SocEnt Challenge Summary
The competition is open to individuals, groups, not-for-profit and for-profit social enterprise entities inside and outside Southern California. All applicants will have access to webinar trainings and online resources to guide the preparation of their application.
Our Judging Criteria favor the following characteristics:
1. The enterprise directly addresses a clear social problem.
2. The enterprise influences systems, not just symptoms of the problem.
3. The leadership team demonstrates tenacity and brings relevance experience to the endeavor.
4. The enterprise will generate significant social and financial returns.
5. The venture prioritizes social impact over financial gain for its owners.
6. The enterprise has demonstrated traction evidenced by sales or investment.
The judges will be using a rating form which you can see HERE.
2. The enterprise influences systems, not just symptoms of the problem.
3. The leadership team demonstrates tenacity and brings relevance experience to the endeavor.
4. The enterprise will generate significant social and financial returns.
5. The venture prioritizes social impact over financial gain for its owners.
6. The enterprise has demonstrated traction evidenced by sales or investment.
The judges will be using a rating form which you can see HERE.
Awards
The Soc Ent Challenge offered participants the opportunity to be awarded upwards of $100,000 in combined cash, and prizes, including extensive coaching and investment advisory services. Cash prizes ranging from $5000 to $20,000 were awarded to the winners. Each finalist also received an investor assessment and coaching services valued at more than $5,000 to help prepare their final pitch to potential investors.
Phase 1, Initial Screening (October – December)
We expect over 100 high quality applications, which will first be reviewed by program staff to assure compliance with program criteria. Applications will then be organized by Issue Tracks and reviewed by issue experts and representatives from our supporting organizations. These reviewers will provide feedback and rate each application. We plan to have up to five Issue Tracks with three semi-finalists selected from each track. The 15 Semi-finalists will be notified in early December. There is no fee to apply to the Challenge but if you advance to the semi-finals, you will be asked to pay a $250 to acknowledge the value of the extensive training and coaching which will be made available to you.
Phase 2, Due Diligence Mentoring and Plan Refinement (January-March)
Semi-finalists go forward into Round One of the Venture Competition, where they are assigned mentors, take part in coaching sessions and have their financial projections critiqued by 3rd party experts. Mentors and Issue Experts work with the Semi-finalists to refine their plan and prepare a compelling presentation. At the Showdown on March 19th, a panel of judges will listen and respond to 8 minute pitches by each of the participants. They then select up to five finalists.
Phase 3, Finalists’ Showdown and Showcase( March-May)
The winners that are chosen receive additional coaching and technical assistance in anticipation of their return in May for Meet the Investors Symposium & Showcase, featuring a judging panel and audience of potential investors. Following the Showcase, program advisors will continue to facilitate successful raises for all the finalists.
APPLY HERE
Rules & Guidelines for Submitting your Application with iStart
| socent_rules__guidelines-revised.docx |
Here are the questions which you will be asked to complete once you have registered on the iStart platform:
GENERAL INFORMATION
ENTERPRISE INFORMATION
REQUIRED: Upload your projected income and expenses for the next three years.
OPTIONAL QUESTIONS
WELCOME AND NOT REQUIRED: Upload a pdf of your business plan. Here are some concerns and data which are likely to be of interest to our judges:
• Executive Summary
- Stand alone overview of the plan
- Brief description of each succeeding section
• Product or Service
- What is the social or environmental problem being solved?
- Is there a clear customer need?
- What is the product or service?
- Does the solution seem feasible?
- What is the competitive advantage?
- Is there a proprietary position with the product or service?
- What is the current stage of development?
• Market and Marketing Strategy
- What is the size of the potential market?
- Can this product or service seize a significant portion of the market?
- What long-term profitability is there in this market?
- What is the market entry strategy?
- What are the unique marketing capabilities of this business?
- Is the product or service scalable?
- What is the direct and indirect position of this product in relation to
the competition?
- Can this product be a leader in the market?
- What are the barriers to entry in the market?
- What is the length of time to enter the market?
• Management Team
- What are the key roles of current management?
- Has this management team worked together before?
- Are there gaps in the current management team?
- What are the key management risks in this product or service?
- What are the key personnel needs?
- What partners are needed to scale this product or service?
• Operating Strategies
- How will the product or service be produced and delivered to
customers?
- What are the distribution channels?
- Is intellectual property important to success?
- Are there regulatory issues?
- What are the key milestones for success?
• Critical Risks
- What are your internal and external strengths and weaknesses?
- How have you built upon and mitigated these issues?
• Additional Financial Information
- Cash flow statement
- Income statement
- Balance sheet
- What type and amount of investment capital is required?
- Is the investment needed all at one time or can it be staged?
• Capital Requirements
- How much of an investment is needed?
- When will the funds be needed?
- What type of funds will be needed?
• Offering and Viability
- How much investment capital is needed?
- What is the proposal/terms to investors?
- How much equity will be given up for investment capital?
- What is a realistic assessment of ROI potential for investors?
- What is the exit strategy for the investor?
• Overall Assessment of the Written Plan and Applicant
- Does Applicant have the vision and skills necessary to develop this
plan?
- Does Applicant have a plan to create systems change as opposed to a
one-off solution?
- Does Applicant have a track record of being tenacious enough to
overcome future barriers?
- Is the plan clear and compelling?
- Does plan show prioritized social or environmental impact over
profit?
- Does the plan for earned income seem feasible?
- What is the potential success of the exit strategy?
- What is the metric you will use to measure the social impact of your
business?
The business may assume a technology, product or service that has been licensed from another company, private inventor, or university with their written approval. Revenue streams from the business should not be based solely on deriving revenues from the licensing of its own technologies.
- Name:
- Email:
- Geographic Location:
- How did you hear about the Soc Ent Challenge?
ENTERPRISE INFORMATION
- Name of Enterprise:
- Website:
- What is your organization’s legal form of organization?
- When did it start?
- What is the geographic focus of the enterprise?
- Please provide a few lines of bio-sketch for each member of your management team. If not all positions are filled, let us know the profile of the sort of person you expect to hire.
- How many staff currently work full-time on the enterprise? How many are working part time?
- What sector is it part of? Select from
a. Food/Agriculture
b. Health
c. Education/Training
d. Economic Development
e. Environment/Energy
f. Housing
- Please summarize the problem you are solving and what difference it will make.
- Describe the market your enterprise serves. How many customers will you serve in your first 3 years?
- How much money have you raised & what do you need to accomplish the results you are targeting?
- What partnerships have you established to ensure a systems approach to problem-solving?
- What are your 6 biggest milestones for the next 36 months? What are the qualitative and quantitative results you are targeting?
REQUIRED: Upload your projected income and expenses for the next three years.
OPTIONAL QUESTIONS
- What in the founding team’s background demonstrates tenacity in solving tough problems?
- When does your model become sustainable financially?
- What kind of financial return are you promising to investors?
- How else can your customer/user solve the problem? Who or what is your competition? How are you better or different?
WELCOME AND NOT REQUIRED: Upload a pdf of your business plan. Here are some concerns and data which are likely to be of interest to our judges:
• Executive Summary
- Stand alone overview of the plan
- Brief description of each succeeding section
• Product or Service
- What is the social or environmental problem being solved?
- Is there a clear customer need?
- What is the product or service?
- Does the solution seem feasible?
- What is the competitive advantage?
- Is there a proprietary position with the product or service?
- What is the current stage of development?
• Market and Marketing Strategy
- What is the size of the potential market?
- Can this product or service seize a significant portion of the market?
- What long-term profitability is there in this market?
- What is the market entry strategy?
- What are the unique marketing capabilities of this business?
- Is the product or service scalable?
- What is the direct and indirect position of this product in relation to
the competition?
- Can this product be a leader in the market?
- What are the barriers to entry in the market?
- What is the length of time to enter the market?
• Management Team
- What are the key roles of current management?
- Has this management team worked together before?
- Are there gaps in the current management team?
- What are the key management risks in this product or service?
- What are the key personnel needs?
- What partners are needed to scale this product or service?
• Operating Strategies
- How will the product or service be produced and delivered to
customers?
- What are the distribution channels?
- Is intellectual property important to success?
- Are there regulatory issues?
- What are the key milestones for success?
• Critical Risks
- What are your internal and external strengths and weaknesses?
- How have you built upon and mitigated these issues?
• Additional Financial Information
- Cash flow statement
- Income statement
- Balance sheet
- What type and amount of investment capital is required?
- Is the investment needed all at one time or can it be staged?
• Capital Requirements
- How much of an investment is needed?
- When will the funds be needed?
- What type of funds will be needed?
• Offering and Viability
- How much investment capital is needed?
- What is the proposal/terms to investors?
- How much equity will be given up for investment capital?
- What is a realistic assessment of ROI potential for investors?
- What is the exit strategy for the investor?
• Overall Assessment of the Written Plan and Applicant
- Does Applicant have the vision and skills necessary to develop this
plan?
- Does Applicant have a plan to create systems change as opposed to a
one-off solution?
- Does Applicant have a track record of being tenacious enough to
overcome future barriers?
- Is the plan clear and compelling?
- Does plan show prioritized social or environmental impact over
profit?
- Does the plan for earned income seem feasible?
- What is the potential success of the exit strategy?
- What is the metric you will use to measure the social impact of your
business?
The business may assume a technology, product or service that has been licensed from another company, private inventor, or university with their written approval. Revenue streams from the business should not be based solely on deriving revenues from the licensing of its own technologies.
