Attention market network set up by Gates alumni is finalist in global enterprise contest.
A networking start-up set up by two Gates alumni has been selected as the only British finalist for the prestigious Unreasonable Institute, which recognises international entrepreneurs with world-changing potential.
OneLeap. com, founded by Gates alumni Robyn Scott and Hamish Forsyth, is building the world’s first philanthropy-powered ‘attention-market’. The market enables outsiders with great ideas to get through to those who can make ideas happen. Recognised in the Future 100 and in Wired, its users include the likes of former HBOS and Pearson Chair Lord Dennis Stevenson and Co-Founder of Xing, serial entrepreneur Bill Liao.
Any user, whatever their background, can send a 400 word message to anyone else on OneLeap – if they pay a fee. The fee, which shows the sender is serious and filters timewasters, goes to the recipient’s chosen charity. The message is guaranteed a response in 10 days or the fee refunded.
It was selected as one of the UK’s top 20 tech social enterprises, a programme supported by the Prime Minister; has partnerships with several organisations including Cambridge University and Sandbox Network; and is raising £220K of investment from 10 angels in Europe and the US.
The Unreasonable Institute accelerates top entrepreneurs in solving the world’s biggest problems. Each year 25 entrepreneurs from around the globe converge under one roof for six weeks in Colorado. Entrepreneurs work with 50 world-class mentors, including Philip McKinney, former Vice President and Chief Technology Officer of Hewlett Packard.
Hundreds of entrepreneurs from 60 countries competed to be among the 46 world finalists. The first 25 to raise the $US10,000 to attend will win a place. The funding must be crowd-sourced from public support through the Unreasonable Institute’s online marketplace.
OneLeap co-founder Robyn Scott appealed for support: “I’ve always wanted to build a great British start-up into a great global start-up – a donation of just £7 will help us do it.”
For more information on becoming a member of Oneleap.com, click here.
