Social media is playing an increasingly prominent role in modern entrepreneurship, allowing businesses to generate their own exposure, funding and interaction with customers in ways that would - until relatively recently - have been utterly inconceivable.
And the tool is still evolving. Aside from being a powerful vessel for a company’s voice and vision, other elements of social media such as crowdfunding are allowing social enterprises to directly tap into and foster communities who are eager to support and form a connection with social change. Now, businesses can make their stories - and the stories of those they are trying to help - available and more personally relatable to a larger number of people than ever before.
It’s a two-way street, one that gives you the option to follow the progress and champion the cause of the Chivas Venture finalist to your heart - all at the click of a button. Here is where you can follow all of the 30 game-changing startups on social media:
Xinca (Argentina): Turning garbage into shoes, whilst employing those who are marginalised from society.
Twitter: @XincaOk
Instagram: @xinca_eco_shoes
Facebook: @XincaSustentables
Words with Heart (Australia):Eco-friendly print & stationery products funding education projects for women and girls.Twitter: @wordswheartInstagram: @wordswithheartFacebook: @wordswithheartau
BeeOdiversity (Belgium): Monitoring bees to reduce pollution and increase biodiversity.Twitter: @BeeOdiversityFacebook: @BeeOdiversity
Livre (Brazil): Transforming any standard wheelchair into an electric tricycle.Instagram: @kitlivreoficialFacebook: @kitlivre
Sea Harmony (Bulgaria): Developing vertical mussel-farming reefs to restore marine ecosystems.
Facebook: @seaharmonybg
Twitter: @seaharmonybg
Bioestibas (Colombia):Eco-friendly pallets manufactured from wasted flower stalks.Twitter: @bioestibas
Sens Foods (Czech Republic):Healthy & sustainable protein bars made with cricket flour.Twitter: @SENSFoodsFacebook: @sensfoods
SoloCoco (Dominican Republic):Employing single mothers to produce sustainable coconut oil.Twitter: @OnlyCoconutsFacebook: @Mysolococo
Green City Solutions (Germany):Using special moss cultures to create 'City Trees' that eat air pollution.Facebook: @mygcsTwitter: @mycitytree
Laddroller (Greece):Light and affordable wheelchair enabling users to stand up.Twitter: @laddrollerFacebook: @laddroller
Now Money (Gulf):Mobile banking experience for low-income communities who are excluded from the financial system.Twitter: @NOWMoneyME
BYT (Hong Kong): Turning unwanted fabrics into luxury fashion that cares.
Twitter: @Redress_Asia, @bytlife
Facebook: @RedressAsia, @EcoChic Design Award, @BYTlife
Instagram: @getredressed, @bytlife_
Youtube: @bytlife, @RedressAsia
NowTechnologies (Hungary): Giving hope and mobility at the blink of an eye.Instagram: @nowtechnologies
Intendu (Israel): Brain training platform using video games to aid patients' recovery.
Twitter: @intendu3
Facebook: @Intendu
Factelier (Japan):Reviving craft in rural Japan through fashion, sold directly from factories to consumers.Twitter: @FactelierFacebook: @Factelier
Sanivation (Kenya):Installing toilets in people's homes and turning poop into fuel.Twitter: @sanivation
FOLO farms (Malaysia): Urban farming community turning food waste into compost to grow organic vegetables.
Instagram: @feedourlovedones
Facebook: @FeedOurLovedOnes
WeaRobot (Mexico):Developing affordable, tailor-made exoskeletons supporting movement and rehabilitation.Twitter: @WeaRobot_
RecyclePoints: A Nigerian innovator that sees the hidden value of everyday waste.
Twitter: @RecyclePointsNG
Facebook: @RecyclePoints
Instagram: @RecyclePoints
African Clean Energy (Netherlands): Clean energy device enabling safe smokeless cooking as well as solar energy for light & phone charging.
Twitter: @acelesotho
Instagram: @africancleanenergy
Facebook: @AfricanCleanEnergy
NexBio (Poland): Detecting plant diseases early through DNA analysis, reducing pesticide usage.
Facebook: @nexbio.science
Sun Concept (Portugal): Solar electric boats protecting the environment and coastal working communities.
Facebook: @sunconceptmarine
Twitter: @SunConcept
SoWat (Romania): Transportable filtration unit turning any source of fresh water into clean drinking water for up to 5,000 people per day.
Facebook: @sowatsystem
SmartHead (Slovakia): Online platform enabling companies and individuals to promote their socially-responsible initiatives.
Facebook: @besmarthead
Twitter: @1SmartHead1
Instagram: @SmartHead
iDrop Water (South Africa): Enabling grocery stores to purify and sell drinking water by the litre in reusable containers.
Twitter: @idropwater
Facebook: @idropwater
Instagram: @idropwater
Sea2See (Spain): Converting plastic waste, such as discarded fishing nets, into premium designer eyewear.
Twitter: @Sea2See_Eyewear
Facebook: @sea2see.org
Instagram: @sea2see_eyewear
Siam Organic (Thailand): Empowering small-scale farmers to profitably grow rice using organic farming methods.
Twitter: @siamorganic
Facebook: @siamorganic
Olio (UK): Connecting neighbours with each other and local shops, so that surplus food can be shared, not thrown away.
Facebook: @olioex
Twitter: @OLIO_ex
Instagram: @olio_ex
DayOne Response (USA): Compact 10-litre backpack that collects and purifies water within 30 minutes, proving invaluable for disaster relief.
Twitter: @DayOneResponse
Facebook: @DayOneResponse
Instagram: @dayoneresponse
First Respond (China): First aid training courses to encourage mutual aid in emergency situations.
Instagram: @first_respond_china
