| Mentor Capital Network Call for Applicants Apply by January 5th at www.mentorcapitalnet.org The Mentor Capital Network (formerly known as the William James Foundation) is now accepting applications for our 2015 Sustainable Business Plan Competition. We work with for-profit social entrepreneurs all over the world. Entrepreneurs who apply can be of any age or educational status, and their companies and be pre- or post- revenue, as long as you are open to coaching/mentoring on your business model. Benefits of our program include: Mentor Capital Companies that we accept will receive comprehensive mentor feedback from a diverse team of 8 to 12 mentors. You receive professional-level peer review of your business idea and model from experts who have been down your path. The business plan review is our version of “Mentor Speed Dating”. We customize a team of mentors to read your business plan and provide you their expertise and perspectives. As a Mentor reads your plan, and provides you feedback, they can opt-in and provide you their contact information. Once you have their contact information, and their mentor feedback, you have the opportunity to reach out and continue to get advice, coaching or mentoring from these industry leaders. The business plan is just the introduction that gives the Mentors and the Entrepreneurs information to build on and an opportunity to choose each other. Investor Capital: Participation in our business plan competition also gives you an opportunity to be part of our Investor Fishbowl and “Green Grab” events. We love putting companies in front of accredited investors to pitch for professional debt or equity investment. Many of our mentors are investors, and use the business plan competition as a chance to review potential investments, as well as to use the feedback of the other mentors to help qualify their pipelines. Prizes: We treat all the companies in our cohorts as winners and invest in each company with valuable mentor capital. We also ask our mentors to pick a select group of finalists to present in front of our investors and to receive cash and in-kind prizes that we estimate will be worth more than $60,000. In addition to the general prizes, we will have specific prizes for companies working in clean/renewable energy, and companies from DC and Maryland. Please feel free to send any questions not addressed above to network@mentorcapitalnet.org. Partners and Friends Once of the advantages of being a world-wide, virtual program, is that we get to work with many excellent partners who are trying to accomplish the same goals we are: supporting the world’s best social entrepreneurs. We have designed Mentor Capital Network programs to compliment the programs listed below, so you can work both with us and with them in a way that doesn’t take you away from your most important task: running your business. These programs are listed by application deadline. Village Capital EdTech Apply by December 5th Village Capital EdTech is an accelerator for high-potential education and ed-tech enterprises. Program Dates and Locations: Workshop 1: January 20-23 (D.C.) Workshop 2: February 25-28 (Chicago) Workshop 3: March 30-April 2 (D.C.) The program consists of three skills-based workshops focused on training entrepreneurs to assume an “investor lens”, and culminates with at least $100,000 pre-committed investment, to be made with a twist: the entrepreneurs themselves decide which two companies receive $50,000 each in investment. The focus is on high growth potential education companies that can demonstrate customer traction, are pre-Series A and can articulate a high level of social value in their service or product offerings. Global Social Venture Competition Apply by December 5th This program is open to ventures that:Have a quantifiable social and/or environmental bottom line incorporated into their mission and practices. include at least one graduate studentOperating companies are welcome to enter, although they must be less than 3 years old StartingBloc: Los Angeles Institute (February 19th-23rd) Apply by December 11th The StartingBloc Institute is a transformative 5-day experience for entrepreneurs, activists, students, bridge-builders and other innovators. Investor’s Circle: “Beyond the Pitch” Event – Feb. 19 th in Houston, TX Apply by December 15th Investors’ Circle is the oldest, largest and most successful early-stage impact investing network in the USA. They are seeking early stage, high-impact companies raising capital. Unreasonable Institute: Kampala, Uganda (June 24- July 30) Apply by December 19th This program is open to ventures that: Operate in Uganda, Kenya, or Tanzania and are early-stage ventures that are actively prototyping or iterating their product or serviceAre typically not yet profitable, but have generated some early revenues Are for-profit or non-profit Echoing Green Fellowship Apply by January 5th Echoing Green Fellowship Programs invest in next generation leaders working to solve the world’s biggest problems with up to $90,000 and individualized support to launch your enterprise. Unreasonable Institute: Boulder, CO, USA (Summer 2015) Applications open Dec 3rd This program is open to ventures that: Operate anywhere in the world Are for-profit or non-profit Have achieved customer traction, meaning they have many customers/users and have the beginnings of a business model. Have released their product/service, gained feedback from their target population, and then iterated their product to better meet the demand. In short, they have “market intimacy”. Unreasonable Institute: Aguascalientes, Mexico (Summer 2015) Applications open on December 8th This program is open to ventures that: Operate in Mexico Have had market interaction; from early-stage ventures that are actively prototyping or iterating their product/service to more advanced ventures that are ready to scale. Are for-profit or non-profit |
Ian Fisk Executive Director The Mentor Capital Network www.mentorcapitalnet.org |