The article referenced other players in this forward-thinking ecosystem, including Sustainable Business Network of Greater Philadelphia, B Labs, Murex Investments Inc., A pilot tax-credit program by Philadelphia for socially responsible businesses that will take effect next year

Congratulations!

Proof of this trend was found at a February event in New York City organized by GoodCompany Ventures about social entrepreneurship, where an audience member asked what city should serve as the center of this social entrepreneurship movement. A surprising number people immediately responded, “Philadelphia.”

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Although the “tech scene may still be more petri dish than full-fledged ecosystem” the article lists several major investment players in the area, describing how their smaller, more wide-spread investments are working well for “the bootstrap start-up” nature of the tech scene here.

The mission of the Corzo Center is to link art, innovation and business, and through their own incubator and outreach programs support the creation of entrepreneurial ventures based in the arts and media.

We think it’s a great match for our offerings and are thrilled to have access to such a great space.

The Social Impact Incubator selects entrepreneurs with innovative ideas for social impact and provides them intensive training and resources to develop a commercial model to implement and obtain funding to maximize their impact. For details on the Incubator and how to apply, visit www.goodcompanyventures.org.

The first two companies announced today represent the application of peer-to-peer transaction models to match individuals to social and science projects that engage their interests and resources.

Wish Upon A Hero (www.wishuponahero.com) is the world’s largest social helping website. It is designed to allow everyone the unique opportunity to post a wish as well as the extraordinary ability for anyone to be a hero by granting a wish. Members consist of individuals and businesses who are passionate about helping. Since it’s launch in late 2007, heroes have granted more than 54,000 wishes. Wishes range from baby bottles to refrigerators, from prosthetic eyes to kidney donations. No wish is too big; no hero is too small.

ScienceForCitizens (www.ScienceForCitizens.net) is a new website whose mission is to further the general public’s interest in and understanding of science by enabling lay people to participate in both science-related recreational activities and formal research projects. Part match-maker, part portal, part social network, ScienceForCitizens will encourage non-experts to find out about, discuss, and contribute to science by actually doing it. It will bring together the millions of amateur scientists in the world; the thousands of potential projects offered by researchers, organizations, and companies; and the resources, products, and services that enable people to pursue these activities.

Our third selection this week is adapting innovations in alternative energy to deliver healthcare and education services to populations who, due to geography, poverty or natural disaster have no access to power.

One Degree Solar (http://www.onedegreesolar.com/) is a supplier of solar energy and lighting products created specifically for resource-poor areas and developing countries. Responding to the widespread need for reliable, affordable and practical products, we have created easy-to-use, low-maintenance solutions for individuals, small businesses, and nonprofit organizations in developing countries and disaster relief zones. Founded by individuals with years of international development experience, One Degree Solar seeks to partner with governments and aid institutions, primarily to expand access to basic health and education services, thus improving quality of life in developing countries.

“These three companies exemplify GoodCompany Ventures support for entrepreneurs who are developing new models and new markets for social innovation,” said Garrett Melby, CEO of GoodCompany Ventures.  “All three companies have demonstrated proof of concept as social projects and have realized that they have an opportunity to dramatically expand their reach and social impact by pursuing a commercially sustainable growth model.  We look forward to helping them develop and fund such a model to maximize their potential for service. ”

Press Inquiries Contact:

Julianne Kornacki

Communications Director

GoodCompany Ventures

Julianne@goodcompanyventures.org

215.951.7200 x3002

About GoodCompany Ventures

A GoodCompany pursues both purpose and profit.  GoodCompany Ventures is a nonprofit defined by the needs of the emerging social enterprise sector.  The GCV Social Impact Incubator identifies entrepreneurs with innovative ideas for social impact and helps them implement these ideas with the strategies and resources of the venture capital community.

The Social Impact Incubator selects entrepreneurs with innovative ideas for social impact and provides them intensive training and resources to develop a commercial model to implement and obtain funding to maximize their impact. GoodCompany Ventures is continuing to accept applications through May 10th and will announce participants on a rolling basis. For details on the Incubator and how to apply, visit www.goodcompanyventures.org.

The Urban Collective™ (http://urbancollectiveproject.org/) project is a youth music social enterprise that empowers young people aspiring to a career in the music industry to write, record and promote original music for independent release under expert professional mentoring.  In addition, Urban Collective builds a recording studio in each partner community center to facilitate ongoing recordings and audio production training.  Since its launch in London in 2004, more than 500 young artists across the UK have collaborated to produce several released albums, an award winning feature film, documentaries, music videos and dozens of live shows and music industry showcases. Urban Collective is now looking to launch an American Urban Collective in 2010 / 2011.

GoodCompany ventures is excited to help bring this proven social project for at-risk youth to Philadelphia and to work with the founders to develop a commercial framework to accelerate the development of Urban Collective sites in cities across the country.

GreenKonnect (http://greenkonnect.com/) is a community-powered search engine for the green building industry, connecting green builders with building products and materials. GreenKonnect allows industry professionals to save time and conserve resources by streamlining their building product research and acquisition processes.

GreenKonnect’s founder, Jameson Detweiller, is also the membership director of Philly StartUp Leaders and his well known for his service to Philadelphia’s entrepreneur community.  GoodCompany Ventures is proud to have the opportunity to serve him and to provide a launch platform for his latest venture.

Both of these projects exemplify scalable strategies for delivering social impact through a potentially profitable business model.  GoodCompany Ventures is excited about the quality of ideas and entrepreneurs that are applying to the second year of the incubator and looks forward to announcing additional selections in the coming weeks.

Press Inquiries Contact:

Julianne Kornacki

Communications Director

GoodCompany Ventures

Julianne@goodcompanyventures.org

215.951.7200 x3002

About GoodCompany Ventures

A GoodCompany pursues both purpose and profit.  GoodCompany Ventures is a nonprofit defined by the needs of the emerging social enterprise sector.  The GCV Social Impact Incubator identifies entrepreneurs with innovative ideas for social impact and helps them implement these ideas with the strategies and resources of the venture capital community.

The unintended consequence is that we have created a financial incentive for applicants to contact us directly to explore their prospects for selection before applying.  We try to be pretty accessible and this has led to a lot of wasted time and mutual frustration as we can’t offer much guidance without a reasonably complete application and an evaluation by our selection committee.  The most undesirable consequence is the case is when we have some concerns about the viability of a potential applicant, but have to request that they submit an application.  We are uncomfortable extracting fees from applicants who don’t have a realistic prospect of acceptance but yet we don’t want to tell them not to apply based on a brief conversation.  Our goal is not to evaluate applicants on the floor of an event or over the phone, but to have them considered by the subject matter experts that have volunteered for our selection committee and compared to other applicants in their sector.

We’ve concluded that we are going to abandon the fee requirement as an idea that caused more harm than good.  Of course, we will refund the fees of those that have already applied.

Our goal is to provide social entrepreneurs with the resources to implement their ideas for maximum impact. GoodCompany Venture’s 2009 pilot program was the first in the country to adopt the venture capital incubator model to fit the needs of social entrepreneurs. The program will culminate with a graduation event where graduates of the program are presented to early stage and angel investors.

Applications are now being accepted on a rolling basis through May 10th. A class of 8-12 startups will be selected to participate in the 2010 Impact Incubator, which will take place June – August in Philadelphia, PA. Our 2009 class included innovations in CleanTech, Education, Health, Social Finance and Community. The program champions models that offer investors an attractive mix of financial return and social benefit.