As part of the Social Good Summit, Mashable will host the inaugural Startups for Good Challenge, a special event to showcase startups that are striving to improve the world.
Startups that are building or using technology to make a positive impact on the world will compete for a chance to present at the Social Good Summit and win a $10,000 cash prize for their company.
The following 8 finalists have been selected to pitch their idea at the Social Good Summit today.
Awaaz De means “give voice.” Awaaz.De provides hosted and open source voice solutions that help organizations engage communities in any language, leveraging the power of voice and mobile phones to make social media accessible for everyone.
Catchafire connects professionals who want to apply their on-the-job skills to non-profits and social enterprises that need their help in areas such as marketing, public relations, design, social media, strategy and finance.
Kopernik provides life-changing technologies to the developing world. They connect technology providers, technology seekers and investors to provide local products that are proven to reduce poverty and disease but are often unavailable to the people who need them most.
em[POWER] is concerned about what happens to a population that is forced to pick through landfills to find food, shelter and a source of livelihood. They seek to revitalize waste scavenging communities by improving the sorting efficiency of recyclables, turning organic waste and waste water into electricity, creating high quality compost and providing the nucleus for a host of community-owned businesses.
Prove My Concept is an online enterprise platform that allows young people to create, develop and test their business ideas.
Sparked offers convenient online volunteerism for busy professionals who don’t have time to lend their expertise through traditional channels. They make volunteering as fun, social and easy to use as Facebook, Farmville, or Twitter. It’s volunteerism for the digital age, or “microvolunteering.”
Simple Energy is changing how millions of people save energy by revolutionizing how utilities engage their customers. They combine energy industry experience, behavioral science, game mechanics and social networks to change how people save energy.
Roseicollis Technologies aims to deploy technologies that can disrupt both developed and emerging markets. Currently they are implementing the SunSaluter, an inexpensive solar panel rotator, to push solar technology to the forefront of the alternative energy in the developing world.
