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Sixteen-week accelerator program Impact Engine just opened applications for its second class of for-profit businesses that focus on societal and environmental challenges.
Eight to ten companies are chosen to come to 1871 to be a part of Impact Engine each fall (September 30 – January 31) to build, demo and fundraise for their company. Last year, 176 applications from 15 states and nine countries were received; this year, the goal is to double that number, Impact Engine Program Manager Elizabeth Riley said.
Applications are open to any product-, internet- or service-based company, although no companies with “buy-one, give-one” or non-profit business models will be accepted. Examples of past accelerator graduates include education platform ThinkCERCA.com and Effortless Energy, which helps simplify home energy efficiency.
Applications are open through June 30 and will be judged by Impact Engine’s Board of Directors and core team which includes Riley, Special Projects Coordinator Valerie Hedge and Managing Director Chuck Templeton.
Thinking of applying? Riley (who will be reading every single application) gives you just a few reasons why you should apply:
- The program is longer this year, facilitating fundraising and global travel. In Impact Engine’s initial year last year, the program was 12 weeks, but Riley said that it was expanded this year to include about 2.5 weeks of fundraising time after Demo Day. Additionally, the extra few weeks will allow a lot more teams to travel globally (last year, teams traveled to Haiti and Kenya!).
- Impact Engine will put you in touch with the right people. Impact Engine’s network helps entrepreneurs think about difficult end user problems, cultural sensitivities and the best ways to work with non-profits and government organizations. “We have a wide variety of people in our network that is different than traditional accelerators,” Riley said. “We can put you in touch with the right people to answer the hard questions.” (For example, Linda Darragh and Jamie Jones both work in social entrepreneurship at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management and are on the Board of Directors.)
- Your company’s success comes first at Impact Engine. “We’re very much like a family,” Riley said. “Last class, some really hard things came up, but we’re working day in, day out to help our entrepreneurs.”
So if you have even an inkling of an idea that just might change the world, don’t wait to act: apply now, Riley said.
“A lot of people think, ‘There are too many problems in the world,’” Riley said. “But we all have the power to make a difference and if that’s in you, then go for it!”
[video:http://vimeo.com/57146680#at=128]
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