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Building the next generation of entrepreneurs |
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Building the next generation of entrepreneurs |
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The BASES Social E-Challenge, one of the premier student-run social entrepreneurship business plan competitions in the country, will be hosting its final round event next Friday, May 29th at Stanford University in Building 320, Room 105. The event is free and open to the public and will start at 1:30pm. We invite members of the media to cover the event, please contact us at sociale@bases.stanford.edu for more information.
Our six finalist teams will present their ventures to a distinguished panel of judges. $50,000 will be awarded, with $25,000 going to the 1st place team. Let’s meet the finalists!
Driptech
Driptech Inc. produces low cost drip irrigation systems for use by small farmers in developing countries. The innovative design and proprietary, automated manufacturing system improves upon current drip systems by eliminating a large number of parts, reducing installation time and dramatically lowering costs. It has the potential to become the most cost effective and easily used drip irrigation system for small plot farmers in developing nations. Through pilot tests with farmers in India, Driptech has gained valuable insight intohow to help the developing world’s rural farmers produce food for consumption and sale in the face of water scarcity. Through novel manufacturing and distribution Driptech can reach the hundreds of millions of people who have been unable to use drip irrigation until now, and in the process, save tremendous amounts of water.
OneBreath
Recent evidence of dangerous avian flu outbreaks around the world has ignited concern over the possibility of a flu pandemic. If a pandemic were to occur, demand for mechanical ventilators would quickly outstrip supply. In the developing nations of China, India, Africa, and South America, over 10 million people die each year from respiratory illnesses complicated by lack of access to a ventilator. OneBreath is a low cost ventilator specifically for use in large-scale emergencies and hospitals in the developing world. Our ventilator is portable, disposable, and battery powered. At a production cost around $75, OneBreath makes pandemic stockpiling a viable option in the US and provides an affordable choice for clinics and hospitals in the developing world.
Re:Motion Designs
Worldwide, a profound number of people lack mobility due to physical impairment. In India alone, it is estimated that over 10 million people suffer from locomotive disabilities. Trauma due to war or accidents, and diseases such as diabetes, result in a global rate in the hundreds of thousands of new lower-limb amputees each year. For the 2 million amputees in the US as well as other developed nations, modern assistive technology has re-mobilized lower limb amputees, but typically costs in the thousands, or tens of thousands, of dollars. Re:Motion is a non-profit venture that provides high performance, extreme-affordability prosthetic components for developing world amputees. Our initial product, The JaipurKnee, is a polymer-based polycentric knee joint that can be manufactured for a cost less than $20 US. The JaipurKnee is currently in field trials in India and has been fitted on over 40 patients to date.
Respira Design
Asthma afflicts 200 million children worldwide. 70% of them live in the developing world, where they lack access to prompt, effective and affordable care, These children suffer frequent asthma attacks that lead to chronic disability and lifelong respiratory disease. Treatment for acute attacks is typically delivered in emergency rooms, where it is delayed and expensive. Respira Design produces and distributes a $1 device made from paper that extends the treatment of asthma into low-resource settings. This device improves the quality of care and saves the healthcare system hundreds of dollars each time it averts an emergency room visit. Respira Design has chosen Mexico as its initial target market to build on relationships developed during its two years of fieldwork in Mexican health clinics. The device has been validated in the laboratory and is currently undergoing clinical trials, with plans for a staged rollout throughout Mexico over the next five years.
SEE College Prep
SEE College Prep delivers high impact, quality summer SAT preparation programs to disadvantaged high school students. SEE has created a 5-week, 42-hour program and curriculum it carries out through partnerships with existing college preparation programs that lack the resources to fully prepare their students for college. By offering its programs to higher income students who pay $699 for the program, SEE has found a compelling path to financial sustainability and a way to ensure that its programs are market quality. This summer, SEE will triple in size to serve 360 low-income high school students at 10 program sites in 4 California counties.
Sustainable Health Enterprises (SHE)
Sustainable Health Enterprises (SHE) is a start-up social enterprise that uses market-based approaches to initiate businesses that yield a social and financial return on investment in developing countries, especially in the health sector. Its first spin-out business is sanitary pad franchising to stem the significant costs of girls and women not having access to affordable, eco-friendly, sanitary pads when they menstruate. SHE will ensure the development and uptake of a reliable product by sourcing local, inexpensive raw materials, leveraging existing networks, and facilitating a sustainable business model operated and owned by women in the community that can be replicated globally wherever the need exists. SHE’s “proto-pad”, coupled with its business model, reduces product price by over 30%. SHE therefore aims to reduce the educational, economic, environmental, and health costs of girls and women lacking sustainable access to affordable, eco-friendly, sanitary pads.
This is one of the strongest groups of finalists we have ever had, and all of us are eagerly looking forward to how the event unfolds.