Wharton’s social impact and private equity/venture capital student clubs announced that the student team 1DocWay won the $3,000 Grand Prize of the inaugural Wharton Social Venture Business Plan Competition.  The prize was awarded at the Social Venture Final Round last Friday after finalists delivered pitches before a judging panel of experts in entrepreneurship, venture capital, technology and social impact.

1DocWay is an online platform that helps hospitals expand psychiatry inpatient and outpatient revenue by connecting to underserved and rural patient populations. According to the company’s founders, its video chat platform turns rooms with a webcam and Internet connection into doctors’ offices, thereby helping patients access psychiatrists quickly and easily. Rural, elderly and other underserved patients can schedule appointments online, they note.

In the past year, 1DocWay has implemented more than 2,000 doctor-patient sessions. It is also a winner of Independence Blue Cross’ IBX Game Changers Challenge and the Wharton Venture Award.

The 1DocWay team includes CEO Samir Malik, chief technology officer Danish Munir and chief operating officer Mubeen Malik (no relation to Samir). Malik is a Wharton MBA student currently on a leave of absence; the other two are Penn graduates.

According to its website, 1DocWay is “committed to improving the health care process for everyone involved. Through 1DocWay, patients have easier access to more physicians, and are able to receive the best care possible with fewer hurdles. Doctors and hospitals are able to greatly expand the area they serve and better care for the many patients who cannot, for one reason or another, make the trip to receive the care they need.”//

The Wharton Social Venture Business Plan Competition, held for the first time this year, was open to both individuals and teams with high-impact, sustainable business ideas that address a pressing global social issue. The competition aims to promote social impact at Wharton and the broader Penn community by providing opportunities and resources for budding social entrepreneurs and global change-makers.

Twenty teams — which included various combinations of Wharton undergraduates, Wharton MBA students, Penn students and Penn alumni — entered this year’s contest. The other finalists were:

  • Energize the Chain: Using cell phone towers to power refrigeration of vaccines in developing countries.
  •  Toilets for People: Building private, affordable, sustainable and safe toilets for the 2.6 billion people suffering from inadequate sanitation in the developing world, particularly in flood-prone areas. 
  • The Social Loan Company (SoLo): Developing a next generation credit-scoring algorithm to unlock access to finance for the 2.5 billion unbanked people around the world. 
  • Social Enrichment Partnership Card: Designing a discount card to help economically disadvantaged individuals and families afford a variety of products and services. 
  • Bridging Communities Fund: Managing a student-led micro-loan program that empowers West Philadelphia entrepreneurs and small business owners.

The judges included Erica Lock from social innovation company Echoing Green, Suresh Shenoy from IMC Global Services, John Moore from Robin Hood Ventures, Ian MacMillan, director of Wharton’s Sol C. Snider Entrepreneurial Research Center, and Peter Frumkin, professor of social policy at the University of Pennsylvania and faculty director of the Center for High Impact Philanthropy.

The Wharton Social Venture Business Plan Competition was co-sponsored by Wharton’s Sol C. Snider Entrepreneurial Research Center, the Wharton Private Equity/Venture Capital Club and the Wharton Consulting Club.