Social Entrepreneurship: The International Impact Investing Challenge.

Hear about the International Impact Investing Challenge, the finalist social entrepreneurs and their projects.

The founder and Director of the International Impact Investing Challenge, Jamie N. Jones, shares the background and results of this exceptional competition focused on social entrepreneurship and that draws international contestants. As Assistant Director of the Social Enterprise at Kellogg (SEEK) Program, Jamie works with students, alumni and members of the community to apply business principles to affect social change.

Graduate students propose and defend their sustainable businesses and investment strategies to institutional and impact investors. The selection panel includes the current officers of Calvert Foundation, Impact Assets, and the US Pension Fund and other expert institutional investors. The final results on April 13 were:

First place:
Rural Electrification with Renewable Energy (REwiRE) from the School of International Policy Studies at Stanford University

Second place:
Upskill Capital from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University

Finalist teams:
Pacific Impact Bond Fund from the Anderson School of Management at University of California, Los Angeles

Residential Managed Energy Services Agreement (R-MESA)Fund from the Harris School of Public Policy at the University of Chicago

This is the second year of the competition and the first time opened to students around the globe. The ideas varied from extending the electrical grid in rural areas of Indonesia to removing land mines.

REwire, the winner of the competition and $10,000, works with the utilization of new technology to extend the electrical grid into remote islands of Indonesia. Next week’s interview is with this Standford team.

The runner up who receives $5000, Upskill Capital, is based on a current training center in rural India that has been reliant on philanthropy and moving it into a sustainable business model. Each of the winning teams are planning to use the capital to get more on-the-ground preparation for launching the ventures.

Grain Depot was last year’s winner and focused on the loss and waste of food in storage in India due to rot. Since winning a year ago, they have been working hard to develop investors who will support the launch of this project within the year.

To support the growth of social entrepreneurship and the impact investing community, the International Impact Investment Challenge is looking to expand globally and expects to collaborate with social enterprise accelerators available to both students and social entrepreneurs, such as Impact Engine in Chicago and Hub Ventures in the San Francisco Bay area. The intent is for the event to be hosted in various areas of the world like Hong Kong, Sao Paolo, and other places. To make this possible, the Challenge is looking for strategic partners. If interested, please contact Jamie Jones through the International Impact Investing Challenge website.