social entrepreneurship

Thursday, March 30 at 5 p.m., the finalists will be selected and announced for the Social Entrepreneurship and Innovation Competition, co-sponsored by Washington University and the YouthBridge Association. The event features Theresa Wilson, founder of The Blessing Basket, as a keynote speaker. Currently there are 14 semi-finalists. The finalists will be selected based on their two-minute presentations about their projects. The event takes place in May Auditorium in Simon Hall on the Washington University Hilltop Campus

Thursday, March 30 at 5 p.m., the finalists will be announced for the Social Entrepreneurship and Innovation Competition, co-sponsored by Washington University and the YouthBridge Association. The event features Theresa Wilson, founder of The Blessing Basket, as a keynote speaker. Currently there are 14 semi-finalists. The finalists will be selected based on their two-minute presenations about their projects. The event takes place in May Auditorium in Simon Hall on the Washington University Hilltop Campus.

Skandalaris Center for Entrepreneurial Studies at WUSTL launches the St. Louis Entrepreneurship Innovation Competition on Thursday, Sept 8 at 5 p.m. in Simon Hall featuring University City Loop entrepreneur, Joe Edwards. The competition is the first of its kind in the region. Participants with the best concepts will be awarded funding of $65,000.

A new partnership between the YouthBridge Association and the Skandalaris Center at Washington University in St. Louis will support social entrepreneurship in the St. Louis region. YouthBridge has pledged $500,000 in funding over five years so Washington University can create the YouthBridge Award and the St. Louis Social Entrepreneurship and Innovation Competition. The university, with the help from community partners, plans to support the initiative with more than $500,000 in resources. Washington University and YouthBridge are inviting other area universities, institutions, community groups and foundations to collaborate on this effort. The purpose of the competition is to stimulate collaborative activity that leads to multiple innovative approaches to the area’s social problems.

The John M. Olin School of Business at Washington University in St. Louis on Dec. 2 awarded a total of $70,000 in seed investment capital to two startup businesses in its annual Olin Cup entrepreneurship competition. The Olin Cup, along with $50,000 in seed money, went to Luminomics, a biotechnology company that develops regenerative drug therapies for degenerative diseases. An award of $20,000 went to The Blessing Basket, a not-for-profit company that imports baskets made by weavers in undeveloped countries. Honorable mention was given to Core Devices, maker of a portable anesthesia machine.

Projects could receive up to $10,000 through a five-year, $3 million Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation grant program.