Summer 2013 - owlspark.com · OwlSpark intends to on-board a full-time mD by January 2014. We are currently launching a search for candidates, and have established a timeline for

Final progress reportSummer 2013

Owlengine ParkiTSweatalyzerVillage Technologoies

OWLSPArK COmPANIeS:CheckedTwiceConcept NodeCoached Schoolingemergency Coremedical Informatics

1. Title Page2. Overview3. metric update4-10. Coached Schooling 11-12. emergency Core13-19. Village Innovators20. Pitch Day Feedback

TAbLe OF CONTeNTS

- Continued funding for social entrepreneurial ventures. OwlSpark is thankful for the generous funding from the Laura and John Arnold Foundation for the 2013 OwlSpark program, and would benefit significantly from a similar donation for the 2014 program.

- Assistance in hiring a full-time Managing Director (MD). OwlSpark intends to on-board a full-time mD by January 2014. We are currently launching a search for candidates, and have established a timeline for the hiring which has been verified by the board

OwlSpark’s inaugural summer accelerator program ran from May 16 – august 16, 2013 at rice university. This document contains results from the entrepreneurship knowledge survey and an update of program metrics.

OwlSpark provided a fundamental learning experience for participating entrepreneurs to improve their skills and enhance their business knowledge. The program featured 29 guest speakers, and involvement from over 120 mentors who volunteered their expertise on specific subject areas pertaining to entrepreneurial business model development, and coached participant companies through lectures and office hours multiple times each week.

OwlSpark also had the fortune of working with 3 social entrepreneurial ventures: Coached Schooling, emergency Core, and Village Innovators. These 3 companies benefitted significantly from cross-polination of ideas, including a new collaboration where Village Innovators will be prototyping some of their lessons in Talent unbound, Coached Schooling’s first school in Northwest Houston. The success of these companies demonstrates the natural fit between the university accelerator model and social entrepreneurial ventures.

Furthermore, the program culminated with Pitch Day on August 15th, with over 340 members of the Houston and rice communities in attendance. The companies are continuing to secure further funding and build relationships from Pitch Day in hopes of securing further funding to carry their companies forward.

HIgHLIgHTS ASK

meTrIC uPDATe

all 9 companies are currently operational

people engaged within & external to rice

152 People engaged within rice

856 People engage external to rice

owlspark events & Mentors

100 Launch Party Attendees

120 OwlSpark mentors

340 Pitch Day Attendees

Current Status: The initial knowledge assessment was re-administered at the end of the accelerator and compared with initial baseline data.A survey consisting of ten open ended questions was developed, administered, and graded on a score of 1 – 10 by Dr. Tom Kraft of the rice Alliance.

Initial Assessment Average: 50.6 out of 100Initial Assesment Std. Dev: 10.4

Final Assessment Average: 68.5 out of 100Final Assesment Std. Dev: 11.2

KNOWLeDge gAINeD

owlspark and pitch Day Funds raised

owlspark $ 313.3KCoached schooling $ 50K

total $ 363.3K

Funds raised before Program Initiation

CheckedTwice $ 132KCoached schooling $ 50Kmedical Informatics $ 800KParkiT $ 2K

total external $1.08M

PeOPLe eNgAgeD

FuNDS rAISeD OPerATIONAL COmPANIeS

FINAL REPORT TO LJAF

2013

The proof-of-concept model for a disruptive national network of high-tech, affordable, private schools that will transform the current state of public education by proving superior and accelerated learning at the lowest possible cost.

CONTENTS

SUMMER OVERVIEW

OWLSPARK ACCELERATION

USE OF LJAF FUNDS

NEXT STEPS

FUTURE SUPPORT

SAMPLES OF STUDENT DATA

COACHED SCHOOLING & TALENT UNBOUND

Final report for the Owlspark summer accelerator program

SUMMER OVERVIEW

Launched nonprofit pilot proof-of-concept school in

northwest Houston, Talent Unbound

Successfully engaged students in a wide range of summer

enrichment activities, including math (Khan Academy),

software programming (coding), model engineering

challenges, Google Maker Camp, reading, typing, and

foreign language learning.

Greatly refined business model, marketing plan, and pitch

OWLSPARK ACCELERATION

Expanded team with additional mentors and interns as well as a pending new full-time member we

met through Owlspark Pitch day

Owlspark facilitated a great relationship with Village Innovators (another Owlspark/LJAF company)

to provide engineering challenges to Talent Unbound students.

Engaged with a wide range of very helpful speakers/mentors brought in through the program

Attracted multiple expressions of support through pitch day with which we continue to follow-up

Without Owlspark, we would be an isolated two-man team with a struggling pilot school and an unrefined

business plan. With Owlspark, we have been transformed into a three-man team plus a wide-ranging “talent

and investor cloud” of mentors and supporters we regularly draw on, have a substantially refined business

model and plan, and are riding a strong momentum heading into autumn.

USE OF LJAF FUNDS

Salary to hire Atif Bhanjee (Masters in Education Policy and Management from Harvard) to assist

with operations, marketing, and fundraising.

Salaries for temporary assistants for the summer program

Supplies and technology for the Talent Unbound pilot school, especially Google Chromebooks and

software (e.g. Rosetta Stone)

NEXT STEPS

Fully prove out the concept and refine the educational and economic model through the nonprofit

proof-of-concept school, Talent Unbound

Attract both after-school and full-time students to Talent Unbound

Continue to refine and develop the curriculum


Based on what we learn from the pilot school, create a technology development plan and budget for

Coached Schooling, a for-profit entity to be created and seed-funded later this year

FUTURE SUPPORT

Coached Schooling is facing a tremendous challenge in that we are trying to prove out the $10/day price

point with the nonprofit Talent Unbound pilot school, but funds needed to fully develop such a pilot school

are far higher than provided by that revenue. Costs are always highest to produce the first copy of any

product or service. We are currently struggling to accomplish this on a shoestring budget ($130k funding

for the next 9 months), but know that we could accomplish so much more and get to replication and growth

so much faster with additional support. We would greatly appreciate the opportunity to explore additional

follow-on funding possibilities with LJAF.


Sample Student Data



Emergency Core: Then and Now Update ReportFinal Report and Future Forecast

Four months ago Sam Brisendine and I had an incredible concept and no clue how to move forward with our design. We knew that our design could have a huge impact on refugees in need, but were not sure what steps to take to move our concept into production. Fortunately for us and for our concept, it was around this same time that we learned of OwlSpark and subsequently were able to benefit from the generosity of the Laura and John Arnold Foundation. Over the course of the three month accelerator, the Emergency Core benefited in three distinct ways; clarity of purpose, traction was gained, and the business education we received is invaluable.

The modest, but necessary stipend we received was far less than we could have made elsewhere as architectural interns. It did, however, allow us to focus all of our attention on refining our concept by spending endless hours surveying non-governmental organizations in the relief space and developing our concept into a sustainable social enterprise. Ideas are meaningless when there is no execution and the ability to concentrate our efforts (made possible in part by the stipend) allowed us to take a good idea and transform it into an executable enterprise.

Another benefit of our time from OwlSpark has been the traction that we have gained with the organizations that we will assist in their relief efforts. Our ongoing conversations and interactions has cemented both our intentions and the ingenuity of our solution for their pains. If we had more traditional internships in our discipline, we would have had no ability to interact with these organizations as they work standard hours. Additionally, the network that OwlSpark is accumulating of Rice University affiliated and non-affiliated contacts helped to make some substantial introductions to key people within these organizations. Within three months we have been able to speak to and benefit from the wisdom of important decision makers at the Red Cross, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, UNICEF, and corporations such as FedEx, IDEO, among others. These conversations gave us clarity and ultimately refinement in purpose and product.

Sam and I have little experience within the business world. That being said, much of our future success as a social enterprise is attributable to the concentrated education we received in the form of the lectures provided, but more importantly the mentorship provided by Darren Clifford of OwlSpark and our official mentors Joe Meppelink of Metalab Studios and Ken Williams of TVM Capital. We now know how we will move forward as a social enter-prise, how we will sustain ourselves, how to assess risk and make decisions accordingly, and generally feel as if we have our feet underneath us in this uncharted territory.

The generous funding that the Laura and John Arnold Foundation provided to us, the Emergency Core, as a social enterprise will enable us to move all the way through our prototype phase. The entirety of the funding will go towards our cast aluminum mold and for the first 18 pallets that we produce. It is difficult to stress how instru-mental we believe this will ultimately be for us as a company. These prototypes will allow us to demonstrate the product effectively, it will allow us to quantify the potential benefit it will have for millions of individuals in need, and the mold will allow us to produce over 600 pallets for our pilot phase.

Ultimately, we plan to pilot the project with three separate organizations in the spring of 2014. This will establish a feedback loop between us and the organizations that will utilize our product. It will also establish a future sales channel for our future revenue. This is incredibly important with the large, bureaucratic organizations that we are targeting.

To date the domestic branch of the Red Cross has agreed to pilot the project in one of their warehouses locally. In addition, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has asked that we begin working directly with their group, the logistics group, the staff housing group, the medical group, and the IKEA Foundation to establish metrics for a full-scale pilot in the field. We are in initial talks with UNICEF to establish a pilot that is fitting of their organization and mission.

After the pilot pis complete, we will refine the product according to the feedback received so that the pallet to floor system that we have designed will provide the maximum amount of benefit for the lowest possible cost. After design refinement we will launch into full-scale production mode. We have and will continue to operate our social enterprise adhering to strict, responsible and sustainable commitments.

We are grateful for our time and OwlSpark and for the generosity of the Laura and John Arnold Foundation. We hope that the support that enabled us to bring innovation to a field often lacking in it, will continue to flow to future worthy social enterprises. A small amount of funding at this critical juncture for social enterprise can ultimately impact millions of lives.

Emergency Core: Then and Now Update ReportFinal Report and Future Forecast

Four months ago Sam Brisendine and I had an incredible concept and no clue how to move forward with our design. We knew that our design could have a huge impact on refugees in need, but were not sure what steps to take to move our concept into production. Fortunately for us and for our concept, it was around this same time that we learned of OwlSpark and subsequently were able to benefit from the generosity of the Laura and John Arnold Foundation. Over the course of the three month accelerator, the Emergency Core benefited in three distinct ways; clarity of purpose, traction was gained, and the business education we received is invaluable.

The modest, but necessary stipend we received was far less than we could have made elsewhere as architectural interns. It did, however, allow us to focus all of our attention on refining our concept by spending endless hours surveying non-governmental organizations in the relief space and developing our concept into a sustainable social enterprise. Ideas are meaningless when there is no execution and the ability to concentrate our efforts (made possible in part by the stipend) allowed us to take a good idea and transform it into an executable enterprise.

Another benefit of our time from OwlSpark has been the traction that we have gained with the organizations that we will assist in their relief efforts. Our ongoing conversations and interactions has cemented both our intentions and the ingenuity of our solution for their pains. If we had more traditional internships in our discipline, we would have had no ability to interact with these organizations as they work standard hours. Additionally, the network that OwlSpark is accumulating of Rice University affiliated and non-affiliated contacts helped to make some substantial introductions to key people within these organizations. Within three months we have been able to speak to and benefit from the wisdom of important decision makers at the Red Cross, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, UNICEF, and corporations such as FedEx, IDEO, among others. These conversations gave us clarity and ultimately refinement in purpose and product.

Sam and I have little experience within the business world. That being said, much of our future success as a social enterprise is attributable to the concentrated education we received in the form of the lectures provided, but more importantly the mentorship provided by Darren Clifford of OwlSpark and our official mentors Joe Meppelink of Metalab Studios and Ken Williams of TVM Capital. We now know how we will move forward as a social enter-prise, how we will sustain ourselves, how to assess risk and make decisions accordingly, and generally feel as if we have our feet underneath us in this uncharted territory.

The generous funding that the Laura and John Arnold Foundation provided to us, the Emergency Core, as a social enterprise will enable us to move all the way through our prototype phase. The entirety of the funding will go towards our cast aluminum mold and for the first 18 pallets that we produce. It is difficult to stress how instru-mental we believe this will ultimately be for us as a company. These prototypes will allow us to demonstrate the product effectively, it will allow us to quantify the potential benefit it will have for millions of individuals in need, and the mold will allow us to produce over 600 pallets for our pilot phase.

Ultimately, we plan to pilot the project with three separate organizations in the spring of 2014. This will establish a feedback loop between us and the organizations that will utilize our product. It will also establish a future sales channel for our future revenue. This is incredibly important with the large, bureaucratic organizations that we are targeting.

To date the domestic branch of the Red Cross has agreed to pilot the project in one of their warehouses locally. In addition, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has asked that we begin working directly with their group, the logistics group, the staff housing group, the medical group, and the IKEA Foundation to establish metrics for a full-scale pilot in the field. We are in initial talks with UNICEF to establish a pilot that is fitting of their organization and mission.

After the pilot pis complete, we will refine the product according to the feedback received so that the pallet to floor system that we have designed will provide the maximum amount of benefit for the lowest possible cost. After design refinement we will launch into full-scale production mode. We have and will continue to operate our social enterprise adhering to strict, responsible and sustainable commitments.

We are grateful for our time and OwlSpark and for the generosity of the Laura and John Arnold Foundation. We hope that the support that enabled us to bring innovation to a field often lacking in it, will continue to flow to future worthy social enterprises. A small amount of funding at this critical juncture for social enterprise can ultimately impact millions of lives.

Village Innovators is a not-for-profit social venture with a mission to spark innovation

among youth in Africa.

Kerry Vaughan, Technology & Innovation Manager Laura & John Arnold Foundation P.O. Box 460809 Houston, Texas 77056-8809

August 23, 2013 Dear Kerry Vaughan, I am including Village Innovators’ end-of-summer update to inform you of the work we have accomplished in the 13-week OwlSpark Accelerator Program. We see this letter as a conversation-starter, and we hope to chat more about our strategy for the future. What’s Inside

1. Summer Successes 2. Next Steps 3. Funds 4. Your Support Accelerated Our Venture 5. Future Support

We hope to keep the conversation rolling in the coming weeks and hear your advice on moving forward. Please do call, or let’s set up an appointment to talk more. Sincerely,

Andrew G. Amis Chief Executive Officer Village Innovators

E-mail [email protected] | Office 601-405-7863 | Village Innovators Address Andrew Amis | 99 Sunset Blvd | Houston, TX 77005 | www.villageinnovators.org

Accelerator Update (1) Summer Successes

Content

We have developed 4 Design Maps: a wind turbine, a solar cooker, a water purifier, and a zero-electricity refrigerator. We have printed and bound our first book. We have attached an electronic version and would also like to mail you a print version.

Field Work in Uganda

We piloted Village Innovators’ content in 8 primary schools, secondary schools, and teacher training colleges in the town and surrounding villages of Gulu, Uganda. Students from age 10-21 built electric motors, catapults, towers, chemical rockets, and batteries with local materials. On product demand, we discovered that the market is ripe. Administrators and teachers opened their doors to us everywhere we visited. They often recounted stories they had seen or heard of youth who built their own radios, solar panels, and even helicopters. They are just as fascinated by technology as we are, and wanted to find ways to incorporate practicals into their programs. On local materials, we discovered that schools source materials from local shops. This means there is no clear one-stop shop or distributor.

Field Work in Kenya

We piloted Village Innovators’ model in Elburgon, Kenya. With $450 and a little knowledge from our team, locals including young university students constructed a wind turbine that now charges a 12-volt battery and powers a laptop. They now want to charge local families a small amount for the electricity they are producing. They can then use this revenue to help pay for school fees and perhaps pay us back over the long-term for the materials we supplied. These students had previously attempted the same project with $2000 and advice from elsewhere, with no success. The video can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zf46bQ8RqIQ

Field Work in Houston, USA We piloted Village Innovators’ challenges with 50 students across 4 supervised sessions in Houston. Five Houston high school students constructed a wind turbine that powers LEDs and charges batteries.


Partner Schools

Partner Schools are schools who agree to put Village Innovators content to use in their classrooms or science clubs. Partner Schools receive 2 Village Innovators books per classroom. One book is intended for the teacher in each classroom; the other is for the students to borrow. Partner Schools also receive videos. Distribution is electronic or by mail, depending on each school’s capabilities. Partner Schools also gain access to funding to purchase design materials. We ask Partner Schools to provide regular updates on progress and feedback. We post project footage from Partners on our website. We have included a list of our tentative Partner Schools.

Uganda - Gulu High School - Gulu Secondary School - Gulu Baptist Primary School - Bul Kur Primary School - Olee Primary School - Restore Leadership High - Mercy’s Primary School - Gulu Primary Teacher’s College Kenya - ROCK Learning Center - Tennessee Institute of IT - St. Luke’s Kanunda Mixed

Secondary - WISER Girls - Kauti Primary School Houston, USA - Coached Schooling - YES Prep East End - YES Prep Northbrook - YES Prep Brayes Oaks - Taylor High School - McMeans Junior High School - Miller Career & Technology - TFA Houston - Katy Opportunity Awareness

Center

Tanzania - Madisi Secondary School - Sawala Secondary School - Kising’a Secondary School - Lukima Secondary School - Idigima Secondary School - Memya Secondary School - Nankanga Secondary School - Imauluma Secondary School - Mtazamo Secondary School - Mtinyaki Secondary School - Mpepo Secondary School - Lughano Secondary School - Bukimau Secondary School - Longa Secondary School - Katunda Secondary School - Kazovu Secondary School - Ninga Secondary School - Mpanzi Secondary School - Sichowe Secondary School - Ntumbe Secondary School - Taita Secondary School - Selejele Secondary School - Fingwa Secondary School - Lipaya Secondary School - Mkwha Secondary School - Malindindo Secondary School


Revenue Model In the 0-1 year time frame, we will primarily rely on donations for our early-stage demonstrations. In addition, we have set up an Affiliates Marketing program with Amazon where we gain revenue when USA users purchase materials through Amazon. We are selling printed Design Maps to the USA market at a One for One price. Every book sold in the USA funds a book in Africa. Organization We have set up a bank account and accounting books. We filed our Certificate of Formation and have been assigned an EIN by the State of Texas. We are filing Form 1023 with the IRS with organization bylaws in the next three weeks. We are inviting our top mentors to our Board of Advisors for ongoing advice. We have created professional TED-style and investor presentations, a logo, a website, and social media presence through Twitter, Google+, and YouTube. Public Exposure We have received online exposure from the OwlSpark Accelerator and Nairobi’s Business Daily. We organized a presentation at the Annual Head-Teachers Conference in Mombasa, Kenya.

(2) Next Steps

Content Growth We are recruiting Rice University engineering students to write new Design Maps for the 2013-2014 year. We will vet our existing content with university professors to check quality before distribution. Our summer video team has the skill, equipment, and manpower to continue producing videos into the coming months, using the video template created this summer. Content Distribution We plan to distribute our existing content to 10,000 students at 40 schools in Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania by December. We will begin funding supply kits at these 40 schools to conduct a 6-month pilot. Partner Growth We received letters of support from the District Education Officers in Gulu, Uganda, and Nakuru, Kenya, advising a list of local schools to welcome our program. After demonstrating success in these schools in the coming months, we can expand to several hundred schools under their jurisdiction. We intend to approach Engineers Without Borders and One Laptop Per Child.


Website Development We will create an online platform where students from around the world can discuss design solutions, share photos and videos, and teach others what they created. We will make our Design Maps interactive and create an online interface for school updates and feedback. Revenue Growth In the coming weeks, we intend to set up an Indiegogo campaign to raise funds for our current Partner Schools. After demonstrating success with our Partners in year 1, we will pursue corporate sponsorships. Our conversations with potential sponsors at Home Depot, Lowe’s, and RadioShack indicate we need to grow before we grab their attention. Management Growth After demonstrating success and raising revenue for these 40 schools, we will hire full-time professional staff with nonprofit experience to manage and grow the organization.

(3) Funds

From LJAF’s total support of $17,000, Village Innovators has allocated approximately:

- 12% to materials and travel for field work in Uganda and Kenya, - an additional 3% for pilot tests and administrative costs in Houston.

We plan to spend the remaining funds using:

- 65% to finance supplies and books for our Partner Schools in Africa, - Up to 15% on video production and marketing for a crowd-sourcing campaign, - Up to 5% for other administrative costs

(4) Support From You Accelerated Our Venture

The Accelerator opportunity has given our team the dedicated time, resources, and mentorship to build our extracurricular activity into a rapidly growing social venture. The support from the Laura & John Arnold Foundation has made Village Innovators capable of supporting Partner Schools: the most crucial piece to our venture. We are immensely grateful!


(5) Future Support

Each Partner School will require $1,220 / year. Currently, our funds are sufficient to fully support 10 Partner Schools in the first year. Our goal is to fully support all 40 Partner Schools in Year 1.

To do so, we need your help. We are seeking an additional $37,000 from the Laura & John Arnold Foundation to fully support 40 Partner Schools in Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania in Year 1.

appenDixPITCH DAy FeeDbACK

Overall Quality of Event: 96% = Excellent or GoodProgram Format 88% = Excellent or GoodQuality of Company P resentations 81% = Excellent or GoodQuality of Networking Opportunities 79% = Excellent or GoodQuality of Investment Opportunities 59% = Excellent or Good

Did you see companies you are considering investing in? 29% - yesDid you refer any companies to an investor in your network? 35% - yes

If so, how many companies: 52% = 1 company; 36% = 2 companies; 3% = 3 companies, 10% = > 3 companies

Attendee Profile (340 total attendees)• Investor (Angel or VC) 16%• OwlSpark Mentor 17%• OwlSpark Company 9%• Entrepreneur 34%• Academic 28%• Service Provider 8%• Other 18% (investor, banker, Foundation, alum, corp.)

Qualitative Comments:

“All of the companies seem really great! I was very impressed with how the entire event was run and the quality of the companies.”

“What an awesome event.”

“Professional, well-organized, well-supported, successful, and with potential to provide value and remain relevant.”

“Great event. Very high quality event and presentations for a university accelerator. Great to hear from Leebron. Hope he returns next year to speak.”

“Proud to be a part of the Rice community that fosters innovation and entrepreneurship.”

“Excellent job !”

“Incredible! Wonderful to see how much work was put in by all the teams and the OwlSpark team! Great to see Rice finally becoming more entrepreneurial!”

Documents

Summer 2013 - owlspark.com · OwlSpark intends to on-board a full-time mD by January 2014. We are currently launching a search for candidates, and have established a timeline for