Austin, Texas, Jan. 30, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Center for Social Innovation (CSI), an integrated campus for socially innovative nonprofits and purpose-for-profit enterprises operated by Notley, today debuted a social entrepreneurship and nonprofit coworking community at Springdale General in East Austin that serves individuals and startup organizations committed to driving impactful outcomes. To launch the new coworking space, Notley is announcing a partnership with Capital Factory, the center of gravity for entrepreneurship, to bring together capital resources, educational programs, and an international network of mentors to help tackle some of society’s biggest challenges.
Today thousands of social entrepreneurs and nonprofits are seeking ways to address important causes, from education and climate change to access to healthcare and poverty. The Center for Social Innovation’s new coworking space will provide a collaborative environment where business leaders and founders can access capital and human resources while also integrating their approaches with nonprofit organizations to better understand how their solutions can be most effective.
“The world is experiencing an emergence of social enterprise spilling out of our universities, nonprofits, and for-profit businesses,” said Dan Graham, Cofounder of Notley. “As Austin becomes the next social innovation capital, this coworking model is poised to provide an important missing piece – a space for people inciting action around social causes to connect with nonprofits, educational systems and entrepreneurial programs while coming together to drive scalable and sustainable purpose-driven ventures.”
"Techstars, the worldwide network that helps entrepreneurs succeed, is excited to have Capital Factory and Notley Ventures' partnership join Austin's growing impact ecosystem," said Zoe Schlag, Managing Director of Techstars Impact, which invests in for-profit, mission-driven startups building technologies to solve pressing social problems. "As a landing pad where new mission-driven ventures can connect directly with nonprofits, this will serve as an important resource for any impact organization in Austin."
Notley, the organization behind CSI, is catalyzing social change and unlocking new opportunities with today’s impact organizations and changing communities. With a reputation for operational excellence in entrepreneurship in and beyond Texas, Capital Factory will be lending its expertise in coworking operation and offering its worldwide community of mentors to support coworking members at all stages of their social entrepreneurship journey.
“Notley’s portfolio of successful social impact initiatives makes them an obvious partner for us and our social ventures who will be moving into the coworking space later this year,” said Joshua Baer, Founder and Executive Director of Capital Factory. “By leveraging the Capital Factory network, coworking at CSI is much more than just a place to work – it connects social impact entrepreneurs to their first employees, mentors, customers and investors. Austin is now one of the most exciting and connected places for social innovation in the world.”
Within 10,000 square feet, coworking at CSI provides a unique mix of private studios, dedicated desks, conference spaces, lounge areas, and an additional 5,048 square feet of meeting space. Programming will be designed to spark dialogue, collaboration, and networking between social enterprises and nonprofits with similar goals. Members will also engage with a global network of mentors able to help them gain traction in scaling impact, building mission-driven business strategies and raising capital.
CSI’s coworking infrastructure will be powered by the same Union online platform that Capital Factory uses to manage its community engagement including mentor sessions, educational events, and funding challenges. In addition to the mentor network that Capital Factory has assembled in Texas, Union brings access to a global network of resources for social entrepreneurs that includes over 800 learning resources and classes, 1,700 mentors and facilitates over 4,000 connects every month. The platform provides entrepreneurs with access to crucial resources and connections with like minded innovators across the world. Currently, over 75 incubators, startup hubs, and investor groups host their communities on Union.
The Center for Social Innovation is now accepting applications for coworking membership. Current members include Black Fret, Half Helen Foundation, MU/DAI, and The David Weekley Family Foundation.
To sign up for more information about membership, visit socialinnovationaustin.org.
About Notley:
Notley is a catalyst for social innovation that unlocks new opportunities with today’s impact organizations and changing communities. Notley’s mission is to fund and support businesses, nonprofits, and programs making positive change and social impact in the world, which they do by creating an ecosystem where social good organizations can thrive. Notley was founded in 2015 by Dan Graham, founder of BuildASign.com, and his wife, Lisa as a way to leverage their own business and investing success. Notley partners with seed and early stage social impact companies and nonprofits ready to scale. For more information, please visit www.notleyventures.com.
About Capital Factory:
Capital Factory is the center of gravity for entrepreneurs in Austin, the number one startup city in the U.S. Last year more than 100,000 entrepreneurs, programmers and designers gathered day and night, in-person and online for meetups, mentorship, classes and coworking. We meet the best entrepreneurs in Austin and introduce them to their first investors, employees, mentors and customers. According to Pitchbook, Capital Factory has been the most active investor in Texas since 2013.
Attachments:
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/42e0a104-709d-4aec-b440-eaa7b9046f33