MIT $100K Twitch Contest Winner Receives $19,000 Donation from Reebok Founder Paul Fireman
For Immediate Release
Couchange.org Donates $20,000 in Prize Winnings and Donations to Community-Selected Charity Dream Corps
CAMBRIDGE, MA, May 18, 2010 – On the heels of last week’s award of $100,000 in prize money to nanoengineered concrete maker C-Crete Technologies, the MIT $100K Entrepreneurship Competition today revealed that Couchange.org, recipient of the competition’s Twitch Contest $500 prize, received a $19,000 donation from Reebok founder and former CEO Paul Fireman in a ceremony yesterday. This donation, along with the prize money from the MIT $100K and a $500 personal contribution from founder Jia Ji, will be donated to Dream Corps, a non-profit organization that promotes education equity in China.
The Twitch contest, which was launched this year in celebration of the MIT $100K’s 20th anniversary, encouraged aspiring entrepreneurs from around the world to give their best business pitch in 140 characters or less. Combining the virality of social media site Twitter with traditional business plan pitch best practices, Twitch contestants participated by communicating their business idea via Twitter and soliciting as many re-tweets as possible to serve as votes for their concept. The twenty day contest attracted competitors from 13 countries and 19 states, and reached almost 300,000 people.
“Twitch was introduced in recognition of social media’s growth as an important tool that helps new companies expand successfully,” said Daniel Vannoni, Managing Director – MIT $100k Entrepreneurship Competition. “We received pitches that represent impressive business concepts from around the globe, but were thrilled that Couchange.org was able not only to build buzz for the business with the contest, but also use it as a platform to give back.”
Couchange.org, which had only advanced to wildcard round of the MIT $100k Entrepreneurship Competition, leveraged the power of social media to secure votes. As part of the company’s Twitch, it asked members of the Twitter community to name their favorite charity when they re-tweeted the Couchange Twitch and promised to donate the full prize to the charity with the most votes at http://couchange.org if Couchange won the contest. At the MIT $100K finale event on May 12, Couchange was awarded the $500 prize and Ji announced to the crowd not only that Dream Corps received the most votes, but also that he would match the prize winnings with a personal donation.
Fireman, who served as the keynote speaker at the finale event, announced to the crowd that he would support Couchange’s efforts by personally donating $19,000 to Dream Corps, an act that will keep a school library in rural China running for 20 years.
“We have been amazed at the impact a simple 140 characters has had on our business and will have on the future of children in rural China,” said Ji. “Thank you to Mr. Fireman for his generous support of Couchange and Dream Corps, the charity that our Twitter followers have selected, and to the MIT $100K for providing another opportunity for us to raise awareness of our company’s efforts to help nonprofits meet their fundraising goals.”
The MIT $100K is an economic barometer for emerging markets that are getting funded by venture capitalists. Since its debut, the competition has facilitated the birth of approximately 130 companies with aggregate exit values of $8 billion captured and a market cap of over $15 billion. These companies have generated approximately 2,500 jobs and received $770 million dollars in venture capital funding. Recent successes include Akamai (AKAM), net.Genesis (NTG), and C-Bridge Internet Solutions (CBIS), Harmonix, Brontes Technologies, and Direct Hit. For more information about the MIT $100K Entrepreneurship Competition and its Twitch contest, visit http://www.mit100k.org.
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MIT $100K Competition and Entrants Receive Accolades
