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NEW VENTURE COMPETITION ANNOUNCES 2020 SOCIAL ENTERPRISE TRACK SEMIFINALISTS

By: Margot Dushin 16 Mar 2020

In February 2020, the HBS New Venture Competition received 53 entries to the Social Enterprise Track, from student teams across Harvard University. After an extensive review and deliberation process with social enterprise leaders from across Harvard, the Social Enterprise Initiative just announced the 16 semifinalists in the Social Enterprise Track. These 16 teams will present to a panel of expert judges—including philanthropists, impact investors, capacity building organizations, and social entrepreneurs—in early April to determine the four finalists. Below you’ll find an overview of the competition and our 2020 semifinalists.

HBS has been closely monitoring the coronavirus outbreak and all related guidelines. The health and safety of our community is our top priority, and after much consideration, we have decided to hold the Competition virtually. Please stay tuned for more updates as the Competition progresses, including details on our finalists.

NEW VENTURE COMPETITION OVERVIEW

Hosted each year by the School’s Arthur Rock Center for Entrepreneurship and the Social Enterprise Initiative, in partnership with HBS Alumni Clubs & Associations, the Harvard Business School New Venture Competition is open to all students and alumni interested in launching new business and social impact ventures.

The Social Enterprise Track of the Competition provides an opportunity for students to explore social entrepreneurship and test ideas for social innovation in a rigorous and supportive environment. Graduate students across Harvard University enter with new ventures that drive social change using nonprofit, for-profit, or hybrid models. Through March and April, student teams progress through several stages of judging, conveying their idea through executive summaries and presentations, and receiving valuable feedback from judges at every stage. The Social Enterprise Track brings together expert judges from the field to evaluate entries based on the idea, its potential for social value creation, and the likelihood of achieving success.

2020 SEMIFINALISTS: SOCIAL ENTERPRISE TRACK

Accion Colectiva: First advocacy lab in Mexico that combines organizing and online tactics to promote civic engagement.

African Health Institute: Trains young Africans to address emergency and preventative health issues in their community.

Clean Giving: We deploy technology and design to make giving to the homeless safe, personal, and empowering.

DreamworldVR: We are a group of healthcare innovators from Harvard who identified a problem and is fixing it with VR.

GenUnity: Catalyzes the next generation of community leaders through a new civic leadership program.

Hand Hand Revolution: ML/CV-based software for learning and translating American Sign Language.

Innovate for Africa: Trains, places, and supports university graduates in an innovation driven startup in Nigeria.

Lucidity Health: Clinical decision support for frontline physicians in resource-constrained hospitals.

Microsprout: Empowering families to save for college without breaking the bank.

Miti: Platform for farmers to generate income from carbon offsetting by planting trees.

Mosaic: Provides a complete picture of a patient's health data across the continuum of care.

OnBoard: Prepares school boards to govern for equity through transformative learning experiences.

SaveIdentity: Empowering communities through collaborative financing and construction worldwide.

Surge Employment Solutions: A workforce development and staffing company for formerly incarcerated people.

Tang: The Tang app allows Filipinos abroad to send money home and the receiver to use the app to pay p2p.

Wala Digital Health: An innovative digital marketplace for blood donation, processing, and delivery.