Impact Report 2014

10 +
9

positively impact b illions of lives

Table of Contents
5 Exponential Technologies and
Global Grand Challenge Overview
9 Our Approach to Driving Impact
and Assessing Results
12 Education Metrics
18 Innovation Metrics
28 Community Metrics
34 Future Impact
This report covers data from January to December 2013 unless otherwise noted.

About Singularity University

Singularity University (SU) is a benefit corporation (see page 38) headquartered at
NASA Research Park in Silicon Valley. SU provides educational programs, innovative
partnerships and a startup accelerator to help individuals, businesses, institutions,
investors, NGOs and governments understand cutting-edge technologies and how to
utilize these technologies to positively impact billions of people. From our inception
in 2008, SU has empowered individuals from more than 85 countries to apply
exponentially growing technologiesartificial intelligence & robotics, biotechnology,
nanotechnology & digital fabrication, networks & computing systems and medicine
& neuroscienceto address humanitys grand challenges: education, energy,
environment, food, global health, poverty, security, space and water.
To learn more, visit singularityu.org/impact

Contact Us
impact@singularityu.org
+1 650-200-3434
twitter.com/singularityu
facebook.com/singularityu

NASA Research Park

Building 20 South Akron Road
MS 20-1
Moffett Field, California 94035-0001
United States

he speed at which technology is changing

and evolving is unprecedented in human
history. Events happening around the
world affect us in minutes. Divergent
technologiesartificial intelligence &
robotics, biotechnology, nanotechnology
& digital fabrication, networks & computing systems and
medicine & neuroscienceare not only accelerating, but are
converging and building on themselves, causing even faster
rates of growth.
At the same time, we live in a world with staggering
challengeseducation, energy, environment, food, global
health, poverty, security, space, waterthat need to be
addressed. Civilization is at a critical juncture, and how we
operate and manage these new and accelerating technologies
directly impacts the world at large. What we do in the next
couple of generations will dictate how the next several
centuries of humanity play out. Humanity has a remarkable
opportunity to harness these technologies and use them to
solve for these threats.

What are Exponential Technologies?

Exponential technologies demonstrate
continued accelerating growth of capabilities
(speed, efficiency, cost-effectiveness or
power), driven both by advances in the
individual technologies themselves, as well as
through their interplay and synergies. These
technologies that are causing tremendous
disruption: artificial intelligence & robotics,
biotechnology, nanotechnology & digital
fabrication, networks & computing systems
and medicine & neuroscience.

Global Grand Challenges

Singularity University (SU) exists because the world needs

an organization dedicated to addressing these serious
global issues by fully embracing the power and capacity of
exponential technologies. We assemble driven and ambitious
leaders who want to improve the world. Innovation cannot
be scripted. By bringing together these leaders and educating
them about the fastest-moving technologies, SU empowers
these individuals to create abundant opportunities for solving
global grand challenges.
We are in our sixth year and excited about our growing,
dynamic future. And this is just the beginning.

Impact Report 2014

singularityu.org/impact

WAT

TION

URITY

GL

OBAL HE
A

Ensuring safe, reliable water and

access to sanitation for all people;
developing efficient use of existing
water resources; and developing
new potable water resources.

EC

Personalized lifelong learning

for allfrom early childhood
to remedial and continuing
educationempowered by
connectivity and shrinking
barriers of language or location.

LT

Transforming a sector that must

supply for the needs of our growing
population while also promoting
healthy nutrition and sustainable
resource management practices.

E
R

CA

ED

FOO

GLOBAL GRAND CHALLENGES

NE

RGY

NV

IRONME

T
Developing solutions for
sustainable environments and
vibrant earth systems, from
remediation to preservation
at local-to-global scales.

Ensuring basic health care access,

accelerating medical breakthroughs
and cures, and shifting towards
preventative care to ensure physical
and emotional wellbeing for people
around the world.

Designing reliable and predictable

physical, financial, social, governmental and informational networks;
and protecting people and infrastructure from immediate dangers.

VE

RTY

Eradicating extreme poverty and

ensuring basic needs and socioeconomic opportunities for all
human beings.

Impact Report 2014

Reliable, clean energy for diverse

needsfrom families to factories,
and from fields to skyscrapers
creating an essential foundation for
health, education, transportation
and business.

SPA

CE

Creating the pathway towards

humanitys destiny as a multiplanetary species, and developing
the technology and resources for
space exploration to address global
needs and threats.

singularityu.org/impact

We Bring an Integrated Approach to Driving Impact

EDUC AT ION
INNOVAT ION
COMM UNIT Y

Impact Report 2014

e are not a traditional, degree-granting university. Rather, the

name Singularity University is aspirational in describing a new
kind of educational institution that is as much about doing
as it is about learning. We drive positive impact for billions of
people through three core focus areas: Education, Innovation
and Community. Our work starts with a forward-looking approach
to education that transforms the way people think and what they think is possible.
We challenge people to harness the latent opportunities of exponential technologies
to develop transformative and disruptive innovations that address humanitys grand
challenges. We pair education with application in our innovation initiatives to offer
connections to a distinct global community of doers dedicated to transforming these
challenges into great opportunities.
We do not achieve impact alone. Our distinct type of impact is powered by our
community of over 200,000 individualsconsisting of entrepreneurs, executives,
students, government officials, philanthropists, scientists, thought leaderswho
bring a sense of wonder and enthusiasm to working towards a better future.
These pioneers1,300 alumni, 700 event participants, and 200,000 online
subscribersspearhead local innovation in their regions, propel resources to
help entrepreneurs in remote parts of the world, and bring awareness to solving
for global grand challenges.
Collaboration with over 75 public and private sector partners located across the
globe is key to the success and impact of SU and our larger community. Our partners
provide critical resources to strengthen existing programs and activities in our three
core areas, as well as crucial input as we embark upon new initiatives, and set out
a course for future growth and impact. We strongly believe in mutually rewarding
relationships to yield effective and innovative programs relevant to distinct regions
with the goal to maximize impact. As a complement to these partnerships, we
work to build a sustainable philanthropic community of organizations and
individuals who seek to invest in and share our mission to solve some of
humanitys hardest problems.

singularityu.org/impact

Our Approach to Impact Assessment & Learning

Singularity University enables the creation of sustainable solutions

to difficult challengeseducation, energy, environment, food, global
health, poverty, security, space and waterthat face humanity. Our
unique approach inspires entrepreneurial leaders to leverage exponential
technologies to develop innovative solutions to these challenges at a large
scale. We measure our impact through the billions of people throughout
the world that directly or indirectly benefit from our educational programs,
innovation-enhancing activities, and community-building initiatives. At
every stage of our work, we ask: are Singularity Universitys strategic
initiatives, approaches and programs achieving the maximum impact
they can towards solving humanitys grand challenges? We seek to
connect a humanitarian community of forward-thinking people in a global
movement towards an abundant future.

EDUCATION

INNOVATION

COMMUNITY

With our world-class faculty

and unique perspective on
exponential thinking, we offer
the following unparalleled
cross-disciplinary educational
programs:

We train action-oriented
constituents to turn ideas into
real-world solutions through:

We create a community
of like-minded innovators,
entrepreneurs and partners who
share an appreciation for the
opportunities that cutting-edge
technologies create for a more
abundant future. This extensive
network consists of thousands
of community members in more
than 85 countries. Community
activities include:

Graduate Studies Program

Executive Programs
Custom Programs
Exponential Conferences
Global Summits
Faculty Engagements
Singularity Hub
Exponential Youth Camp

SU Labs Startup Accelerator

Innovation Partnership Program
Corporate Innovation Exchange
Impact Partnerships

Alumni Activities
Ambassador Program
Global Impact Competitions
Exponential Advisory Board

IMPAC T METRICS

10

Impact Report 2013

singularityu.org/impact

11

e provide diverse educational programs that

transform the way people think and inspire
them to direct their efforts toward global change.
Our programs teach people that technological
innovation is not random, but rather the result
of an accelerating wave of breakthroughs that is
increasing in pace as it builds on its own momentum. Moreover,
we enable our participants to understand how to leverage these
technologies to have significant impact toward solving humanitys
greatest challenges.

We need to be training
people on how to
change the world.
Larry Page
CEO, Google
Speaking at the SU Founding Conference, 2008
Education Metrics
Graduate Studies Program
Executive Programs
Custom Programs
Exponential Conferences
Global Summits
Faculty Engagements
Singularity Hub
Exponential Youth Camp
12

singularityu.org/impact

13

EDUCATION METRICS
364

Data from 2013 unless otherwise noted.

1211

Executive Program
Participants

Executive Program

45
# of countries represented

# of SU program participants

300

Exponential Conference
Participants

Graduate Studies Program

23%

17

38

% of GSP13
participants that
won GICs

# of GSP13
team projects

# of countries
represented

Educational Programs

258
Singularity Hub

8,300,000

525

# of Singularity Hub website views

# of Singularity
Hub members

154

Faculty Engagements

233

80

# of SU faculty speaking engagements

55

14

Impact Report 2014

Global Summit
Participants

Custom Program
Participants

Graduate Studies
Program Participants
Youth Participants

Graduate Studies Program (GSP)

A 10 week summer program that convenes
entrepreneurs, leaders, scientists and
engineers from around the world to
develop innovations that leverage
exponential technologies to positively
impact billions of people.
Executive Programs (EP)
A week-long intensive and interactive program
for business, government and investment
executives, covering the technologies and
tools that todays innovators and leaders
need to understand to keep pace with the
wave of accelerating change and outperform
their peers.
Custom Executive Programs
These 13 day programs are based on
SUs Executive Programs curriculum, but
are tailored to the needs of a specific
industry for corporations, nonprofits and
government organizations.

Exponential Conferences
These 24 day events take SUs unique
vantage point and focus on exponentially
accelerating technologies that are impacting
specific verticals such as finance, medicine
& healthcare and manufacturing.

Global Summits
These 2 day events, held in key international
cities, bring people together to expand their
understanding of how to use exponential
technologies to create positive change and
economic growth.
Faculty Engagements
SU faculty provide knowledge and real-world
expertise on a global scale through speaking
engagements, expert consultations and
custom executive programs.
Singularity Hub
An independent news network, published
by SU, covering science, technology and the
future of humanity. The membership program
offers exclusive access to video lectures,
private forums, promotion & collaboration
opportunities and more.
Exponential Youth Camp (XYC)
A 5 week pilot program that empowers high
school students to learn about key exponential
technologies and how those technologies have
the potential to positively impact the world.

singularityu.org/impact

Beyond the Maker Movement

How the ChangeMakers Are the
Future of Education
Written by Libby Falck
Graduate Studies Program
2012

In Silicon Valley, theres a lot of talk about The Maker Movement...revolution

that has people returning to their workshops and building with their hands.
As the cofounder of IDEAco, a nonprofit that works in maker education,
a large part of my job is about using maker culture to inspire learning.
Exposure to this revolution hooks students on the science, technology,
engineering and mathematics (STEM) skills necessary to fill jobs in the
worlds fastest-growing industries.
Making is a fantastic way to engage many students, but its only the first step
toward an even greater revolution. If we wish to build a thriving and responsive
economy, the future of education cannot be about giving students the skills
to fill jobs; it must be about giving them the skills to create jobs. This requires
more than technical skills, it requires empathy, context and innovation.
Last fall, our team was invited to a roadless, 300-person Yupik village named
Eek to pilot a new program that teaches design thinking and 3D printing to
elementary students. Located on Alaskas marshy west coast, Eeks handful of
stilted buildings are powered by diesel fuel imported on river tankers. When
the water freezes, so does the fuel source. At the schoolthe largest building
in townevery child has a computer; at home, few have running water.

IMPAC T
S TOR Y

Eek exemplifies an uncomfortable mashup of state education standards and

the traditions of subsistence livinga dichotomy that exists in many native
communities today. As we unloaded our 3D printers onto the muddy runway, I
realized that we would need to introduce this technology as more than a hook
for future learning. It needed to be immediately relevant and useful to our
students.
If you give a child a tool she may not care to use it, but if you give her a
problem to solve with that tool, she will excel in its mastery. Direct, meaningful
application of technology is often the missing piece of STEM education. Its
also the piece that inspires true innovation. Making is fun, but its time to begin
connecting the incredible skills of the maker community with the daunting
challenges of our world.

The Graduate Studies Program

at Singularity University was
the most beneficial educational
experience of my life. The
programs intensity pushed
me to strive for greater impact
in everything I do and, since
graduating, the SU community
has been pivotal in providing
connections to advice and funders
that have enabled my projects to
flourish as never would have been
possible before.
Libby Falck
Cofounder & Director of Innovation, IDEAco
Graduate Studies Program 2012

Its time for the Maker Movement to become the ChangeMaker

Movementthat is the future of education.

16

Impact Report 2014

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17

n addition to our educational programs,

we foster innovation through the SU Labs
Startup Accelerator, Innovation Partnership
Program, Corporate Innovation Exchange
and Impact Partnerships. Supported by
our exceptional faculty, alumni, corporate
partners and a global network of mentors and investors
our teams, startups and corporations receive the guidance,
support and connections necessary to build entrepreneurship and technological innovation. This includes access to
our Innovation Lab, an onsite maker space for building and
prototyping, that enhances the capability to learn and utilize
exponential technologies.

Singularity University provides a

unique and valuable window into
the future, and together we can
identify and scale up solutions
that will have great impact for the
worlds most vulnerable women
and children.
Christopher Fabian
Advisor on Innovation to Executive Director, UNICEF

Innovation Metrics
SU Labs Startup Accelerator
Innovation Partnership Program
Corporate Innovation Exchange
Impact Partnerships

18

Impact Report 2014

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19

INNOVATION METRICS
SU Labs Startup Accelerator

Innovation Partnership Program

Cumulative data from 20092013

Data from 2013

165

# of SU Companies

# of people employed
by SU Companies

20

10

# of patent applications
filed by SU Companies

# of GSP team projects that

became SU Companies

# of individuals in attendance

Corporate Innovation Exchange

2013 Founding Members

# of capital raised by SU Companies

Innovation Partnership Program (IPP)

IPP is a unique, joint initiative created by
XPRIZE Foundation and SU that brings
together the Fortune 500 and Silicon Valleys
brightest technologists, entrepreneurs,
innovators and business strategists to create
breakthrough business models that harness
the power of disruptive technologies and
crowd-sourced wisdom.
Corporate Innovation Exchange (CIX)
An innovation outpost in Silicon Valley igniting
transformational growth in large organizations
by helping them apply exponential technologies
and plug into Singularity Universitys unique
global community.
Impact Partnerships
Partnerships with NGOs, private companies,
governments, foundations, academic
institutions and other forward-thinking
organizations, working together to solve SUs
Global Grand Challenges.

Impact Partnerships
2013 Partners

20

39
# of companies in attendance

$100,000,000

United Nations
International Childrens
Emergency Fund

SU Labs Accelerator
A community of local and global startups
exploring and commercializing breakthrough
technology innovation. SU Labs is powered
by the greater SU network to help build and
launch sustainable SU Companies to positively
impact billions of people.

417

23

Innovation Activities

Global Disaster
Innovation Group /
The Field Innovation Team

Impact Report 2014

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21

SU COMPANIES

+ Global Grand Challenges

The SU Labs portfolio is a highly differentiated startup accelerator, with

globally distributed startups at various stages of development and financing. SU
Companies focus on industry sectors that align with one or multiple Global Grand
Challenges (GGC)education, energy, environment, food, global health, poverty,
security, space and water. Below, each company is listed under a respective GGC.

Environment

Food

Energy

Security

Poverty

Education

Global Health

Space

Genome Compiler

Recovering precious metals by

recycling electronic waste

Artificial intelligence-based
guidance planning for travel

Peer-to-peer car sharing that

reduces congestion and prepares
for the advent of robotic cars

3D printed leather and meat

Laser-printed DNA

Emotion sensing tools to detect

risk and enhance user experience

Autonomous unmanned
aerial vehicle network for
transportation of goods to
areas without all-season roads

Streaming for 3D printers to

ensure file security, print quality
and analytics

Connects profitable business

models with targeted social
impact

Oligonucleotide-free DNA
synthesis

Low cost machine-to-machine

network operator enabling the
internet of things

Big data analytics for financial

institutions and programs
that rewards customers for
healthy behavior

Web-based ocean
exploration submarines

Online tools for utilizing

collective intelligence to facilitate
personalized lifelong learning
and skill-building

Several robot platforms including

open source telepresence robots

Next-generation of computeraided design tools for synthetic

biology

Nonprofit that works to

catalyze breakthroughs in
the long term preservation of
organs for transplant

First-ever commercial, openstandard, secure health data

information exchange for the
medical industry

Advanced aerospace
technology company focused
on researching the next generation high efficiency aerospace
vehicles powered with renewable
electromagnetic energy

UAV systems and open source

Arduino space experiments

Additive manufacturing in space

Neuroscience-based web service

to increase focus and attention
Remote patient monitoring and
predictive analytics to reduce
preventable hospital admissions
in patients with complex
chronic disease

22

Impact Report 2014

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23

SU COMPANIES

+ Exponential Technologies

SU Companies address Global Grand Challenges by making use of one

or multiple exponential technologiesartificial intelligence & robotics,
biotechnology & bioinformatics, energy & environmental systems,
nanotechnology & digital fabrication, networks & computing systems,
medicine & neuroscience and space & physical sciences. Below, each
company is listed under a respective technology.

AI & Robotics

Biotechnology &
Bioinformatics

Energy &
Environmental
Systems

Medicine &
Neuroscience

Artificial intelligence-based
guidance planning for travel

3D printed leather and meat

Recovering precious metals

by recycling electronic waste

Emotion sensing tools to

detect risk and enhance
user experience

Nanotechnology &
Digital Fabrication

Networks &
Computing Systems

Streaming for 3D printers to

ensure file security, print quality
and analytics

Peer-to-peer car sharing

that reduces congestion and
prepares for the advent of
robotic cars

Space &
Physical Sciences

Low cost machine-to-machine

network operator enabling the
internet of things

Laser-printed DNA
Web-based ocean
exploration submarines

Online tools for utilizing

collective intelligence to
facilitate personalized lifelong
learning and skill-building

Neuroscience-based web service

to increase focus and attention

Oligonucleotide-free
DNA synthesis

Genome Compiler

Several robot platforms

including open source telepresence robots

Next-generation of computeraided design tools for synthetic

biology

Nonprofit that works to

catalyze breakthroughs in
the long term preservation of
organs for transplant

24

Impact Report 2014

Remote patient monitoring and

predictive analytics to reduce
preventable hospital admissions
in patients with complex chronic
diseases

Connects profitable business

models with targeted social
impact

Autonomous unmanned
aerial vehicle network for
transportation of goods to
areas without all-season roads

Big data analytics for financial

institutions and programs
that rewards customers for
healthy behavior

Advanced aerospace technology

company focused on researching
the next generation high
efficiency aerospace vehicles
powered with renewable electromagnetic energy

UAV systems and open source

Arduino space experiments

Additive manufacturing in space

First-ever commercial, openstandard, secure health data

information exchange for the
medical industry

singularityu.org/impact

25

Singularity University profoundly

changed the way I thought about
building my company. The knowledge
I gained gave us a four-year head start
in developing systems that today are
becoming essential to the industry.
Most importantly, SU gave me a
unique privilege to be around people I
admire and deeply respectamazing
visionaries who are not afraid to
challenge conventional wisdom
and make commitment to changing
lives of billions of people.

Escape Dynamics Aims to

Eliminate Single-Use Rockets
in Space Flight
Written by Cameron Scott
Singularity Hub

Escape Dynamics is proposing that we do away with fiery rockets

altogether in order to make a much more dramatic attack on the
exorbitant cost of space flight.
We want to look at a next-gen technology, not an improvement on chemical
combustion, to drive a 10x change in the way we access Earths orbit,
said Dmitriy Tseliakhovich, reflecting some of the language he picked up as
an admirer of Peter Diamandis and an alum of Singularity Universitys
Graduate Studies Program.
Chemical propulsion simply does not allow for a small and simple launch
vehicle. There is a fundamental physical limit on how efficient chemical
rockets can become, Tseliakhovich had concluded by 2010, when he
launched Escape Dynamics.

IMPAC T
STOR Y

Escape Dynamics would propel spacecraft with energy transmitted in a

microwave beam that tracks the vehicles ascent trajectory. The energy,
caught with an antenna, would run through a heat exchanger before being
pushed out of a thruster. Tseliakhovich first sketched out the method as
part his doctorate in astrophysics he received at Caltech in 2010.
If it all works out, it would mean that spacecraft themselves would be far
simpler vehicles, within the budgets, perhaps, of private companies. Takeoff
costs would also be much lower without the extra weight of first-stage
rockets and the fuel to power them. Space travel would lighten its carbon
footprint substantially, just as people gear up to do more of it.
In the second half of 2014, the company plans to emerge from the 30,000
square-foot hangar where it has done most of its work to start testing its
propulsion methods over long distances.

Dmitriy Tseliakhovich
Cofounder, CEO & CTO, Escape Dynamics
Graduate Studies Program 2010

26

Impact Report 2014

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27

e foster a global community of doers

entrepreneurs, executives, students,
government officials, philanthropists,
scientists, thought leaders and more
who want to build a better future. Our
ecosystem enables individuals and
organizations to understand, learn and utilize exponential
technologies to discover and design sustainable solutions
to the biggest problems in the world.

Singularity University...
is an opportunity to bring
people from every conceivable
walk of life with people that
share a common aspiration
to do better, to be better and to
make a positive impact
on peoples lives.
Gavin Newsom
California Lieutenant Governor
Community Metrics
Alumni Activities
Ambassador Program
Global Impact Competitions
Exponential Advisory Board
28

Impact Report 2014

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29

COMMUNITY METRICS
Alumni Activities

Global Impact Competitions

Cumulative data from 20092013

Data from 2013

1315

50

# of SU alumni

# of awards received by SU alumni

SU alumni are participants of our

Executive Programs or Graduate
Studies Program

80

Community Initiatives

Cumulative data from 20092013

Ambassador Program
SU Ambassadors are alumni of our Executive Programs
and Graduate Studies Program appointed to represent SU in
various countries to spearhead Global Impact Competitions
and forge collaborations with local companies, organizations,
universities and government agencies.

% increase of SU Ambassadors

50
# of SU Ambassadors

46
# of countries represented

30

1,060

18

# of GIC competitions

# of GIC applicants

# of GIC winners

# of companies started by SU alumni

Ambassador Program

88

13

Global Impact Competitions (GIC)

Organized by geography and theme, these competitions are
held in partnership with sponsor organizations worldwide to
inspire innovative ideas for impacting millions of lives locally
and globally. Winners are invited to attend the Graduate
Studies Program.
Exponential Advisory Board (XAB)
The XAB is an exclusive group of individuals advising SUs
strategic vision. The board participates in SUs leadership
conversations, special events and priority investment opportunities in SU Labs Companies and our accelerator workspace.

Impact Report 2014

Highlighted countries represent the locations of

2013 GIC competitions.

Exponential Advisory Board

Cumulative data from 20092013

6
# of XAB members

singularityu.org/impact

31

Chilean Incubator Wants

Companies Using Tech to
Help the Poor
Written by Cameron Scott
Singularity Hub

Singularity University showed me

that I was not crazy to want to solve
large-scale humanitarian problems
in record time using technologies.
SU gave me the freedom to think
and to change the world.

The organization runs competitions for technology-based business

proposals that address major problems wrought by poverty in the
region: food insecurity, lack of clean drinking water, struggling public
education and so on. Then it taps its virtual community of 300,000 users
to identify the best ideas and fine-tune them.
The network, according to Socialab Founder and CEO Julian Ugarte, is the
largest open innovation platform in the world. After spinning off from the
youth-led Chilean nonprofit Techo in 2007, Socialab began hosting crowdsourced competitions in 2010, shortly after Ugarte participated in
Singularity Universitys 2010 GSP Program.

IMPAC T
STOR Y

Drawing its own funding from grants, including ongoing support from
the Inter-American Development Bank and Movistar Chile, Socialab then
incubates the winning projects, encouraging the nascent companies to
test their products on real users and continue to iterate on their products.
When its clear that the products will sell and the revenue model is solid,
Socialab and the company approach investors.
Last year, Socialab whittled 15,000 proposals down to 111 products that
it supported based on $2.1 million in grants. Its currently incubating 35
companies. Among the projects Socialab has supported are MirOculus, a
blood test for multiple forms of cancer (the companys medical lead also
participated in a Singularity GSP); Algramo, a Chilean company that uses
a business model similar to Groupons to negotiate lower prices for food
and household items; and Plasma Water Sanitation System, a pump that
uses pressure and electricity to purify drinking water.

Julian Ugarte
Executive Director, Socialab
Graduate Studies Program 2010

32

It may not seem so out of the ordinary anymore to crowdsource solutions

to the problems posed by poverty, but doing so with a for-profit business
model adds a new and challenging twist. Thats a challenge that Socialab,
a Latin American nonprofit company, welcomes.

Impact Report 2014

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33

hile this report focuses on 2013,

and in some cases, our operations since
inception, we aim to support, generate
and drive impact into the future by
further strengthening current programs
and launching new, complementary
initiatives in our three core areasEducation, Innovation
and Community.
It is our goal to improve SUs ability to collect and
report on metrics in real-time and to create an online
impact dashboard.

EDUCATION
Incorporate our mission, specifically solving for the Global Grand Challenges, into every
program we deliver to achieve greater impact.

Deliver transformative educational programs online to drive new people and projects focused
on the usage of exponential technologies to solve Global Grand Challenges.

Expand access to SUs content, collaboration and community worldwide to serve different
constituencies, including students, entrepreneurs, executives and youth.

FU T URE IMPAC T

INNOVATION
Continue to grow our impact partnerships with a focus on organizations that share our
mission and have expertise around Global Grand Challenges.

Provide opportunities for our community to visit our impact partners field offices to gain
direct experience beta testing ideas to help solve Global Grand Challenges.

Develop a more robust mentorship and entrepreneurship program to equip companies with
the necessary skills and resources to take their products and services to the next level.

COMMUNITY
Expand, enable and further diversify our growing family of alumni and community members
worldwide through targeted activities and programs at the local levels.

Establish local partnerships in different global cities to inspire a new wave of entrepreneurial
activities and technology initiatives at municipal, regional and administrative levels.

Launch a global collaboration platform to enable our community to easily connect and create
fruitful collaboration resulting in new ideas, projects, companies and interests.

34

Impact Report 2014

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35

Fostering Entrepreneurship
and Innovation in Central and
Eastern Europe
Written by Rob Nail
Associate Founder & CEO
Singularity University

At SU, we strongly believe in the power of our alumni to have meaningful and
direct impact in their regions and globally in alignment with our goal to expand
our resources and knowledge to various geographic areas in collaboration with
regional partners. The creation of the Central & Eastern European Global Impact
Competitions (GIC) in 2012 illustrates how SU inspires local startups, technology
initiatives and a new perspective and optimism about the future.
Csaba Szabo (2011 GSP alumnus and 2011 SU Ambassador in Hungary) founded
the first Central & Eastern European GIC in 2012. It was a huge success with more
than 50 participants, and resulted in a full tuition for one winner to attend our 2012
GSP. In 2013, Csaba and Botond Bognar (2012 EP alumnus; and then-to-be-named
2013 SU Ambassador in Hungary) generated more than 100 GIC participants and
secured funding for 2 winners. This year, 150 individuals participated in the 2014
GIC, and 2 winners were awarded the chance to attend the GSP free of charge.

Csaba Szab
Former SU Ambassador to Hungary
Founder of GIC for Central & Eastern Europe
Founding Director, Summit Europe
Graduate Studies Program 2011

But, it does not stop there. The GIC has resulted in substantial follow-on events and
activities, including the European alumni reunion in April of 2013, the inaugural
2013 Summit Europe conference in November of 2013 (attended by 450
participants), and a custom 2-day program for top Hungarian government leaders.
In turn, these events inspired the local Budapest government to invest substantially
in Design Terminal, a platform for meeting and exchanging of ideas for the Central
European region.

Budapests regional importance

grew during the last three years
thanks to Singularity Universitys
presence, which attracted
international corporate sponsors and
a great number of talented applicants
to the Global Impact Competition for
Central Eastern Europe.

This locally driven collaboration between government, corporate,

philanthropic and entrepreneurial community groups illustrates the need
and hunger for expanded regional activities around entrepreneurship and
innovation, and encourages us at SU to continue our efforts to foster and support
these efforts regionally.

Botond Bognr
SU Ambassador to Hungary
Founding Director, Summit Europe
Executive Program October 2012

This regional team of two pulled together a comprehensive cadre of GIC funding
partners, including the Hungarian Government, Design Terminal, U.S. Embassy
in Budapest, American Chamber of Commerce, GE Healthcare Hungary, Cisco
Hungary, Prezi, Central-Fund, OTP Bank, European Entrepreneurship Foundation
and several local SU alumni.

IMPAC T
STOR Y

The Central & Eastern European GIC has increasingly gained exposure with Csaba
and Botond leveraging critical relationships, and integrating the GIC within the local
universities and the startup community, including TEDx Danubia, EIT, Founders
Institute, Startup Kitchen, thehub.hu, BridgeBudapest, Klaster Lifescience Krakow,
Avec Accelerator, Startup Date and Cluj Cowork.

36

The knowledge I obtained from SUs

Graduate Studies Program inspired
me to develop and implement
my vision for creating a regional
community of doers in Hungary.

Impact Report 2014

Benefit Corporation Disclosure

Singularity University (SU) incorporated as a California benefit
corporation, shortly after that legal form came into being in 2012.
Benefit corporations are statutorily required to pursue the creation
of a material positive impact on society and the environment,
taken as a whole.
In addition, SU opted to state the following specific public benefit
purpose in its Articles of Incorporation:
The specific public benefit purpose of the corporation is to improve
life by advancing exponentially growing technologies, providing
education about those technologies, and developing companies that
leverage those technologies.
SU has a brief Benefit Report posted online in compliance with
accountability and transparency requirements that are built into the
benefit corporation law. In addition to the metrics stated in this Impact
Report, for purposes of its benefit report, SU assesses its overall social
and environmental performance by using the B Impact Assessment tool
developed by an independent nonprofit called B Lab. This tool measures
governance, worker treatment, local community engagement and
environmental practices. SUs score on the 2013 B Impact Assessment
was 92 points, approximately 15 percent higher than the threshold
requirement for B Corporation certification from B Labs.

singularityu.org/impact