Member Article

Cash support and mentorship for Manchester tech start-up

Nominet Trust have awarded £40,000 and mentorship to a Manchester-based tech start-up called Reason Digital, who have produced an app called Safetynet.

Safetynet helps to improve the safety of vulnerable, excluded groups by empowering them to share time-critical safety alerts with others nearby via smartphones.

It can be used as a panic button by sending the users location to a trusted contact requesting help. Suspicious or criminal activity will immediately alert other vulnerable people in the vicinity and be shared anonymously with support agencies and police. Reducing crime levels in an area will also benefit the area in general.

Leading global tech and business entrepreneurs step forward to support winners of £1m Social Tech, Social Change Challenge.

Key global tech and business industry figures are to act as mentors to the successful applicants of the £1m ‘Tech for Good’ fund led by Nominet Trust and Founders Forum for Good it was revealed today.

The Social Tech, Social Change Challenge offers funding and support to entrepreneurs developing exciting new tech ventures that address major social issues affecting Britain, such as unemployment, social isolation, access to education and healthcare. The Social Tech, Social Change mentors who have committed to help the winners of the £1m ‘Tech for Good’ fund effectively grow in scale and influence include: Brent Hoberman, co-founder of lastminute.com and Sir Tim Smit, co-founder of the Eden Project.

They sit alongside Gi Fernando, co-founder of Techlightenment; Barry Smith, co-founder of Skyscanner.net and visionary mobile guru, Ralph Simon (known as “the father of the ringtone”) – to name but a few. Each of the mentors has been carefully matched to a new social tech project relevant to their own experience. They will play a crucial role in developing the early-stage ideas into profitable, scalable ventures by lending their skills and knowledge of specific markets.

The mentors will help the projects grow and will be there to offer both advice and hands-on support throughout the duration of the year-long programme.

In addition to valuable mentorship, the entrepreneurs will each receive in the region of £50,000 from the £1m STSC fund, to help bring their ideas to fruition. They will be celebrating their success at a winners’ dinner on 29 January 2014. Dafna Ciechanover Bonas, CEO of Founders Forum For Good, which was established to encourage the world’s most dynamic digital entrepreneurs to offer their time, skills and resources to help tech entrepreneurship in the third sector flourish said:

“For an ambitious young entrepreneur taking on today’s big social challenges, the right mentor can make all the difference. We know that actual mentorship and support from those with experience and the relevant contacts is vital to the success of social tech start ups.

“Founders Forum For Good was created by Founders, for Founders, and we are confident that our pool of world-class digital entrepreneurs will make exceptional mentors, offering a year-long commitment of practical advice and industry insights to the winners of the fund”.

Annika Small, CEO of Nominet Trust, said, “It’s a very exciting time for social entrepreneurship, as increasingly we are seeing the ambitious use of technology to address complex social challenges.

“At Nominet Trust, we have injected almost £20m into the Tech for Good market and are proud to offer continued support to some truly innovative ventures.

“The Social Tech, Social Change mentors have a range of backgrounds and specialisms, and will be able to support the new intake of projects with the technological and business know-how vital to gaining significant market traction. “The combination of Nominet Trust’s dedication to social tech funding and the Founders Forum For Good active and engaged digital entrepreneur network will help ensure each winning project of the Social Tech for Social Change challenge will have a real opportunity to impact social change for the better.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Simon Malia .