Forbes has announced three finalists for its $500,000 Under 30 Impact Challenge for creative entrepreneurs, under the age of 30, who are driving positive social and environmental impact worldwide through successful for-profit businesses. The finalists will pitch their companies live on October 2 at a Summit in Boston. One winner will be selected. The winning company will qualify for up to $250,000 in investment from The Rise Fund and its affiliates on mutually agreeable investment terms. Forbes will offer $250,000 in an in-kind media grant, bringing the total value to $500,000.
The three finalists are:
- Chakr Innovation, Kushagra Srivastava (India) – Chakr Innovation has developed the world’s first technology to capture particulate matter emissions from the combustion of fossil fuels and to convert the pollution into inks and paints. The company has more than 30 devices covering over 3.2 megawatts of power installed across the National Capital Region of India at leading telecom industry towers, fast-moving consumer goods industry plants, educational institutes and real estate companies. To date, these installations have prevented over 900 billion liters of air from becoming polluted.
- Drinkwell, Minhaj Chowdhury (India/Bangladesh) – Drinkwell is a market- leading water technology company operating in India and Bangladesh that is combating the arsenic, fluoride and iron water contamination crisis in the region. Drinkwell’s technology has been used to deploy 231 systems via 17 franchises that provide over 1 million liters of safe drinking water to over 250,000 people, while creating 500 jobs with zero reported cases of arsenicosis and/or fluorosis across India and Bangladesh.
- Farmerline, Alloysius Attah (Accra, Ghana) – Farmerline connects small-scale farmers to information services, high quality farm inputs and global markets to improve their incomes. It is building the “Amazon for African farmers:” an offline & online marketplace in rural Africa where farmers can quickly access high quality information, products and services across the agricultural value chain through its proprietary mobile apps and well-trained field agents. Farmerline’s Mergdata platform for messaging, remote data collections and analytics has been deployed across 4 sectors and 11 countries by global food brands, farm input companies and development organisations, reaching over 200,000 farmers across Africa.
Judges for this competition are Bill McGlashan, Co-Founder and CEO of The Rise Fund and Founder and Managing Partner of TPG Growth; and Cheryl L. Dorsey, President of Echoing Green.
About the $500,000 Under 30 Impact Challenge
Forbes partnered with The Rise Fund and Echoing Green to launch the Under 30 Impact Challenge.
The Rise Fund invests in companies that create positive impact at scale through their core business operations, such that financial success and meaningful social and environmental impact reinforce one another.
Echoing Green catalyzes the impact of emerging social innovators, identifying leaders early in their career and investing in their success by providing seed funding, leadership development, hands-on support and networking opportunities during their fellowship and beyond.
About the 2017 Forbes Under 30 Summit, October 1-4, Boston
The fourth annual Forbes Under 30 Summit, which will run October 1-4 in Boston, is expected to bring together more than 6,000 of the world’s top young entrepreneurs and game changers, as well as 200 world-class speakers.
There will be nine interconnected themed stages, which will include a Village stage, Tech, Create, Capital, Impact, Discover, Wealth Advisor, Ideas and Women@Forbes. Forbes will also transform Boston’s City Hall Plaza into a central village where all attendees will be able to network, view demonstrations and performances, seek career opportunities and unwind at a pop-up beer garden.
Source: Forbes
