivity devices for the developing world, and charity donation platform Network for Good. But winning their support could very much change the fortunes of the startups chosen to receive the funding. The competition is focused on young entrepreneurs in particular because younger entrepreneurs are frequently the ones with the ideas for social enterprise startups.
"[Millennials] are known for their collective passion for social causes, their entrepreneurial spirit, their grassroots organizing abilities and their eagerness to reinvent and create new models for change," Jean Case wrote in her announcement of her foundation's contribution. "Like other young generations before them, they are idealistic, but what sets this generation apart is that they are turning their idealism into action."
Of course, idealism alone isn't enough to build up a business, no matter how great an idea might be. Younger entrepreneurs, especially with newer startups, are more likely to be in need of the kind of resource injection that the winners of the competition can get.
"Younger entrepreneurs have some of the best ideas," Ahern said. "But some of them could use a boost like this."
Leah Wald, co-founder of Veterati, said she's applying for her startup, which offers a platform for helping returning veterans find jobs and mentors. "It's exciting to reveal your product to such brilliant investors and extremely important as an entrepreneur to incorporate the feedback you can get to keep developing," she said.
Even as the team at the Case Foundation works with its partners on the competition, it's not the only impact investing they are doing. The Cases took part in President Obama's tour of Africa, announcing investment in several startups doing social good along the way. The Foundation also worked with the White House last month in shaping the administration's gathering and distribution of a $4 billion commitment in impact investing to fight climate change.
"Impact investing is about supporting companies with causes people care about," Ahern said. "It's not just for profit, it solves social problems. You can find lot of support for social entrepreneurs here."
