FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The Unreasonable Institute Empowers the Public to Choose the Next Wave of High‐Impact Social Entrepreneurs

Global donations will determine which entrepreneurs gain admission to esteemed mentorship program
BOULDER, Colo. –– Starting Jan. 20, 45 social entrepreneurs will showcase their ventures in an online platform called the Unreasonable Finalist Marketplace (http://marketplace.unreasonableinstitute.org/). For 50 days, people from around the world are invited to vote with their wallets on the most viable ventures. The first 25 of the 45 finalists to raise $8,000 in the Marketplace will earn access to the highly acclaimed six‐week mentorship program at the Unreasonable Institute. At the Institute, these social entrepreneurs undergo rigorous training sessions, including personal and entrepreneurial skill development, intensive workshops and hands‐on guidance from leading thought leaders, innovators, entrepreneurs and investors.

The 45 finalists were selected from more than 300 applicants in 60 countries. Each applicant had to present a financially self‐sustaining venture that has the ability to scale to serve the needs of at least 1 million people and demonstrates customer validation through sales or pilots. The finalists this year include a Chinese engineer with a prototype for waterless composting toilets; a 2010 CNN Hero from Kenya who has distributed over 10,000 solar lanterns; and an American inventor with a water purification system that can roll up to the size of a ruler.

“A huge part of being a truly exceptional entrepreneur is to be able to rally excitement and support for your idea,” said Daniel Epstein, founding president of the Unreasonable Institute. “The Marketplace tests these entrepreneurs’ ability to do just that and, in the form of public support garnered, offers a real‐time measure of success.”

In order to enhance the challenge, the Unreasonable Institute has imposed contribution caps, starting with $10 in week one and increasing incrementally. In addition to preventing single underwriters from providing full funding, the caps force finalists to mobilize the support of hundreds of people from around the world, mandating creative marketing, effective storytelling and the power of social media to garner support for their ideas. In 2010, the inaugural year of the Unreasonable Institute, entrepreneurs raised over $160,000 in the Marketplace from nearly 3,000 supporters across 130 countries.

“We believe that absolutely everyone can make an impact, and the Marketplace is a manifestation of that belief,” continued Epstein. “We encourage people to visit the Marketplace and leave their mark on the world, whether it is through a Facebook post, watching a video or donating $10 to an entrepreneur whose idea struck a chord.”

Donors have an opportunity to test out their own social marketing savvy through a gaming element: a donor receives one point for every dollar contributed and two points for every dollar that is contributed as a result of sharing their vote via social media. Top point earners receive prize bundles from HP, which has come on board this year as the Unreasonable Institute’s first corporate partner and as part of the company’s longstanding support of entrepreneurship. In addition to the prizes, HP is contributing a scholarship fund for the entrepreneurs and providing technology through which the entrepreneurs can tell their stories and ideas.

“HP believes in the transformative power of technology and entrepreneurship to tackle some of the world’s largest social issues,” said Wayne Surdam, vice president of Media and Influencer Relations, Personal Systems Group, HP. “The Unreasonable Marketplace is an incredible platform for high‐impact social entrepreneurs to scale their ideas and connect with the world."

The 25 winning entrepreneurs become Unreasonable Fellows and, during the mentor program, will learn from, work alongside, and live with 60 mentors from a range of industries including venture capital, international development, social enterprise and marketing. Among the exceptional mentors and partners are Greg Miller, co‐founder of Google.org; David Bornstein, author of “How to Change the World: Social Entrepreneurs and the Power of New Ideas"; Libby Cook, co‐founder of Wild Oats; Tom Reilly, head of TED Fellows; and Bob Pattillo, founder of Gray Ghost Capital and First Light Ventures. In addition, the entrepreneurs will have a chance to build relationships with 30 globally recognized impact investment funds, such as Acumen Fund, Good Capital and Echoing Green, and pitch prospective investors. Last year, 60 percent of the Unreasonable Fellows seeking funding received capital for their ventures shortly after the end of the Institute.

Twenty eleven might have started nearly a month ago, but the real work for ID has just begun. We started our 3rd calendar year in a BIG way; launching the BSP Fund with our partner Blue Sky Projects and kicking off two multi-month research projects with MIT’s SEID program and a group of student interns from Northeastern. We are also welcoming three new key players to the ID team: Christina Tamer as Marketing Intern, Serrano Legrand as Investment Intern and Alexandra Geertz as Research Coordinator. They will be joining me (founder/director Miguel Granier) and Investment Associate Sean Smith as we gear up for what should be a very big year.

Introducing the BSP Fund

The biggest change that we are ushering in this year is the BSP Fund. ID started over a year and half ago as an intermediary for impact investors interested in seed-stage investing. With the BSP Fund, we have emerged as a partner and manager of a seed stage fund focused on supporting mobile and alternative energy start-ups targeting emerging markets. It’s a very exciting time for us, our partners, and the entrepreneurs joining our growing portfolio.

Despite the sudden announcement, this change is something that we have been planning for a long time. BSP Fund is unique in many ways and that presented several hurdles for both ID and our partner Blue Sky Projects. In designing a fund, we wanted to maintain the strong ideals and commitment to seed-stage investing that lead to the creation of ID in the first place. We also wanted to maintain the “exit” flexibility that is required by our fledgling industry. It was a lot to ask, but we found a deeply committed ally in Blue Sky Projects.

The BSP Fund Thesis

BSP Fund was brought together to support the belief that poverty isn’t caused by scarcity but poor logistics and that mobile telecommunications and alternative (disaggregated) energy will help alleviate that bottleneck more than any other innovations of our time (that’s a bold statement, and we will spend some time in this blog backing that up, so be sure to keep coming back). This belief has put a razor sharp focus on our fund. We break down our focus into two key categories, Mobile Transaction Systems and Alternative Energy Systems. I won’t get into detail here, but you can expect more in the coming weeks.

Beyond the sector focus, we have also developed a unique approach to exits that better reflects the market and uncertainty of impact investing. BSP Fund does not have a fixed horizon and there is not asset liquidation required. That might make it sound like charity, but far from it. We believe that the focus on short-term, massive exits via acquisition or public offering is not well suited for companies in emerging markets. Instead, we need to focus on building strong SME’s that will create local jobs, wealth and institutions that will support development of those economies for decades to come. Of course that is not easy to do as an investor looking to get a solid, near market, return on investment. We hope that with BSP Fund we have figured out a way. More on that in the coming weeks as well.

As a welcome back this has already gotten a little long so we’ll cut it off here. Expect us to return to a regular blog schedule and be sure to follow all company updates on Twitter (@InvestedD) and www.facebook.com/investeddevelopment.

Welcome back and thanks for your continued interest in and support of Invested Development.