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Web Summit has teamed up with the US Embassy in Dublin to establish the Good Ideas initiative, an opportunity for Irish social enterprise organisations and charities to attend a workshop and pitch for a chance to tell their stories and speak to some of the 20,000 tech enthusiasts assembling in Dublin at this year’s Web Summit.
Some of the most innovative startups around the world are emerging in the social enterprise space – looking to solve the world’s toughest problems by harnessing new technologies, fresh engagement models and innovative strategies, these companies show that success can be about making a difference and not just making a profit.

But this is still a competition in the end, and after some tough deliberation the winners have been announced: Camara and FoodCloud have come out on top in the pitching contest and will present onstage at Web Summit in front of some top investors. Let’s find out a little bit more about them:

Camara

Camara is an International organisation dedicated to using technology to improve education and livelihood skills in disadvantaged communities around the world. Founded nine years ago in Dublin, the organisation has built a proven model of ‘education delivery’ that is both sustainable and highly scalable. 700,000 children in poor communities have been made digitally literate by Camara over this period.

FoodCloud

FoodCloud is a Dublin based social enterprise that links businesses with surplus food to local charities and community groups through a smartphone APP, tailor made contracts and a rich network of businesses and charities.
Although missing out on the top spots, Neuro Hero, Boardmatch, and Bridge 21 were all runners-up and will receive valuable exhibition space in the Web Summit venue. But not everyone in the competition could make it through – however, there was plenty of exciting semi-finalists demonstrating true innovation as well: they included Disaster Tech Lab, LetMeBe, Meitheal Mara, MyMind, and Women for Election.

Congratulations to all the winners and runners up – see you at Web Summit 2014!

Read: Introducing Web Summit for Schools