Techstarter was a social innovation award programme, we developed in partnership with Vodafone and its charitable arm, the Vodafone Foundation. It aimed to uncover and develop innovative ideas which are harnessing the power of UK technology, connectivity and innovation to improve health, education, environmental protection or social mobility. Eight winners, both for profit and not for profit, were selected from over 270 applications. The winners included LettUs Grow, Wayfindr and Full Fact. All eight ventures received funding and access to tech and business expertise and mentoring from Social Tech Trust, Vodafone and partners. 

In partnership with the Mayor of London, we developed and delivered the Civic Innovation Challenge. The programme brought together tech startups and Londoners with strategic partners including the Metropolitan Police, the Greater London Authority and Transport for London to co-create innovative solutions to some of the capital’s most pressing social issues. The Challenges included countering violent extremism, helping London meet its housing needs and tackling congestion in the capital. We supported 40 ventures through the challenge, with the winners receiving £40,000 and direct access to roll-out their solution with challenge partners. Ventures include:

Future Fox – accelerating positive community participation and people-focused places through their digital engagement platform.

Raven Science – research-led technology venture using machine learning to find, classify, and analyse videos with extremist content.