Union launches social enterprise scheme

Imperial College Union launched its new social entrepreneurship scheme, ACT Now! (exclamation mark and everything) last Monday, at an event that saw seasoned as well as novice entrepreneurs, take to the stage and share their experiences in the Union Concert Hall.

Nas Andriopoulos, Union President, started the event with a warm welcome in which he outlined the aims of the ACT Now! scheme which include creating “the hub for all enterprise activity at Imperial”. The scheme involves a series of workshops, pitches, and sessions with people within the Union to help further social enterprise ideas you might have.

The first speaker to be invited on stage was Paul Barlow from Creative Conscience, a company which tries to connect “young designers with a problem and [unite] them to change the world”. The Unilever-sponsored not-for-profit holds annual awards for “socially valuable, human centered design”, the winners of which get “mentorship or internships (through the CCA network) and profile building PR activities”. Sadly the prizes made the awards feel more like a way for companies to poach talented, driven and socially conscious individuals, rather than promote social entrepreneurship.

Talks from a number of recent entrepreneurs followed, including Tristan Dell & Debesh Mandal from IRIS Drone Technologies, current IC undergrads, and Ilana Taub from Snact who eagerly shared their experience.

The former talked about their recent endeavour to create a company aimed at fast tracking medical examinations through the drone facilitated transportation of samples. The team talked about the hurdles they had to overcome and the difficulty of trying to run a business during their degrees, but ended on a high note, encouraging aspiring entrepreneurs to believe in their ideas.

Ilana Taub runs a viable company which consciously manufactures snacks in an effort to reduce global food waste. Like Dell and Debesh, Taub talked about the inspiration behind her business as well the challenges she has had had to overcome, some of which she’s still facing. These included financial viability of the product as well as the ethical complications that arise when trying to create a socially conscious business.

Despite the quality of the presentations, the event left a bitter aftertaste and some of us wondering whether social work and entrepreneurship should ever be marketed as a pair.