While Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai, who will give a keynote talk at next week’s Under 30 Summit in Philadelphia, is generating enormous buzz, more than 100 young entrepreneurs have been nervously anticipating a different moment: the announcement of who gets to go on stage and pitch Steve Case, Forbes Media CEO Mike Perlis and Philly's own Troy Carter for a winner-take-all jackpot: $400,000.
That moment is now. The deadline for entries was last Friday, and 117 start-ups met the challenge, filling out an extensive questionnaire. The criteria was simple: be one of the chosen participants at the Under 30 Summit, comprised in large part of honorees from a Forbes 30 Under 30 list, or else be an under 30 entrepreneur based from our host city, Philadelphia. (In keeping with Case’s Rise of the Rest tour, Silicon Valley start-ups, which have access to a torrent of capital were excluded.)
The prize is immense: an equity investment of $150,000 from Steve Case ($100,000), Forbes Media and Carter -- a hell of a team to have in your corner. Plus, $250,000 in free advertising and services from Forbes, no dilution required.
A screening committee led by entrepreneurship professor Steve Andriole and his crack team from Villanova’s business school and Seth London, director of strategic operation for Steve Case’s Revolution, with help from Up Global, has been basically working without sleep the past six days. Every entry received a lengthy vetting, and by the end of last weekend, they’d culled the list from 117 to 75, and then to 25.
The past few days have been devoted to properly vetting those 25, and getting to a Final 5, which was finalized a few hours ago. Having participated in some of those conversations, I can testify that everyone was given a fair shot – and that there was unanimity around these finalists. No hanging chads here, and no need for regret from all the excellent semi-finalists. (All the screeners were floored the excellent options, as well as how many carried a socially-conscious mission.)
Without further ado, the Final Five are:
- Enrou (Los Angeles): Enrou is an online, content-driven marketplace for socially conscious consumers.
- LifeShel (Pittsburgh): LifeShel creates smartphone cases that crowdsource community safety.
- MilkCrate (Philadelphia): MilkCrate’s app help peoples live sustainably in their neighborhood.
- Readycart (Chattanooga): ReadyCart is a commerce solution bridging content creators and retailers on any platform.
- TowerView Health (Philadelphia): TowerView Health enables patients to manage complex medication schedules.
These five will pitch in front of more than 1,000 of their peers (who will vote on their favorite), as well as judges Case, Perlis and Philly-native Carter on Tuesday morning. They’ll also get some coaching beforehand. The winner will be announced that afternoon, shortly before Malala’s talk. Game on. Full details on the Under 30 Summit can be found here.
