| The Network Works |
| An international development funder recently told me she liked for-profit social enterprises, because while traditional service providers did good work, if you stopped giving them money, they stopped doing the work. (Fair enough.) With social enterprises (she used the example of Mentor Capital Nework alumni Sanivation), even if she couldn’t fund them in a particular cycle, they kept going. That’s where the MCN lives. Identifying the women and men who, in addition to the challenges of starting and growing a company, have built in the challenge of solving the world’s toughest problems into the fabric of their work. Companies like: Chakr Innovation, which is receiving awards and investments from around the world for their machine that captures diesel particulates and turns it into ink. Easy Solar, who are building out the solar infrastructure in Sierra Leone. Arqlite, an Argentinean company that received a $250k investment from the New York City Curb-to-Market challenge for transforming complex plastic polymers into efficient building materials for the construction industry. WeCyclers, which is giving Nigerian parents the ability to pay their school fees by collecting recyclables. TerViva, a US firm that makes low-cost, tree-based feedstock for the biodiesel market at 10 percent the cost of corn-based ethanol, who just secured a $20mm investment.We are connecting these firms to the peers, mentors, and investors they need to succeed. Our most recent cohort just got their feedback, and they’ve been letting me know that: “In Mexico, in this moment, we don’t have these kinds of opportunities” “I was blown away by how smart your reviewers were.” “I like that I can get help without taking time away from my company.” “The feedback we got was tremendous… industry organization suggestions, potential investors, partner company prospects, competitive intel. It was great!” The network works. But the network can’t work without your help. As our entrepreneurs launch and grow their companies, knowing *when* to connect them to the right mentors, investors, and peer networks is where we are most effective. It’s also our greatest bottleneck. We need additional staff to provide the best service to our amazing entrepreneurs. Can you donate $250 so we can help the brightest social enterprise minds scale to their biggest impact? Any amount helps. Thank you for your consideration, and for the work that you do. Please contact me if you want to learn more about what we are doing and the impact we are having. Ian T. Fisk Executive Director The Mentor Capital Network |
| Join us at Honest Tea Offices in Bethesda, MD on August 1st. The MCN, Bethesda Green and DC Net Impact, and Seth Goldman invite you to join us at the Honest Tea headquarters to learn more about Honest Tea, while meeting and mingling with other sustainability-minded professionals. Seth, Co-Founder & TeaEO Emeritus, will make opening remarks and kick off the broader conversation. This event is free for students and $5 for everyone else. |
| DC-Area MCN Alumni in the News in July Clean Decisions was featured in Impact Alpha for work with 20 Degrees around Opportunity Zones in DC. GOEFER just added ten members to their team. Sara Polon continues to take the story of Soupergirl national via the media with a story on CBS. 3 Ridge Organics is opening a new greenhouse space. Franciepants won a trademark battle. |