Software to save lives

The reason I went into venture capital right after graduating from school is that venture capital firms, at their best, are powerful supporter of disruptive technologies that have the potential to change the way we do things or make our world a lot better. It is the promise of this impact on the world that really excites me about my role at OpenView Venture Partners.

Of course, 2 and a half years into the job, I am still learning a lot and seeing many new software ideas every day. I have not been part of anything that has changed the world in a major way yet, because the likes of Google or Facebook do not come everyday, but I do think at OpenView we make an impact on our portfolio companies and help them grow and contribute to the larger economy in their own ways. I am still looking for the big idea that will change the world though – especially if I can contribute my part to making it real.

Today, after reading the MIT Technology Review’s list of 50 most innovative companies, I feel inspired by breadth and range of innovation happening in all fields, even within just the selected list of 50 companies. The company that inspires me the most is also probably the tiniest company in the list, a Africa-founded open source start up called Ushahidi. In its essence, Ushahidi has two main parts: a mass multi-source chronological data aggregator and a representation engine that display the mass of data in real time or in playback. However, more importantly, it was built to deal with large scale humanitarian crisis, such as the recent earthquake in Haiti.

You should go to their website to check out the amazing story of how it got started, and what they are really doing and the great future potential they have.

This is an ambitious project targeting a problem with enormous technical issues – for example, overcoming the large amount of data, the lack of structure of the inputs, the high error rates as well as the lack of communications infrastructure where disasters strike. However, it is inspiring because even in its earliest form, it is already making a difference by indirectly allowing aid organizations to go to where the need is greatest, and therefore save precious human lives that could have been lost.

I am glad I get to know about Ushahidi. It certainly assures me yet again that there are tons of opportunities for making a real impact on the world, one way or another, and my work in finding companies like this and support them in realizing their goals is very rewarding.