Well City Challenge Selects Finalists to Participate in Social Venture Incubator

Impact Labs’ Well City Challenge presented by Independence Blue Cross is a social impact program to support innovators with new ideas for addressing and improving millennial mental and physical health through community-led ventures in Philadelphia. The Well City Challenge supports community-oriented ideas related to three themes: Community and Social Connection, Food and Nutrition, and Mind/Body. The challenge was inspired by the 2019 Blue Cross Blue Shield Health of America report “The Health of Millennials,” which found that millennials are suffering from more physical and mental health challenges than previous generations, including double-digit increases in 8 out of 10 top health conditions. 

Following the Fall 2020 Call for Ideas period, fifteen teams were chosen from a pool of more than 100 applications representing all five counties and 51 ZIP codes in Southeastern Pennsylvania. Finalists were selected with the help of a diverse, cross-sector recruitment and selection committee including representatives from local nonprofits, businesses, and community organizations. During February 2021, finalist teams will participate in a virtual social venture incubator where they will be paired with mentors from within the Economy League’s network to help develop and refine their concepts. At the end of the incubator, teams will pitch their concepts to judges during virtual “Shark Tank”-like pitch competitions with over $50,000 in prizes, to be awarded during pitch competitions March 2, 3, and 4.