GoodCompany Ventures

GoodCompany Ventures Office Hours

Posted on 02. Feb, 2011 by Garrett in 2010 Incubator, Blog, GoodCompany Founders, Noteworthy

With credit for the concept to First Round Capital, GoodCompany Ventures is excited to announce its own Office Hours program. We know that we can be hard to track down during the winter months when the incubator is not in session and we’d like to remedy that by announcing some dates, times and locations when the our founders will be available to meet with any and all who are interested in GCV, the incubator or social enterprise in general.

We’ll be announcing hours in additional cities as our travel schedule permits (New York, Austin and Mumbai are on the calendar), but home base for our Philadelphia Office hours will be at the site of the incubator on the University of the Arts campus. We’ll be camped out in Room 900 of Terra Hall at 211 S. Broad.

For the next couple months, we are scheduling the Office Hours from 5:00 to 7:30 on Thursday evenings, immediately prior to the workshops for creative entrepreneurs that GCV is producing with the Corzo Center. The first of these workshops is tomorrow, Thursday, February 3rd, featuring Alex Hillman of Indy Hall, speaking on “Simple Rules for a Simple Start-Up”. These workshops are open to the public and you can get more information and register to attend at the link at the bottom of this post.

Office Hours will be offered on the following dates:

Feb 3
Feb 17
Feb 24
March 10
March 24
March 31

If you’d like to come and meet with us, drop me a line at garrett@goodcompanyventures.org. We’ll book meetings in 20 minute increments, first come, first served and save the last half hour of each session for group discussion. If we are oversubscribed, I’ll be happy to stay and chat with folks after the workshop.

We’re looking forward to meeting you!

GoodCompany Ventures Named as Top Asset for Social Businesses in Philadelphia

Posted on 10. Jul, 2010 by admin in Blog, Noteworthy

Reporting on the growth of socially focused businesses in the Delaware Valley, the Philadelphia Business Journal named GoodCompany Ventures yesterday as one of the area’s top assets for nurturing socially responsible businesses.

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

BlackGold BioFuels Among Top 5 Social Enterprises by BusinessWeek

Posted on 30. Jun, 2010 by admin in Blog, Noteworthy

We are thrilled to announce Business Week just named our 2009 graduate company BlackGold Biofuels in the top 5 of America’s Most Promising Social Entrepreneurs.

Congratulations!

GoodCompany Ventures Helping to Build “Philicon Valley” with Social Focus

Posted on 25. Jun, 2010 by admin in Blog, Noteworthy

Technically Philly via The Philly Post just reported on how Philadelphia is becoming known as the central location for socially-focused businesses.

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.”

Read the rest of the article here.

GoodCompany Ventures is taking its show on the road to the South by Southwest (SXSW) Festival

Posted on 12. Mar, 2010 by Garrett in Noteworthy

Next Monday, March 15th, GoodCompany Ventures is proud to join Social Capital Markets, the Acumen Fund, Social Edge, Ashoka’s Changemakers and other thought leaders for the global social entrepreneurship community in sponsoring the GoodCapitalist Party.

The GoodCapitalist Party is taking place right in the middle of the SWSX Interactive Fetival, which brings together the world’s most creative web developers, designers, bloggers, wireless innovators, content producers, programmers, widget inventors and new media entrepreneurs. Over 1200 people have registered to attend the party, which is now oversubscribed.

We are looking forward to meeting new members of the growing social entrepreneurship community, whether committed or merely curious. This map below shows the distribution of attendees from all around the country. We are pleased to see such strong representation from the Northeast and we look forward to chance to celebrate this community with our friends and supporters and to greet some new ones.

Ignite Philly Re-Cap

Posted on 03. Mar, 2010 by Garrett in Noteworthy

Thanks to Ignite Philly for giving GoodCompany Ventures a chance to present all the ways in which Philadelphia is becoming a national hub for social enterprise. Philly was one of more than 50 cities around the globe participating in Global Ignite Week.http://ignite.oreilly.com/. GCV was one of about 16 presenters in the sold out event at local hipster hangout, Johnny Brenda’s.

GCV’s mission of building a community of service for social entrepreneurs must have some resonance. Even though our region’s tech blog ,Technically Philly, observed that I was neither young enough or hip enough to be there, their headline for the event was “Ignite Philly 5 Marks Age of Social Entrepreneurs . . . “ I’ll take it. http://bit.ly/bdeURy

The thrust of the presentation was to call out for the crowd many of the people and organizations that are working to build a comprehensive ecosystem of support for social entrepreneurs in Philly.

I promised we’d post links to these local organizations. I hope you’ll find a group that suits your interests and get involved.

Sustainable Business Network: http://www.sbnphiladelphia.org/

BCorp: http://www.bcorporation.net/

Murex: http://www.murexinvests.com/

Investors’ Circle: http://www.investorscircle.net/

Philadelphia Social Innovations Journal: http://www.philasocialinnovations.org/site/

Mission Mob: http://www.blakejennelle.com/category/missioneurs/

GoodCompany Ventures Announces Mission Mobs

Posted on 27. Feb, 2010 by Garrett in Noteworthy

We are looking forward to the first Mission Mob, a happy hour with a mission for people on a mission. Startups meet social entrepreneurs on Tuesday, March 16th at 6:30 at Ladder 15. Reserve your free tickets herehttp://bit.ly/bUUpQi

Mission Mob is being launched by Blake Jennelle in partnership with GoodCompany Ventures. Blake, the founder of Philly StartUp Leaders, has joined our Advisory Board and we are working together to create a sense of community for social entrepreneurs in the same way PSL has done for the technology community. We know there are significant overlaps in these two communities and we hope that members of the tech community will welcome new avenues to add meaning to their innovations.

Our main focus day-to-day at GoodCompany Ventures is running the GCV Incubator, but our longer term mission is to build a community of service for social entrepreneurs. To this end, we are fortunate to be working with a passionate advocate like Blake. Just as Guy Kawasaki’s role as Chief Evangelist put Apple on the map, Blake is blazing the trail in the broader community for GCV. With his current series on Missioneurs, his blog has become a must-read for social entrepreneurs. Join the conversation athttp://www.blakejennelle.com/

Come out and meet us at the inaugural Mission Mob, a coming out party for Philly’s social entrepreneurs.

Social Business Venture Fair to Connect Entrepreneurs with Investors Focused on the Future of Good Business in Philadelphia

Posted on 14. Sep, 2009 by Julianne in Noteworthy

GoodCompany Ventures’ Inaugural Class to Graduate with Gala Venture Fair

Philadelphia, PA – September 14, 2009 – On Thursday, September 17th GoodCompany Ventures will host a Gala Venture Fair to mark the culmination of its 2009 social business incubator. The Venture Fair, sponsored by Blank Rome LLP, Investors’ Circle and RSF Social Finance, will feature speakers including Karen Randal of the Philadelphia Department of Commerce, an investor pitch session, and an evening networking event.

For the last few months, ten companies in the social business sector have been participating in GoodCompany Ventures’ incubator program. The curriculum has included expert speaker panels, tailored strategic and industry advisers, and information sessions aimed at providing these companies with the resources they need to maximize growth. The ten businesses have received training and mentorship at GoodCompany Ventures, and are now prepared to pitch to their industries’ top investors.

One of the entrepreneurs, Emily Landsburg, co-founder of BlackGold Biofuels, credits the incubator with providing BlackGold “the structure and space to think more strategically.” For Landsburg, the incubator’s expert speaker panels offered “new insights and approaches to business planning.” Similarly, for Angela McIver, founder and CEO of Math Foundations, “GCV’s support has been key in positioning our company to become a major player in the education industry.” GoodCompany Ventures’ social business incubator has provided these startups access to industry experts, strategic advisors, and key services needed to maximize their potential.

GoodCompany Ventures’ Gala Venture Fair will bring together investors, entrepreneurs, and colleagues who seek to promote good business in Philadelphia. The graduation is a two part event that will formally begin with company pitches to accredited investors at 2:00pm, followed by speakers including Bart Houlahan of B Corporation. In the evening, a cocktail reception will take place, providing investors, companies, friends and colleagues an opportunity to meet and network. The Venture Fair will provide a showcase for some of the region’s most promising early and expansion-stage triple bottom line businesses, and will also mark the opening of Investors’ Circle’s Philadelphia chapter.

For more information, please visit www.goodcompanyventures.org

About GoodCompany Ventures

GoodCompany Ventures catalyzes start-ups with innovative solutions to big, unmet social needs. GoodCompany entrepreneurs are offered a great place to work in Philadelphia, a community of like-minded entrepreneurs, and access to a network of capital sources and expert advisors. At GoodCompany Ventures, our goal is to provide a support network for companies to grow and flourish, with the hope of maximizing their social impact.

Strong Foundations: The First Seven Weeks of GoodCompany Ventures’ Inaugural Incubator

Posted on 03. Aug, 2009 by Julianne in Noteworthy

GoodCompany Ventures’ Incubator Inspires and Impresses

Philadelphia, PA – August 3, 2009 – The first seven weeks of GoodCompany Ventures’ Incubator have been highlighted by expert panels, tailored seminars, and dinner receptions. The ten businesses receiving training and mentorship at GoodCompany Ventures are now well on their way to pitching to their industries’ top investors.

Along with the weekly panels chaired by industry experts, GoodCompany Ventures has provided seminars which both complement the panels and address concerns shared by participants. Presented on June 19th by Lee Marks of Greenberg Traurig and Sid Amster of Phase II International, a seminar on business law addressed legal concerns from the perspectives of a businessman and a lawyer, and was a hit with participants hoping to better understand the relationship between entrepreneurship and the legal system.

These sessions have granted the incubator’s participants access to experts in their fields, as well as insight into challenges that all startups face. For one participant, Partners on the Path’s Jane Hamilton, GoodCompany’s resources have allowed her to shape her ideas “into an actionable business plan.” The construction of their business plans has allowed GoodCompany Ventures’ participants to iron out issues crucial to their companies’ futures.

An expert panelist during week two, David Nevas of the Edison Venture Fund has noted that “GoodCompany Ventures has really hit an underserved niche. These companies tend to have more limited exposure to support structures than traditional startups do, and thus stand to benefit the most from an incubator-type program.” The support provided by GoodCompany Ventures, including mentors, interns, and subject-matter experts, have been giving these companies resources needed to boost their prospects of success.

And there is much more to come. Blank Rome, Ratner Prestia, and National Penn Bank will be hosting networking receptions in the weeks to come. Similar events have been providing GoodCompany Ventures’ startups with community building and networking opportunities.