Harvard Business School'S New Venture Competition Awards $225K in Cash Prizes


credit: Fast Co Exist

"The New Venture Competition provides a rigorous platform through which students develop their business ideas as a positive force for change," says Elise Bates, the new director of Harvard Business School's New Venture Competition.

This year's competition saw 262 teams from around the world vie for $225,000 in cash prizes, Business Insider reports.

The top prize of $75,000 went to Diagnostix, a technology company that analyzes gene expression in plants to help farmers maximize yield.

The runner-up prize was $25,000 to Sanso, a company that helps drug manufacturers produce life-saving biologics more efficiently, in order to deliver cheaper drugs to patients worldwide.

The crowd favorite in the Student Social Enterprise Track wasSolara, which offers on-demand solar irrigation service to Indian farmers, increasing their access to affordable, reliable, and clean irrigation methods.

The runners-up were SeaCycle, which produces sustainable biopolymer production and driving positive environmental impact, and Health HQ, which addresses clinicians' barriers around learning and advocacy within the transgender community, fostering greater inclusivity and support in healthcare. Read the Entire Article


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William D. Eggers and Paul Macmillan of Dowser write about the social entrepreneurs slowly and steadily dirsupting the world of philanthropy. According to Forbes, philanthropy disruptors are those that believe “no one company is so vital that it can’t be replaced and no single business model too perfect to upend.”