The World Bank meets Resdida at the SoMa HUB

If you are in the social benefit entrepreneurship space in the SF Bay Area, you have heard about The Hub.  With the original space in the Mission, a second in Berkeley and now the new space in SoMa, the concept is as viral and vibrant as the entrepreneurs that engage them.  It was no surprise that the visiting team from the World Bank’s Innovation Practice arrived there Friday (May 14, 2010) to meet with local entrepreneurs to discuss social innovation, design and technology for the base of the pyramid (BOP). 

Kevin Braithwaite organized and facilitated the event last Friday hosted at The HUB SoMa, which opens this week (May 17, 2010), and invited me to come down and represent Resdida with a quick presentation on our MOBILIZE platform. 

It was a pleasure to be there in the new facility as they were finishing up construction. Even pre-launch there’s a flurry of excitement and a magnetism that’s hard to describe. Eight local social benefit enterprises, including Resdida, were there to share with each other and the representatives from the World Bank some of the great innovations happening here locally.   The Bay Area made an excellent showing as an exciting place to "do good" and to "do good work".

The following ventures were represented:

Each entrepreneur took about five minutes to explain their innovation and answer questions from the audience.  The representatives from the World Bank were listening, taking notes, asking questions and providing insights.  The presentations were divided into key innovation areas, and Resdida was positioned in the Mobile category. 

The event was a great confluence of innovation and thought, and it was fascinating to learn more about the great things happening all around us.  In terms of key takeaways, the one that struck me the hardest was around one key barrier to success for social benefit enterprises.  There was a general consensus among all of us in attendance that while there are so many great innovations, there exists very little seed and early stage capital resources available to nurture and grow them.  Many innovations each year fail to reach their potential because of this gap in funding, and that does the billions living at the BOP a great disservice.  We are all hoping we will find that the gap is short-lived as new funding sources emerge in this space.

The event ended in time for the Wine Down reception and networking at The Hub.  All-in-all, an inspiring afternoon!  So glad to have been there and honored to be invited!