Comprised of three sessions, two in Washington, DC and one in Chicago, the Village Capital Ed Tech: US 2015 selected a group of 11 early stage ventures to participate in their three-month outcome based accelerator program. The program would provide the entrepreneurs with critical business development training, mentorship from local business leaders and investors and face-to-face interaction with potential customers. At the end of the program, the entrepreneurs rank each other according to six criteria, and the two highest peer-ranked ventures each receive $50,000 in pre-committed capital.

The Chicago session commenced this week, working in the Impact Engine Office at the 1871 building, and IDP Foundation, Inc. President, Irene Pritzker, was honored to be involved. Selected by Village Capital to be a mentor, Irene used her experience as a foundation President and expertise in sustainable education models and impact investing to advise these nascent education social enterprises.

Irene hosted a kick-off reception in her home to welcome the cohort participants, Village Capital team, mentors, and key Chicago figures to the area. The workshop began the following day and Irene enjoyed participating in a workshop session where she provided insight, constructive criticism and feedback on the enterprises’ business models. Her experience with Village Capital’s Ed Tech event left her feeling overwhelmingly excited about the technological creativity that was presented to change the educational landscape, and cannot wait to see where each of the cohort members moves after the program.

Look for more information on the sessions via Twitter by searching #VilCapEd2015