Finalists Selected for the 2025 John Edwardson, '72, Social New Venture Challenge

This week, seven teams were named finalists in the 2025 John Edwardson, ’72, Social New Venture Challenge. The teams, which are working on social ventures focused on everything from plastic waste and infectious diseases to online privacy and charitable giving, will compete in the Edwardson SNVC Finals on Wednesday, May 28, for a minimum of $400,000 in investment.
 
The SNVC is the social impact track of the University of Chicago’s nationally ranked business launch program, the New Venture Challenge. Hosted by Chicago Booth’s Rustandy Center for Social Sector Innovation and the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, the SNVC has jump-started more than 200 mission-driven startups that have collectively raised more than $260 million.

“This year marks the 15th cohort of the SNVC. As we celebrate this important milestone, we take great pride in knowing that we’ve helped launch dozens of mission-driven startups that have gone on to create meaningful impact worldwide,” said Robert H. Gertner, John Edwardson Faculty Director and the Joel F. Gemunder Professor of Strategy and Finance. “We look forward to continuing to support the innovative, life-changing solutions of UChicago students in the years to come.”

2025 Edwardson SNVC Finalist Teams Include:

Abel is a 15-minute-a-day partner for small businesses in India that helps them make smarter decisions to grow their cash. It uses data from existing informal systems, and delivers powerful insights and simple, actionable, tailored next steps to help small-business owners optimize cash flows, increase revenues, and cut costs. 

Emerging Donor Alliance (EDA) is a nonprofit whose mission is to accelerate proactive charitable giving among young professionals. EDA will partner with employers to provide regular experiential learning opportunities for Gen Z employees to hone in on the causes they're passionate about, build meaningful connections with local nonprofits, and develop positive philanthropic habits for years to come.

Exactics develops rapid diagnostic tools for underrepresented infectious diseases to expedite at-home and clinical diagnoses, improving treatment plans and outcomes. Exactics has developed QuickLyme®, a patented 15-minute at-home test for Lyme disease and is currently adapting its patented platform to create a multiplex assay for malaria and similarly presenting diseases.

ReLive connects retirees with purpose-driven, flexible work opportunities and a social network that fosters community. Through skill-based employment and meaningful connections, retirees stay active, engaged, and valued while employers benefit from experienced talent. Launching first in Singapore, ReLive redefines retirement as a phase of connection, growth, and impact. 

Rise Reforming seeks to turn the tide on the plastic disaster. They use a modular, patent-pending technology to produce cheap and climate-positive chemicals from plastic waste. Their products will help decarbonize the chemical manufacturing industry and its users while combating plastic pollution.

Papaya Privacy Co. empowers web users to take control of their online privacy with a browser-based AI agent that automatically clicks cookie banners, blocks trackers, and facilitates ethical data monetization. By seamlessly automating consent decisions and offering a transparent data marketplace, Papaya ensures that users can protect their privacy while benefiting financially from their data.

Vidyasha is combining “education” (Vidya) and “hope” (Asha) to empower out-of-school and out-of-job women in India with market-relevant skills in early childhood education. Vidyasha fosters financial independence, builds resilience, and reduces gender-based violence. It aims to create a trickle-down effect, generate sustainable livelihoods, and help mothers rejoin the workforce.

The SNVC Finals are open to all members of the UChicago community and the general public. Register to attend in person at Harper Center or tune in online.