Impactfully No. 60: The seeds of economic impact
This week, Techstars expands access to startup capital for underrepresented founders, Voyager pushes the final frontier of sustainable space exploration, and Ellipsis Health uncovers the mental health conditions hiding in our speech.
When you think of venture capital, does it evoke the idea of social impact? In an industry that places bets on capitalism's next big thing, it can be easy to forget that some investors care about the triple bottom line – people, planet, and profit – and not just about making beaucoup bucks.
More and more companies are founded with social impact at the core of their missions. But it turns out that incubators, accelerators, and investors are starting to be more mindful of where their money goes as well.
Techstars, our featured company this week and a Certified B Corp, is doing just that. With a number of programs focused on improving access to capital for underrepresented founders in the U.S. and engaging startup communities around the world, they recognize that a great idea can come from anyone, anywhere. Although there's still a long way to go, they are making progress.
In the spirit of new ventures, this week's newsletter includes a number of businesses in nascent industries or on a significant growth trajectory – it's social impact, on a rocket. And in the case of one of the companies below, rocket isn't just a metaphor.
So let's get to it! Here are this week's job opportunities:
Techstars is a major player in the area of pre-seed investments for startup companies. They provide access to capital, one-on-one mentorship, networking opportunities, and programming for early-stage entrepreneurs. They are hiring for many more roles than those listed below, and each helps a founder get their game-changing business off the ground.
- Managing Director - Techstars Workforce Development Accelerator – Denver, CO
- Operations Associate, Techstars Seattle Accelerator – Seattle, WA
- Sales & Investor Relations Associate – New York, NY
- Senior Data Engineer – Boulder, CO
- Senior Full Stack Engineer – Boulder, CO
- Executive Assistant – Denver, CO or New York, NY
- Fund Controller – New York, NY
- Corporate Legal Counsel – Denver, CO
Voyager is a space exploration company that's working on some seriously cool technology to help push the final frontier. One thing that sets them apart from other aerospace companies is their focus on making space exploration sustainable – tackling the orbital debris problem is one example.
- Proposal Director – Denver, CO
- Sr. Director – Capture & Proposals – Denver, CO
- Educational Program Specialist – Washington, DC
- Mechanical Engineer – Folsom, CA
Campuswire is an online platform that makes it easy for professors and students to communicate and collaborate. If you want to help more students excel at school, give this team a look – they're backed by venture capital, and the platform is already used at over 300 universities.
- Senior Software Engineer – New York, NY
- Senior Software Engineer, Fullstack – Remote
- IT Specialist - University Support – Remote
- People Operations Coordinator – New York, NY
LimeLoop makes packaging that can be reused over and over again. There are a number of companies that do something similar, but one thing that stuck out to me here is that they've embedded technology in the packaging. They can monitor things like package temperature, emissions, and whether the package has been opened or not. It's pretty slick stuff, and if you want more companies to adopt reusable packaging, check out the two roles below.
- Inside Sales Rep – Denver, CO
- Software Engineer – Remote
Modern Hydrogen is a clean energy startup that works on decarbonization of natural gas. Many buildings rely on natural gas instead of electricity for heating, and the technology here helps reduce the climate impact of natural gas in cases where electric heating isn't feasible. If you want to make a big difference on our energy footprint, this is a great place to do so.
- Accountant – Bothell, WA
- Director of Supply Chain – Bothell, WA
- Principal Process Engineer – Bothell, WA
- Sr. Process Engineer – Bothell, WA
- VP of Manufacturing – Bothell, WA
- Controls Electrical Technician – Bothell, WA
- Field Operations Technician – Miami, FL
Catchafire is a social impact marketplace that connects nonprofits with skilled volunteers. I've included them because they're hiring, but if a job change isn't in the cards at the moment, you might consider checking out their database of volunteer opportunities.
- Senior Product Designer – Remote
KickUp provides a variety of tools and resources to help teachers improve their practice, including personalized learning plans, professional development courses, and coaching support. The Client Success Manager role sounds like a lot of fun for the kind of person who enjoys building relationships with customers – these are longer-term engagements where you work alongside a customer to set up the tools, check in on a regular basis, and make sure their goals are being met.
- Client Success Manager – Remote
Ellipsis Health is doing something I wouldn't have thought possible: using artificial intelligence to detect mental health conditions from someone's speech. Doing so helps improve access to mental health care so more people can live happier lives. Fortunately, you don't need to be an AI/ML whiz to help out here (though they're hiring for that, too).
- Machine Learning Engineer in Spoken Language Technologies – Remote
- Marketing Manager – Remote
- Senior DevOps Engineer – Remote
Joon provides teletherapy to young adults in a wide range of areas – everything from coping with stress and grief to treating anxiety and depression. Aside from the traditional one-on-one sessions we typically think of when talking about therapy, they also have an app with videos, reading material, and guided meditations for self-service support.
- Director of Product – Remote
- Mental Health Therapist – Remote
Interested in the next big thing? You might want to check out the list of Techstars companies that are hiring. Working at a startup is an excellent education and a lot of fun, and if you find the right one, you can make the world a better place.