Kintone is proud to announce the three finalists for Kintone’s Social Impact Challenge! After careful review of the various applicants, zeusjuice, Cesion Software and Resilient Wellness were chosen as finalists for the live crowdfunding event.
Each finalist will pitch their project before a live audience on August 9th for the chance to win over $5,000 in funding, plus additional prizes. The winner is chosen by the audience, with each attendee using their ticket to vote for their organization of choice. The organization a person votes for receives 100% of their ticket cost—even if they don’t win.
Kintone’s Impact Challenge is an event that recognizes and rewards individuals and teams who are using technology to positively change social and environmental issues in the Bay Area. The live event featuring the three finalists will be hosted on August 9th at the WeWork Embarcadero Center. Audience tickets are available for purchase here.
Finalists:
zeusjuice
zeusjuice is the brainchild of Ehb Teng, the co-founder of software-development company Diginido Labs. Teng spent a period of teen years homeless; his experience made him aware of the value of phones for the homeless community. According to Teng, “phones act as a lifeline for the homeless to stay connected to family or gain access to additional resources. But without power, these things are unreachable.”
zeusjuice is a free application that displays publicly-accessible power outlets. Through the app, people can find and share the locations of power outlets with one another. The app also features an SMS tool that lets them look up nearby power outlets with the app is not available.
Zuriel (Cesion Software)
Zuriel is a project of Cesion Software CEO Abhigya Sodani, Edward Frazer, Nidhir Guggilla, Tommy Vo Tran, Suhas Kotha, and Samuel Brashears. Sodani, a high school student himself, says he sees firsthand the shortcomings of America’s educational system. Many students are subject to underfunded, understaffed, and underprepared schools. The lack of resources has “left many students unable to compete with an increasingly-competitive world after graduation,” says Cesion CTO Edward Frazer.
Zuriel, an application designed by Sodani's team at Cesion Software, aims to increase school funding while encouraging students to improve their academic performance and retention. Here’s how it works: local businesses pledge donations to schools on the condition of good academic performance. Students from the school enter the Zuriel platform and answer a series of questions related to their school material. If they show good answers, the pledged money is sent to their school.
Students who excel can also win prizes for their work while businesses can use their donations for tax benefits. Sodani’s hope is to not only foster a sense of community and responsibility for education but also help businesses identify and connect with future potential employees.
Resilient Wellness
Resilient Wellness is a non-profit that uses blockchain technology give patients with chronic illnesses access to eastern and western healthcare solutions. Founded by Daisy Ozimo, a passionate activist for people who suffer from chronic illnesses, the platform lets insurance and healthcare systems invest funds that are distributed to a set number of chronic illness patients. Patients can then use the funds to access a healthcare or alternative medicine providers that meet their specific needs.
Patients are given additional rewards for improving statistics related to their illness and providers receive rewards based on the amount of time they spend treating patients. “We work within various areas to advance our mission of decolonizing systems and practices, while simultaneously building infrastructure that is sustainable at the core foundation,” says Ozimo.
In addition to our finalists, we also want to announce seven Very Impactful Persons (VIPs). VIPs are organizations who applied for the Social Impact Challenge whose work is recognized for its contribution to the Bay Area. Each VIP will present their work at the Social Impact Challenge, although audiences will not be able to vote for them.
VIPs (Very Impactful Persons):
Purple Patriot: a mobile platform that removes the barrier for participation in government, making it simple to get started and easy to stay involved.
Homobiles: a non-profit dedicated to providing secure and reliable transit to the SF Bay Area LGBTIQQ community and its allies.
Techtonica: helps place women and non-binary adults into technical job roles with tech apprenticeships and living/equipment resources.
Flourish Savings: a platform that encourages people to establish and practice good financial habits.
Robotics Without Limits: a non-profit that provides unique learning opportunities in the robotics industry for children with special needs.
Anxiety in Teens: the first online, youth-led community for youth with mental health issues and their families.
Benevolently: a platform focused on creating 1:1 experiences where one person helps another, without expectation of return.
Interested in attending Kintone’s Social Impact Challenge? Join as an audience member and help decide the winner!
A special shoutout and thank you to our partners at Caravan Studios, TechSoup, WeWork and Social Enterprise Alliance for helping us judge applicants, providing us with a community event space, and giving overall guidance in putting on a fun and meaningful event for social impact orgs and their supporters!
About the Author
Michelle is the Content Marketing Specialist at Kintone. She is a content marketing expert with several years in content marketing. She moved to San Francisco in 2015 and has experience working in small businesses, non-profits, and video production firms. She graduated in 2012 with a dual degree in Film and English.
