Civic I/O 2023 Tech Pitch Finalists
Since 2016, the U.S. Conference of Mayors, in partnership with South by Southwest and the City of Austin, has organized the Civic I/O Mayors’ Summit at SXSW, bringing together city leaders, creatives, and entrepreneurs to explore solutions to some of our cities’ most pressing challenges.
The Mayors’ Summit features a Civic Tech Pitch where young entrepreneurs from across the country have the chance to present their startups that aim to solve civic challenges to mayors at SXSW. The finalist wins a monetary prize and the opportunity to showcase their startup to hundreds of mayors and federal leaders at our 91st Annual Meeting in Columbus, OH, this June. Learn more about this year’s finalists:
ReThink is a patented, world-acclaimed technology that helps youth pause, review and ReThink before saying something harmful or offensive online. By intervening in-the-moment, ReThink stops cyberbullying proactively, before the damage is done, and teaches youth crucial online and offline decision-making skills. Founder Trisha Prabhu’s research, acclaimed by Google and MIT, finds that ReThink stops cyberbullying over 93% of the time. Today, ReThink’s technology, educational resources, and advocacy have reached youth in 136 nations; its work has also been recognized by groups like Forbes and Harvard.
Pitching at Civic I/O: Trisha Prabhu
Helpful Places | @helpfulplaces
Cities are rapidly adopting smart technologies — do its residents know what the technology is doing?
Helpful Places enables organizations and communities to deploy technologies in ways that are transparent and invite feedback through adoption of Digital Trust for Places and Routines (DTPR). DTPR is an open-source communication standard to increase transparency, legibility and accountability for urban technology which has been implemented in cities in Australia, Canada, France and the US.
Making the public aware of nearby technology and its purpose is the first step to getting people involved, allowing them to provide feedback, and making them feel like they have the power to cocreate the smart city.
DTPR is a featured initiative of the WEF’s Future of the Connected World Action Plan and highlighted in the American Planning Association’s 2023 Trend Report for Planners.
Pitching at Civic I/O: Jackie Lu
¡Reclamo! | @reclamoapp, @JusticiaLabs
Every year, over $50 billion in wages are stolen from workers annually, impacting over 1 million workers in LA, Chicago and NYC weekly. ¡Reclamo! is the first comprehensive, not for profit, digital tool designed to retrieve stolen wages and tackle the root causes of wage theft. ¡Reclamo! was created by Justicia Lab and collaboratively designed with employment justice advocates to: 1) educate workers on wage theft; 2) automate the filing of wage theft claims; and 3) empower worker organizers and advocates to address wage theft at scale by using data to identify larger claims and patterns among employers.
Pitching at Civic I/O: Rodrigo Camarena
Ameelio is a technology non-profit democratizing access to communications and education for the incarcerated. We battle mass incarceration with equitable access to technology.
Decades of research has shown that sustained contact between the incarcerated and their loved ones can reduce recidivism by as much as 56%. However, the prison telecommunication and education industry is dominated by just two companies, who generate massive profits by charging exorbitant prices for families, making connections beyond reach for many.
Already scaling in five states, we provide free video, voice, e-messaging and visitation scheduling solutions to the incarcerated and their families across the nation.
Pitching at Civic I/O: Uzoma “Zo” Orchingwa
Dinesafe.com leverages technology, AI, and community participation to prevent, monitor, and detect foodborne illness outbreaks. Our real-time data and proprietary systems provide unprecedented insights and are trusted by industry, public health agencies, and consumers across the U.S., including the FDA. By improving outbreak detection, risk mitigation, and surveillance, we improve both quality of life and the bottom line for cities everywhere.
Pitching at Civic I/O: Patrick Quade
Area 2 Farms | @Area2Farms | @area2farms
Area 2 Farms is a public benefit corporation that designs, builds, and operates indoor neighborhood farms. The vision is simple. Move the farm, not the food. Today, the food that feeds our communities is entrapped in a system that fails to deliver value.
Area 2 Farms’ patented neighborhood farm platform delivers industrial outputs at a fraction of the production cost and space required by traditional approaches. Today, we grow organically in Arlington, VA, for the DC Metro Area, and aspire to bring farms to every city and town across the United States.
Farms shouldn’t be far from the people they feed. Food is fundamental to the fabric of communities, and fresh food shouldn’t travel across time zones nor require a passport. Food should be harvested days before consumption, not months. Every community deserves access to fresh, nutritious food. Local food shouldn’t be a luxury.
Pitching at Civic I/O: Oren J. Falkowitz
Congratulations to our 2023 finalists — see you in Austin!
