SEED (Supporting Entrepreneurship in Education) 2.0

Posted by on September 24, 2012

“SEED 2.0,” October 10, 2012:
A Joint Production of PhillyCORE Leaders and Councilman Bill Green

What?
SEED (Supporting Entrepreneurship in Education) 2.0 is a crowd-funded and –sourced opportunity for education entrepreneurs (non-profit or for-profit) to compete for cash prizes and, even more importantly, present their ideas before an engaged audience of potential funders, users, collaborators, and community members.

SEED 2.0 is modeled off the internationally popular Sunday Soup program, a micro-granting program where attendees pay on a sliding scale (usually $10-20) for a locally sourced dinner during which they hear brief presentations from members of the creative community. The attendees then vote on their choices for first, second, and third prize. Once the votes are tallied, the winning groups take home monetary prizes of varying sizes (e.g., $400 for first, $200 for second, $100 for third) funded by the attendance charge.

SEED 2.0 takes the premise of Sunday Soup and tweaks it: the presentations focus solely on education entrepreneurship in the Philadelphia area. Following a meet and mingle period, during which presenters will be available to answer attendee questions on their concepts, presenters will be given three minutes each to “pitch” their idea to the entire audience. After each pitch, an esteemed panel of judges has five minutes to ask questions, critique business plans, and make suggestions. After all the pitches and Q&A, the audience then votes for a winner.

To generate a significant monetary prize (targeted at $5,000 for first place), attendees will be asked to pay a $25 entrance fee and sponsorships from corporate partners will be solicited. Sponsors for the first SEED included PECO, The Knight Foundation, and WHYY.

Who?
The first SEED, held in March 2012, had over 40 applicants, which were narrowed down to 12 finalists – 6 in an “Emerging” Entrepreneurs category and 6 in an “Expanding/Established” Entrepreneurs category. The winner of the “Emerging” Entrepreneurs category – PhilaSoup – won $5,000, which it is using to apply for non-profit status and to extend its outreach. The winner of the “Expanding/Established” Entrepreneurs category – Springboard Collaborative – won a bundle of pro-bono services (legal, accounting, etc.) and sit-downs with several foundation heads in the region. The event had almost 200 attendees and raised over $9,000, including $5,000 from ticket sales and $4,000 from corporate sponsorships.

SEED 2.0 will occur during Young Involved Philadelphia’s “State of Young Philly,” an annual event series that will be held during the first two weeks of October. For SEED 2.0, applications will be solicited for one topical issue – technology in the classroom (we’ll have a different topical focus for each future SEED event). The goal is to provide at least $5,000 to the winner, and if enough funds are raised, smaller prizes ($1,000 to $2,000) to the runner-ups.

When?
SEED 2.0 will take place on Wednesday, October 10th from 6 to 8:30 p.m. at Oxford Mills, a new mixed commercial/residential space for teachers and educators located at 100 West Oxford Street, Philadelphia, PA 19123. The applications will be posted online on Monday, September 10th, applications will close on Monday, September 24th at 5pm, and the finalists (a/k/a the presenters) will be notified on Monday, October 1st. Tickets for the event will become available online in September. Follow PhillyCORE Leaders and Councilman Bill Green on Facebook for information about the event.

http://www.facebook.com/PhillyCORELeaders