The Tamer Center for Social Enterprise at Columbia Business School announced the winners of its most recent round of funding. Three new social ventures, including the first nonprofit organization and first all-undergraduate founding team, received $25,000 each from the Tamer Fund for Social Ventures. The ventures each take a unique approach to addressing important societal issues, with topics ranging from the lack of emergency medical systems in developing countries to providing quality education in low-income and underserved communities in the United States. In addition to funding, these social innovators gain access to resources provided by the Tamer Center, such as connections to pro bono consulting teams, subsidized co-working space, and support from its advisory network.  The newest additions to the Tamer Fund for Social Ventures portfolio are: DeansList Software, co-founded by Matthew Robins, ’13BUS, and Akshai Patel, ’13BUS, which provides schools with the tools needed to track holistic student data — beyond academics — so that teachers can more effectively address the issues affecting student success. Trek Medics International, founded by Jason Friesen, ’12PH, which builds emergency medical systems in countries that do not have them — “911 where there is none” Kinnos Inc., co-founded by Jason Kang, ’16SEAS, Katherine Jin, ’16CC, and Kevin Tyan, ’16CC, which produces a bleach additive called Highlight that improves visibility, coverage, and end-user compliance of disinfectants to better protect healthcare workers and patients from infectious disease. Shaiza Rizavi, ’96BUS, a member of the Tamer Fund for Social Ventures Investment Board, believes that the Tamer Fund “serves as an important launchpad for young businesses working to take on some of the world's most challenging issues. These entrepreneurs are approaching the world and business with inventive eyes, pushing to create products and services that can change lives for the better.” “It was a much-needed infusion of financial support to help us keep things moving forward, but it also provided validation of our mission and organization,” said Jason Friesen, founder of Trek Medics International. “The Tamer Fund has a clear commitment to social ventures from all backgrounds.  We are honored that the investment board chose to demonstrate that commitment by supporting us as their first nonprofit grantee. When we received word that we won the Tamer Fund grant, we were absolutely thrilled.” The winning ventures are selected after participating in an application-screening round, a due-diligence process with student teams as part of a Business School course, and a final pitch to the fund’s investment board. To learn more about the Tamer Center, the social ventures and their founders, and previous ventures that have received funding from the Tamer Fund for Social Ventures, please visit: http://www.gsb.columbia.edu/socialenterprise/socialventures/portfolio. More information and the online application are available at: http://www8.gsb.columbia.edu/socialenterprise/socialventures/apply. Application Deadline: March 1, 2017. ### About the Tamer Fund for Social Ventures Established in 2015, the Tamer Fund for Social Ventures provides seed grants of up to $25,000 to early-stage Columbia-affiliated nonprofit, for-profit, and hybrid social ventures. In addition to funding, the ventures gain subsidized co-working space, support from the Center’s Social Venture Advisory Network, connections to pro bono legal services, Columbia student pro bono consulting teams (e.g., Pangea Advisors, Columbia Impact Investing Initiative (CI3), and the Small Business Consulting Program), as well as the opportunity to hire university students to work full-time through the summer as Social Enterprise Summer Fellows. The Tamer Fund for Social Ventures was made possible by a generous donation by Tony and Sandra Tamer.  More information and the online application are available at: www8.gsb.columbia.edu/socialenterprise/socialventures/apply.  Application Deadline: March 1, 2017. About Columbia Business School Columbia Business School is the only world-class, Ivy League business school that delivers a learning experience where academic excellence meets with real-time exposure to the pulse of global business. Led by Dean Glenn Hubbard, the School’s transformative curriculum bridges academic theory with unparalleled exposure to real-world business practice, equipping students with an entrepreneurial mindset that allows them to recognize, capture, and create opportunity in any business environment. The thought leadership of the School’s faculty and staff members, combined with the accomplishments of its distinguished alumni and position in the center of global business, means that the School’s efforts have an immediate, measurable impact on the forces shaping business every day. To learn more about Columbia Business School’s position at the very center of business, please visit www.gsb.columbia.edu.