Meet These Social Entrepreneurs On Stage at SOCAP22
SOCAP22 offers opportunities to connect and collaborate for change, and our Entrepreneur Program gives innovators from around the world the opportunity to pitch their ideas on stage. The entrepreneurs selected this year — see a full list here — will share their incredible solutions to pressing social, cultural, and environmental programs at SOCAP22, and have other opportunities for learning and connection before the event.
Below we share more about three entrepreneurs making a difference in financial inclusion and services — from creating access to digital banking for the Global South to ensuring digital safety for all. Register for SOCAP22 to hear more from them and others in the Entrepreneur Program bringing the most innovative solutions around the globe to scale!
Quipu Market
Mercedes Bidart
What is the focus of your venture?
We are building a digital decentralized bank for the informal economy in Latin America.
What impact is your company creating in the world?
We currently measure the social impact with the indicator of increased sales that users have once they join our platform and access capital. For the most part, they increase their sales by 10% and access financial training courses that help them understand their sales, income, and expenses, and develop marketing strategies. In addition, we map how the consumption of local products is increased through the marketplace and growth of the entrepreneur network. This reduces the environmental impact generated by the transport of food and increases the growth of local economies.
Additionally, we developed a program called Green Coin that promotes informal enterprises through environmental actions. Thanks to alliances with private environmental entities, we started a pilot program that helps informal entrepreneurs access credit and make their payment with used cooking oil (ACU). We currently have 30 linked entrepreneurs and are measuring how they reduce the carbon footprint as well as the growth of their enterprises.
What call to action or advice do you have for others?
Design for the margins.
Courtroom5
Sonja Ebron
What is the focus of your venture?
Courtroom5 is a member-only e-commerce marketplace for people seeking on-demand lawyer services while representing themselves in court.
What impact is your company creating in the world?
Courtroom5 helps people access training and tools to navigate the legal system and give them more agency and control over their lives. We aim to serve 20 million individuals per year in the United States and 150 million internationally.
What call to action or advice do you have for others?
Making money work for good is now more important than ever.
Eticas
Gemma Galdon Clavell
What is the focus of your venture?
Eticas’ mission is to protect people in technology processes. To that end, we design and provide pioneering services thar reconcile technological possibilities and human rights. Our star service is algorithmic auditing. We are a nonprofit with an incubated consultancy in Spain, currently incorporating as a nonprofit in the United States.
What impact is your company creating in the world?
We are changing the present and shaping the future of technology. Lack of AI regulation has given rise to an inefficient market where social impact and risks are not taken seriously. While there is broad awareness of this fact, solutions are lacking. We develop those solutions that effectively protect people in technology processes, thus closing the implementation gap of AI regulation and contributing to building trustworthy AI that benefits all.
We measure our impact in revenue, policy wins, and reach of our impact initiatives. All areas use OKRs, and we have invested heavily in professionalising and standardising internal processes to scale. With a current team of almost 30 people, we aim for a staff of 50 and $2.5 million in revenue in 2023 and for rapid growth afterwards, hitting the $10 million mark by 2025.
What call to action or advice do you have for others?
Technology is not neutral! Hard-won rights are being eroded in technological processes, and tech-for-good initiatives often fail to protect people. We need a more meaningful understanding of and action around technology to create a digital future where we can all trust technology regardless of our gender, race, or location.
