Columbia Venture Community's Impact Program, the newest of our Global Program Accelerators, wrapped up early this year and we are excited to highlight the amazing founders that were selected for our inaugural cohort.
The Impact Program was born to foster and support entrepreneurs that focus on addressing social and environmental challenges with their core business and innovation approaches.
CVC provides startups from the Columbia University community with impact measurement tools, market trends, and connections to mentors/investors/partners over 12 sessions in six weeks.
The Impact Program was created by Esther Kim (SPS 17’), and is supported and led by a group of committed volunteers, including Stacie Hur (CBS 12’) , Azhar Yerzhanova (SPS 20’), Anindita Sharma (CBS 05’) and Heer Baxi (BC 21’).
GetMotivatedBuddies
Michael Goldstrom (CC 96’)
Michael Goldstrom.
Source: IMDB
GetMotivatedBuddies, the brainchild of Juilliard-trained actor turned founder Michael Goldstrom, is a platform that leverages technology and behavioral psychology to connect users with accountability partners to help them achieve their goals. GetMotivatedBuddies has already help nearly 15,000 users reach goals and has been recognized on BloombergTV, Forbes and Fast Company for its ability to support strong mental health and help people reach their highest productivity through the power of community and technology.
Brava
Ifi Akpandak (CC 12’)
Ifi Akpandak standing a prominent black-owned business in NYC. Source: CNN Business
As the son of a black business owner, Ifi Akpandak has always held a special passion for creating opportunities for underrepresented companies to grow. So the mission that he had in creating Brava is a personal one. Brava is a digital gift card subscription for corporations, connecting some of $250 billion in annual corporate gifting and reward budgets away from mega-retailers like Walmart and Amazon and toward well-deserving minority-owned small businesses across the country.
Commune
Tara Heuzé-Sarmini (SIPA ‘17)
Tara Heuzé-Sarmini.
Source: Commune
Tara (SIPA '17) & Ruben are building Commune, the first-ever co-living dedicated to single-parent families. Commune makes these households' lives easier by creating a community in which all parents and their children are able to thrive. Indeed, Commune brings a pragmatic and much-needed turnkey housing solution to best accommodate parenting duties and address kids’ needs. By doing so, Commune prevents the vicious circle of social, professional and financial hardship traditionally experienced by solo parents after a family breakup. With a background in hospitality and revenue management, a successful track record in social entrepreneurship and speaking 8 languages counted together, the Commune team is convinced of a rapid international expansion.
Voltpost
Jeff Prosserman (CCS 21’), Aditi Desai (CCS 22’) & Luke Mairo (CCS 20’)
(From left to right) Aditi Desai, Luke Mairo and Jeff Prosserman.
Source: CCS, State of the Planet
Luke Mairo and Jeff Prosserman met when they served as president and vice president to the Environmental Entrepreneurs group as students in Columbia Climate School’s Sustainable Management Graduate program. Aditi Desai, a colleague of Luke’s from his days at Barclays would also go on to attend this graduate program. Together they run Voltpost: a sustainable hardware company that retrofits lamp posts into electric vehicle charging stations whose location, booking and charging status can be managed and displayed in a mobile application. Having studied with some of the foremost thinkers in sustainability at CCS, they hope to leverage that education and their combined passion for sustainability to accelerate electric vehicle (EV) adoption by providing cities with a first-in-kind, scalable curbside charging solution.