FAQ EPIC

What is the EPIC program?

We provide a 100% online incubation program that help early-stage social entrepreneurs to structure and develop their early-stage social ventures.  Our program provides:

• 3-month access to our learn-by-doing proven methodology..

• “Checkpoints”, online meetings with your Epic Team to deepen the work on each critical aspect of the EPIC Teams Social venture that will leverage the collective intelligence of the group.

• Lifetime access to a community to the EPIC Teams community.

• Participation with your EPIC Team in the EPIC National competition that awards grants for commercial proofs of concepts.

• EPIC Program Certification  

What has been the success of the EPIC Incubator?  

So far, 1,000 entrepreneurs from around the world (57 countries) have gone through the EPIC Bridge for Billions Incubator which is employed by EPIC but will be undergoing certain modifications for EPIC’s focus on social entrepreneurship.   Around 80% of all who start the program successfully complete incubation within the 4 months and emerge with a viable business plan for their EPIC National competition and go-to-market and/or fundraising efforts.  

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More commonly, participants emerge with a roadmap for continuing to test and update their idea and many of them use the knowledge gained through the tools and curriculum to test other ideas after the program ends. Some of them discover quickly that their initial idea will not work–and they report that their time was well spent discovering this sooner rather than later! In the months following the program, 88% of entrepreneurs have rated the program as critical to their success and a year after, 73% of businesses are still in operations.  

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What type of social entrepreneurs are engaged in EPIC Teams?

We support early-stage post-secondary social entrepreneurs that either have researched local poverty reduction and SDG challenges and have formed teams focused on developing a solution for a specific challenge that they’re passionate about pursuing 

What do I gain from being an EPIC Team member?

Being an EPIC Teams member will benefit you in several ways. First, it will allow you to meet and connect with social entrepreneurs based on your interests and expertise, anytime, anywhere through our online platform. It will also give you the chance to expand your network by joining other students who share your interests. Finally, it will enable you to develop your own skills as a social entrepreneur, exposing yourself to the latest innovation and entrepreneurship methodologies, while helping your social venture to grow. Participating in EPIC Teams is an impactful experience that you can do from pretty much anywhere where you have internet.

What will be my role as an EPIC Team member?  

As an EPIC Teams member, you will be part of our 4 month structured program. You will gain an understanding of the ins and outs of the social venture development experience and, week after week, you will contribute to each critical stage, from targeting the right social impact, to building a 3-year growth plan. You will engage with your social entrepreneurial EPIC Team through virtual collaboration on the platform.

The EPIC Teams program is made of 8 social venture tools:

• Value Proposition

• Competition Map

• Stakeholder Map

• Social Venture Business Model & Marketing

• Pricing & Business Viability

• Financial Projections

• Impact Plan

• Growth Plan

These tools will guide you as the social entrepreneur in effectively developing each critical aspect of the social venture planning process.

Can I join an EPIC Team if I don’t see myself as an entrepreneur?

Yes! As an EPIC Teams member, we believe that you can bring different expertise and skill sets that can be very useful to innovate and develop your Teams social venture. We believe in transferable skills and we are sure that whatever skills you can bring to the table, there will be a need that an EPIC Team has.   

Do you provide help/training/material for inexperienced students who want to be social entrepreneurs?

Yes — once you have officially been accepted as an EPIC Teams member, you will be invited to follow an onboarding training where we’ll explain our innovation-based social entrepreneurship methodology and how our platform works. You’ll get the chance to meet other students, and of course we’ll be here to answer all of your questions! You will also join an online community of EPIC Students to spark conversations, share extra resources, and keep learning!

How are the EPIC Teams selected?

Like you, EPIC Team members go through a selection process once they’ve applied to join the program.  Each participating University offers a special EPIC assembly which explains the EPIC program to the student body.  Although up to 500 students may participate in the assembly only 25 students will be selected by the University Team Coach together with the EPIC National Team Coach.  So at the end of the day EPIC Teams, like a football team, will consist of the best most passionate students who are mission driven to find solutions to local poverty reduction and SDG challenges within their communities.     

How do EPIC Teams operate as a pipeline that incorporates Mentors and feed into National Competitions?

EPIC Teams is a pipeline that focuses on the development of social ventures.  These ventures then enter into a Nation competition that selects the most outstanding.  Given that we want to have a level and fully transparent playing field for the competition, all teams will utilize the same EPIC incubator undergoing an identical development process.  So as not to “load the deck” or play favorites given the National competitions that lie ahead, EPIC Team Mentors will be assigned to specific EPIC Teams randomly.  EPIC specialized mentors will be assigned to EPIC Teams based upon the nature of the social venture 

How will I work and communicate with my EPIC Team?

Our platform has been built to facilitate collaboration. Once you have access to the workspace of an EPIC Team you’ll be able to work together through comments on every aspect of their Social Venture plan, and you’ll also have access to your own team video room embedded in our platform, so that you can meet and talk as if you were in the same room, in just a few clicks. Apart from your private project workspace, you will have an online group with all of the participants from your cohort (mentors and social entrepreneurs) to share articles and resources, ask questions, and overcome challenges together. Lastly, you’ll also have one-to-one messaging with your mentors and Teammates, and each team can decide (or not) to use alternative communication channels such as phone, WhatsApp, email, Slack, etc.

What are the eligibility criteria to be an EPIC Team member? How are the students selected?

Join us if you have a passion to be part of an aspiring social entrepreneurship Team — the greater the diversity in student profiles and backgrounds, the greater the chances of creating fruitful Social Ventures. Students from all backgrounds and fields are welcome to apply, you only need to have the commitment, perseverance, and passion to want to do it and stick with it right up to the EPIC National Competition.    Student applications are evaluated individually by the EPIC University Team Coach, and if you’re accepted, you’ll be invited to one of our online onboarding training sessions for student Team to learn more about their role and our methodology.

What is the commitment required?

Student applicants should show a passion for social entrepreneurship and should be ready to commit to ensure the quality EPIC Teams development of their social venture.   Students can always choose when to work according to their academic schedule but once a commitment is made, the time requirement is approximately 4 to 5 hours per week for the duration of the social entrepreneur’s incubation program from May to August (4 months).

Where can I apply to be a member of EPIC Teams?

Start your application process by filling out our application form above. We’ll notify you if your application has been approved and we’ll invite you to a onboarding call to give you a warm welcome, acquaint you to your role and our methodology and explain how to the program will operate.

Will I earn a certificate for my EPIC Teams participation?

Yes, students who successfully complete the EPIC Teams program will recieve a certificate of program completion that will be of great benefit for forwarding ones academic and career opportunities.

I know an organization that would be interested in working with or supporting EPIC. Who can I contact?

The Social Ventures Foundation is always looking for partners including financial contributions and mentors from corporations, foundations, non-profit organizations, investment funds, and individuals which wish to support its EPIC social entrepreneurship programs.  To learn more, and please get in touch with Gabriela@socialventuresfoundation.org