SecondMuse Launches Headstream: First Accelerator Solely Focused on Positive Technologies for Teenage Wellbeing

  United States - 10/14/2019 (PRESS RELEASE JET)

SecondMuse Launches Headstream Challenge and Accelerator

First Accelerator Solely Focused on Positive Technologies for Teenage Wellbeing 

• SecondMuse, an innovation agency, with support from Pivotal Ventures, an investment and incubation company created by Melinda Gates, launched The Headstream Accelerator. The program will unite a community of innovators to build positive digital places and experiences for every young person.

The digital world, though complex, has all the right ingredients to enable healthy social development and wellbeing. The questions, looming over teenagers today are still more or less the same - What do I care about? Do people like me? Who are my friends? Should I go to college? Am I doing enough to succeed? - but the constant connection to technology has changed how teens think about and answer these questions as they grow up. 

The Headstream Accelerator seeks to find avenues to source and accelerate a cohort of innovators and an ecosystem that rethinks and reshapes social technologies to support teen wellbeing. The Headstream innovators have the ability to inspire and spark a much larger community to harness and shape the future of social technologies.  

The Headstream Accelerator is particularly motivated to support solutions that positively impact teens of color, teenage girls, LBGTQ+ teens. By building with these underserved communities front of mind, we believe that digital solutions will be more accessible and impactful for all teenagers. 

“The hard part is done,” Todd Khozein, Managing Partner, SecondMuse. “Social technology infrastructure is in place and teens are already there. Now, we need to listen to what they want for their own empowerment and build with more intentionality to support teenagers as they grow up and develop their identity.” The Headstream Accelerator is the start of seeding a new economy driven by positive social technologies that serve young people. 

The Details

• October 12, 2019 - January 10, 2020: Challenge. Challenge is open and accepting applications.
• January 11 - 24, 2020: Application Review and Evaluation. Applications will be reviewed by a panel of experts.
• February 27 - 28, 2020: Round 1 - Finalists Event. 15 finalists will be selected to participate in an all-expenses-paid two-day event in the Bay Area with teens, investors, and other experts to further develop their solution
• March 2020: Round 2 - Finalist Selection. A final cohort of 8-10 of the most promising innovations that rethink and reshape digital places and experiences for teenagers in the U.S. will be awarded seed funding and a spot in Headstream’s Accelerator. 
• March - August 2020: Headstream Accelerator. Customized support, access to 500+ person Headstream network, acceleration curriculum, and attendance at the exclusive Headstream Forum.
   

SecondMuse Contacts
 

Sharmeen UI-Mulk 

Communications Manager 

415.248.6788 

sharmeen.ulmulk@secondmuse.com 

Taylor McLaughlin

Global Communications & Marketing Manager

203.644.4809

taylor.mclaughlin@secondmuse.com

About SecondMuse

For the past 10 years, SecondMuse has collaborated with visionary governments, corporations, foundations, and startups to build 21st-century economies. Current programs include NYCEDC’s Futureworks, the M-Corps cleantech manufacturing program with NYSERDA, The Incubator Network with Circulate Capital to battle ocean plastics, and NASA's International Space Apps Challenge. To learn more about SecondMuse, visit secondmuse.com or join SecondMuse on Twitter and Instagram.

About Pivotal Ventures

Pivotal Ventures is an investment and incubation company created by Melinda Gates. We partner with organizations and individuals who share our urgency for social progress in the United States. Together, we grow understanding, expand participation, encourage cooperation and fuel new approaches that substantially improve people’s lives.