Three high-profile investors, including Mark Little, the chief executive of Storyful, and two veteran Silicon Valley venture capitalists, have decided to invest in social change start-up ChangeX.
The non-profit new marketplace for connecting proven ideas with individuals and teams hoping to improve their local communities, has already signed up popular social entrepreneurship projects, including Coder Dojo, Men's Sheds and Playworks, to its platform.
“Instead of sitting around a table trying to solve a problem, why not leverage the world by connecting with the best proven ideas to solve your problem?” asked ChangeX founder Paul O’Hara.
He said so far 10 experienced social entrepreneurship projects had signed up to ChangeX but this should reach 20 by December. “The ultimate ambition is to have 5,000 from around the world, which will be enough to be able to solve any problem,” he said.
Alongside Mr Little, John O'Farrell, general partner at Andreessen Horowitz, the US firm which has backed Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest, and Albert Wenger, managing partner at New York's Union Square Ventures, are both new investors. Mr Wenger sits on the board of Foursquare and education platform Edmodo.
“One of the gifts the internet has given us is the ability to efficiently transfer knowledge from one side of the world to the other,” Mr Wenger said. “Putting these proven ideas in the hands of individuals and teams across the world has enormous power. ChangeX has the potential to change the world and I want to encourage more people to join me in backing them.”
Mr Little added: “The concept of having a market for global ideas is enormous. I am backing the jockey as well as the horse here. Paul advised me when I was starting Storyful and if anyone can do it, he can.”
