Get the latest delivered to your inbox
Privacy Policy

Now Reading

Two Startups Chosen to Receive $50,000 Investments to Help People Make a Difference

Points of Light Civic Accelerator Opens Applications for Next Round of Groundbreaking Program

Two Startups Chosen to Receive $50,000 Investments to Help People Make a Difference

Points of Light Civic Accelerator Opens Applications for Next Round of Groundbreaking Program

Published 08-13-13

Submitted by Points of Light

The Points of Light Civic Accelerator today announced it will invest $50,000 each in Neighbor.ly and the Jubilee Project, two startups – one for-profit, one nonprofit – recommended by a unique investment committee, their social enterprise peers.

The investment is a culmination of the 12-week Civic Accelerator, led by Points of Light in partnership with Village Capital, and with founding support from the PwC Charitable Foundation and Starbucks Foundation. The Civic Accelerator provides mentoring, peer support, entrepreneurial education, networking and investment for enterprises that solve education, environmental and economic issues by engaging people as part of the solution.

The Civic Accelerator, the country’s first startup accelerator dedicated to civic ventures, brought together its second group of nine nonprofit and for-profit startups to train and learn together – and from each other – this past May. Each was offered a $10,000 investment for taking part, and at the end of the program, the participating ventures themselves selected the two enterprises to receive the $50,000 investments.

Neighbor.ly of Kansas City, Mo., a for-profit business, uses the idea of crowdfunding – calling upon large numbers of people, local businesses and community organizations via a web platform – to raise money and awareness for projects that benefit communities, such as a public bike-sharing system, a new streetcar line and a sidewalk restoration project.

"The Civic Accelerator gave Neighbor.ly the tools we need to grow our civic startup, catapulted us into the nascent world of social ventures, and best of all, introduced us to lifelong friends. Having our peers select us for the investment gives us a world of confidence that we're on the right track, and the investment will help to realize the vision," said Jase Wilson, CEO of Neighbor.ly.

The other $50,000 awardee, the Jubilee Project, a nonprofit based out of Los Angeles, creates videos to help nonprofits tell their stories and inspire people to take action, be it giving money, volunteering or spreading the word about a worthy cause. Through vivid storytelling, the Jubilee Project motivates Americans to help those affected by homelessness, poverty and other challenges.

"We were honored to be voted as one of the best nonprofit investments by our peers," said Jason Y. Lee, the Jubilee Project’s executive director. "It's important validation for the Jubilee Project, and we are emerging from the Civic Accelerator with tremendous insights, learning and a great network of peers and mentors."

The other startups in the second round, chosen after a rigorous selection process from a pool of more than 170 applicants from across the country, are:

  • EPIC (Chicago) empowers creative professionals to make social change happen.
  • GraphAlchemist (Portland, Ore.) offers Graph as a Service (GaaS) to provide data-driven solutions to complex problems.
  • OpenCurriculum (Pittsburgh) is an online platform to create, access and share K-12 learning material.
  • Practice Makes Perfect (New York) works to narrow the achievement gap in low-income U.S. neighborhoods through summer enrichment programs.
  • Public Lab (New Orleans) is a community that develops and sells affordable, open-source environmental monitoring tools to empower citizen scientists.
  • SnapSense (Chicago) makes it easy for local leaders to connect to the data they need to lead through online dashboards.
  • Village Defense (Atlanta) provides neighborhoods with a real-time communications system to keep neighbors safe and connected.

The Points of Light Civic Accelerator was launched last year with founding support from PwC Charitable Foundation, Inc. and Starbucks Foundation and in partnership with Village Capital.

Chris Simmons, president, PwC Charitable Foundation, Inc., said, "I had the pleasure of getting to know the teams and hosting the mid-session pitch event in Washington, D.C., over a month ago, and am pleased to congratulate the second class of Civic Accelerator startups. Supporting innovation in the design of sustainable, scalable programs that drive social good is an important part of our giving philosophy, and we look forward to the impact of these ventures in the areas of education and humanitarianism."

"Innovation is core to what we do at Starbucks, and we are inspired by the work of these entrepreneurs and innovators," said Adam Brotman, chief digital officer at Starbucks. "We had the chance to work with some of the teams firsthand and were impressed with their progress and impact. We are honored to support this valuable program and look forward to the continued success of the teams as they make a positive impact on their communities."

Ayesha Khanna, president of the Civic Incubator at Points of Light, added, "We are excited about the new thinking and innovative models we are seeing – and investing in – across the country. And with their growth and success, we are witnessing these ventures engage people to solve critical social problems and strengthen communities."

Applications are being accepted for the fall 2013 Points of Light Civic Accelerator Program, and can be submitted at www.pointsoflight.org/civic-accelerator. Applications are due September 6.

About Points of Light
Points of Light – the world’s largest organization dedicated to volunteer service – mobilizes millions of people to take action that is changing the world. Through affiliates in 250 cities and partnerships with thousands of nonprofits and corporations, Points of Light engages more than 4 million volunteers in 30 million hours of service each year. For more information, go to www.pointsoflight.org.

About Village Capital
Village Capital uses the power of peer review and support to shape enterprises making an impact, and to change the way investment is made. Village Capital has operated 15 business acceleration programs with partners worldwide to over 250 entrepreneurs in six countries and provided over $2 million in risk capital to participating enterprises. For more information, go to www.vilcap.com.

About PwC Charitable Foundation, Inc.
The PwC Charitable Foundation, Inc., a section 501(c)(3) organization, makes charitable contributions to the people of PwC in times of financial hardship, and to nonprofit organizations that support and promote education and humanitarianism.

Points of Light Logo

Points of Light

Points of Light

Points of Light is a global nonprofit organization that inspires, equips and mobilizes millions of people to take action that changes the world. We envision a world in which every individual discovers the power to make a difference, creating healthy communities in vibrant, participatory societies. Through 145 affiliates across 39 countries, and in partnership with thousands of nonprofits and corporations, Points of Light engages 3.7 million volunteers in 16.7 million hours of service each year, contributing $498.7 million of value in people power into communities around the world. We bring the power of people to bear where it’s needed most. To learn more about Points of Light visit pointsoflight.org

Partnering with Points of Light means you’ll have the expertise and support you need to mobilize your colleagues and create community impact using all aspects of civic engagement. We've helped companies with a variety of needs including implementing large-scale employee volunteer events, tackling your larger social impact vision, expanding how you engage communities and consumers, infusing new ideas to your annual employee engagement programs, connecting with peers to bring the latest and greatest ideas on impact measurement, and getting company leadership investment and buy-in. Learn more today.

More from Points of Light

Join today and get the latest delivered to your inbox