At Fast Forward, we merge the skill sets and networks of the tech and nonprofit worlds to be that support system. We provide capital, training, and mentorship to entrepreneurs who have started tech-based nonprofits. Our entrepreneurs are developing tools to help children learn to read, crowdsource career advice, and deliver healthcare to people who have never seen a doctor.

Adam Kircher was a first year student at HBS when he dropped out to co-found SIRUM. SIRUM is like Match.com but for unused medicine, redistributing excess inventory from hospitals to community health clinics, where they’ve provided medicine to 150,000 patients who otherwise could not afford it.

Rey Faustino had the idea for his tech nonprofit while completing his thesis at Harvard’s Kennedy School. He founded One Degree, a Yelp for social services, with the idea that finding low-income housing or after school programs for your kids should be as easy as finding a great coffee shop. One Degree has already served 225,000 people in the Bay Area and is about to expand nationally.

After running the accelerator for 3 years, we’ve proven the model works.

Our 23 alumni have already impacted over 18 million lives and raised $28 million in follow-on funding. 64% of alumni have raised $750k+ in follow-on funding within one year, nearly twice the rate of accelerators like YCombinator and TechStars.

It has been an honor to work alongside HBS alumni to begin building the tech nonprofit sector. We would not be where we are today without supporters like tech investor David Frankel, one of our first donors, and Claire Chamberlain, Director of Global Philanthropy at BlackRock, one of our largest corporate partners. The sector is also benefiting from this community’s expertise, with New York Times journalist Charles Duhigg hosting our recent Accelerate Good Summit, and venture capitalist James Slavet joining Fast Forward’s board.

Read the source article at hbs.edu