Additional 2017 collaborators and mentors in the accelerator included USAID, The World Bank, Johnson & Johnson, Lowe’s, Thomson Reuters, Bluescape, Amazon Web Services, and PeaceTech Lab.
“Conversations and workshops ranged from learning how Tom Chi developed a discipline around rapid prototyping at Google to develop ideas for swifter, and more exacting decision making based on empirical data, not 'conjecture', to forward-thinking techniques on hiring, personnel management within the context of corporate culture, and taking advantage of market forces tied to sustainability goals,” said Catherine. “The wealth of knowledge and experience Unreasonable assembled for us was truly remarkable, and it doesn’t stop at the end of the two week immersion program. They have opened up a global network we can tap into for financing, partnerships, and other access points we might need to reach our goals of scaling SimpliPhi to bring energy storage solutions to global people and communities who need it most.”
The inaugural program concluded with a public event at the U.S. Institute of Peace in Washington, DC. At the event each entrepreneur participating in the program pitched their company in a 4 minute presentation highlighting how they planned to impact the world through 2030.