Seven Social Impact Startups To Compete in 2022 Social New Venture Challenge

The winners are announced at the 2018 Social New Venture Challenge.

Seven social impact startups will vie for investment June 1 at the 12th annual John Edwardson, ’72, Social New Venture Challenge (SNVC) Finals.

The finalists were selected from a record-breaking 20 ventures that participated in Phase II of the SNVC, which is the social impact track of the University of Chicago’s top-ranked business launch program, the New Venture Challenge.

>> Register to attend the 2022 SNVC Finals.

Finalists will compete for $175,000 in startup capital. Hosted by the Rustandy Center for Social Sector Innovation and the Polsky Center, the SNVC has jump-started more than 150 mission-driven ventures that have raised more than $165 million.

The 2022 SNVC finalists are:

Aloe Points // Aloe Points is a social commerce platform that empowers users to pursue climate and environmental action. Its mission is to democratize environmental action to the masses and make it the part of daily lives and cultural priority it deserves to be. Aloe Points’ mobile app hosts gamified action-oriented challenges in the domain of environmental sustainability, leverages social features, and offers rewards-based incentives with its verified sustainable businesses to motivate greener choices.

Aprendi // Aprendi is a web-based visual content creation and management tool built to help practitioners supporting children with mental health disorders provide personalized visual aids for therapy. Its mission is to remove friction from the visual creation process while simultaneously allowing practitioners to create more engaging content for the children they support.

Counselors for America // Counselors for America (CFA) is a two-sided nonprofit expanding comprehensive school-based mental health. It provides under-resourced public schools with full-time mental health providers and behind-the-scenes support to universally screen and proactively treat student mental health, while building a subsidized pathway to clinical licensure and employment for school mental health providers.

Demi // Demi is on a mission to make composting the new normal. Composting offers a way for individuals to take meaningful action to combat the climate crisis that the world is facing. It does this by partnering with building managers to offer everyday residents sleek, biodegradable composting bins, streamlined pick-up services, and a mobile app that makes composting fun and engaging.

Mizaru // Mizaru is an online marketplace changing how the world works together to improve accessibility for people with disabilities. Its platform connects people with disabilities with on-demand, pre-vetted freelance service providers, currently focusing on sign language interpreters and facilitators empowering Deaf and Deaf-Blind people to live more independently.

TechPass // TechPass is a platform that gives underrepresented tech students a personalized roadmap and connections to their first tech job. Employers obtain visibility, pipeline, and early exposure to candidates, while students get employer-approved guidance as they showcase their whole selves.

Together.Science // Together.Science provides students with a free web-based tool to author and check math work individually or in a group, and teachers with an effortless way to demonstrate, share, and assign work, and grade submissions.

The SNVC is the cornerstone of the Rustandy Center’s Edwardson Social Entrepreneurship Program at the University of Chicago, an initiative named in recognition of a 2016 gift by John Edwardson, ’72, retired chairman and CEO of CDW and co-chair of Advance Illinois.

The finals event is open to all members of the UChicago community and the general public. Register to attend the 2022 SNVC Finals in-person at Chicago Booth’s Harper Center or online.