12 ventures have been selected as the first cohort to take part in the GoodTech Ventures Accelerator – a new programme supporting impact-led start-ups. The programme is delivered by Catch22 in partnership with Social Tech Trust and Unity Ventures with funding and support from Ufi VocTech Trust, Microsoft and the UK government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.
David Hinton, Senior Venture Partner at Catch22’s GoodTech Ventures, said:
“We are thrilled to welcome these 12 outstanding ventures selected for the first cohort of the GoodTech Ventures Accelerator. The selection process was highly competitive, with numerous exceptional impact ventures to choose from.
At GoodTech Ventures, we are dedicated to supporting founders who are committed to developing tech solutions for a stronger society. We believe that these 12 ventures exemplify this dedication. We look forward to providing our support to these ventures as they embark on their journey to create lasting social impact.”
GoodTech Ventures supports early-stage impact-led tech founders through a community of practice and an accelerator programme.
The full set of ventures are available on the GoodTech Ventures website. Three of the ventures who will be part of the cohort are:
SuperFi
SuperFi is on a mission to provide urgent support to the 20 million adults who are currently struggling to stay on top of their bills in the midst of the UK’s cost of living crisis. The SuperFi app helps people to stay on top of their bills and out of problem debt. Backed by leading social impact funds, SuperFi has partnered with the Greater London Authority and is working with councils, housing associations and banks to roll out its service across the UK.
SuperFi Founder, Tom Barltrop, said:
“Being part of the GoodTech Ventures accelerator program is a unique opportunity to further develop our relationships with public sector organisations to address the lack of scalable support for people across the UK who are at risk of falling behind on their monthly bill payments.”
Good With
Good With is a financial behaviour analytics solution, supporting financial services’ risk prediction and decisioning for ‘credit invisible’ young adults. Good With have developed a model that predicts psychological readiness for credit, Readiness Score™, which accurately identifies who these overlooked good customers and potentially risky customers are. This is supplemented by a psycho-education process for collecting that data, FinIQ™ through which we make the ‘invisibles’ visible.
Founder and CEO, Gabriela Isas, and Co-Founder, Dr Ellie Kallis, said:
“We are passionate female founders who have personally experienced problem debt and lack of relevant financial education and mental health support. We are committed to Good With’s success and are delighted to start working with GoodTech Ventures team to gain insights and support on how to achieve our impact and commercial goals, and deliver on our mission: a world where people, whatever their starting point in life, can become good with money, and safely attain their goals.”
Cogs AI
Cogs is an autistic-led technology company building software for the neurodivergent community. Their first product is a mobile application, which helps neurodivergent people understand their diagnosis and work through day-to-day situations, such as understanding and regulating emotions, communicating how they feel to others and asking for help in a crisis.
CEO and Co-Founder, Zareen Ali, and Felix de Grey, COO and Co-Founder, said:
“As a new entrant into the public sector, we are very excited to join the GoodTech Ventures Accelerator. We are hoping that the programme will help us to build out a repeatable and scalable route to market, developing on the lessons we’ve learnt from winning our existing contracts in the NHS and local authorities. One of the main appeals for us is the opportunity to be introduced to leaders, commissioners and an array of potential partners who will expand our reach into the public sector.”
Programmes Director at Social Tech Trust, Chris Blues, said:
“We are excited to welcome innovative ventures to the GoodTech Ventures Accelerator. These visionary companies are making waves and driving positive change across community development, employment and training, finance, and health sectors. As we embark on the accelerator journey together, we look forward to walking alongside these ventures and supporting them to take their impact to the next level.”
Director of Ufi Ventures, Helen Gironi, said:
“We are delighted to welcome the first cohort of impact-driven tech ventures to the GoodTech Ventures Accelerator and look forward to following their progress. At Ufi we support the development and deployment of vocational technology to help adults gain skills for work. We are particularly pleased that this first cohort includes a strong set of ventures innovating in this space.”
If you’re a social impact ventures who might want to join our next cohort, you can register your interest via the GoodTech Ventures website. Applications will be open in early March.