8 Student Startups in RI that Want to Make Impact at Scale

The following piece was originally posted on March 18, 2019 via Rhode Island Inno and is republished here with permission.

The Brown University venture prize competition hosted by the Nelson Center for Entrepreneurship was another huge success this year, showcasing the finest student startups not only at Brown, but within the higher education ecosystem in the Ocean State.

The pitch night is designed to empower the most advanced entrepreneurial ventures by students and supports teams who have identified a significant opportunity and whose ventures have the potential to create “impact at scale.” Eight teams competed and three big winners — Formally, GoTeff and Embonet — took home a total of $50,000 in prize funding. But the future is bright for all of these startups, which have the potential to make impact at scale and change the world.

Formally

When people immigrate to the U.S., they are forced to fill out a number of complex applications whether its for asylum, visas or citizenship. While there are lawyers and nonprofits to help with the burden, they are often overworked, underfunded and may not even speak the same language as the applicant. As a result, 86 percent of applicants go through this process, making them five times likelier to be denied access into the…