Doing social good isn’t limited to the nonprofit space, and oftentimes, companies with strong social missions behind them are incredibly successful and lucrative. Just look at TOMS or Warby Parker, which donate an amount equal to the wholesale value of the product sold every month to nonprofit partners in developing countries.
In Boston’s innovation space, many startups have emerged in recent years to tackle some of society’s biggest problems through tech. These companies have causes that range from helping small farmers be more profitable to making it easier for individuals and businesses to make donations. We’ve highlighted four tech companies making an impact in the Hub and elsewhere.
What they do: Agora for Good connects donors with over one million nonprofits that have been vetted by industry experts. On Agora’s platform, users can create a customized portfolio to manage and keep track of their donations while exploring new causes. Though based in New York, Agora's platform features local charities and funds like Power Launch, a social impact accelerator and innovation lab in Boston.
Why this mission matters, according to an insider: “I’m a first generation American. Both of my parents are foreign. Growing up, I traveled a lot internationally and it made me really grateful for everything I have in America. Early in my career, I was studying global development issues and since then spent time volunteering with nonprofits India, Burma, West and East Africa. My passion is women’s equality, but you can’t improve women’s equality without helping improve access to education. So I started thinking more broadly about how we as donors can impact huge global companies.” — CEO and Co-Founder Angela Campbell
What they do: ArtLifting is an art marketplace where homeless, disabled and other disadvantaged people can sell their artwork online. Rather than solely selling artists’ original work, ArtLifting helps its clients continue earning money through the sale of prints, posters, tote bags and iPhone cases.
Why this mission matters, according to an insider: “I think there are a lot of people who have had bad luck their whole life and really want to be able to work. ArtLifting is a great way to create jobs for people who have been left out of the workforce (whether for mental illness or other challenges) so they can use their existing talent. I think anyone can contribute to the economy if we think creatively about what a job is rather than be close minded.” — Co-founder and Chief Happiness Spreader Liz Powers
What they do: Cabbige helps small, local farmers optimize their business and make more money. By providing farmers with an intuitive online platform powered by complex algorithms, farmers get assistance with appropriately pricing and planning for their crops post-harvest.
Why this mission matters, according to an insider: “My head and heart were always in this place and in this space and for awhile, I don’t think it really occurred to me that there could be a social impact, for-profit company. Cabbige is unique because you can look at it through a business lens and see enormous opportunity to improve efficiency and profits for these small businesses while farmers can get more of their good nutritious food out into the world.” —- CEO and Founder Jessica Angell
What they do: DrivenData, a startup out of Harvard Innovation Lab, uses crowdsourced computational expertise to advance social causes. Basically, DrivenData asks big questions related to an important public need and posts raw data online. Then, they ask hundreds of talented data scientists to have at it, and whoever creates the most predictive algorithm wins a cash prize and bragging rights as a data genius.
DrivenData’s challenges have used big data to help nonprofits and public sector agencies operate far more efficiently and have a greater impact on their social causes — whether they’re preventing foodborne illness or predicting whether developing countries will reach their infant mortality goals.
Why this mission matters, according to an insider: “We’re not the first company to think of hosting competitions for predictive modeling online but many competitions don’t focus on social impact. They usually work with maximizing ad click-through rates or search results. We started thinking a wouldn’t it be great to let people know there are bigger problems they could be working on.” — Co-founder Isaac Slavitt
Some responses have been edited for length and clarity. Photos via social media
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