Skandalaris Center

Applications for the 2025 Global Impact Award have closed.

ABOUT:

The Global Impact Award was founded in 2013 to support the vision and passion of Washington University in St. Louis students, postdoctoral researchers, and recent alumni who are creating ventures that are:

• Scalable
• Sustainable
• For-profit
• Quick-to-market with proof of concept for a broad impact

This award, provided by Washington University alumnus Suren G. Dutia and his wife Jas K. Grewal, recognizes those affiliated with Washington University. The goal of the award is to invest in individuals and high-growth entrepreneurial ventures that have a broad impact and exhibit an interdisciplinary approach to entrepreneurship.

HEAR FROM THE DONORS:

PROCESS

Finalists will be chosen by a selection committee based on the scoring of deliverables and will be connected to expert mentors in their relevant fields, to improve sustainability of ventures and opportunities for success. Mentorship and training will be offered during the spring semester to help the finalists prepare for their pitch presentation. In April, all finalists will present to an esteemed panel of judges, and the judges will select one or more winners of the $50,000 award.

ELIGIBILITY

In order to be eligible to receive the award, the founding team and venture are expected to meet certain criteria.

TEAM MEMBER REQUIREMENTS:

A venture must be deemed to have WashU DNA to be eligible for the Global Impact Award. To be considered as a WashU DNA venture, your venture must meet the following criteria:

• At least one founder is a current WashU undergraduate, graduate, or professional student, a postdoctoral researcher, or an alumnus who has graduated within ten years of submitting their application for the award.
• The WashU founder must have "a meaningful" ratio of equity in comparison to the other co-founders.

• If there are more than 3 co-founders, the WashU founder must maintain at least 1/4 of the existing equity pool. 

VENTURE REQUIREMENTS:

• The venture must have incurred less than $1 million in total debt, equity, grant or prize funding at the time of application.
• The venture must have completed a proof of concept.
• The venture must be a for-profit legal entity, and is expected to have high impact, be sustainable and scalable.
• The venture may be based on faculty inventions or IP (Intellectual Property) disclosures, provided the venture includes at least one Washington University-affiliated team member who meets the above requirements and holds meaningful equity participation in the venture.

Judging Criteria for GIA

Committees will be looking for ventures that are scalable, sustainable, for-profit, and quick-to-market with proof of concept for a broad impact. The specific judging criteria will include: 

• PROBLEM: Clear, concise description and understanding of the problem.
• SOLUTION: The solution is feasible and has been prototyped, and implementation is achievable by the team and highlighted collaborators. 
• IMPACT: The venture that could make an important or far-reaching contribution in the lives of many persons.
• CHALLENGES: The team understands the technical and operational challenges and has a reasonable plan to address them.
• MARKET CONTEXT: The team understands the market and cultural challenges to their solution.
• USE OF AWARD: The budget is appropriate, and a clear plan for additional funding (if needed) is in place. The startup presents a realistic and specific outline for how the GIA will increase the team’s probability of success - including through funding and mentorship.
• TEAM: The team is interdisciplinary with complementary skill sets, understands their capabilities, and has utilized mentors to support their venture.  
• SUSTAINABILITY: A sustainable venture would entail a unique application of technology or an innovative process that solves an important problem, perhaps having a barrier to entry (e.g., IP).

• VIABILITY: This venture has a successful proof of concept, a clear go-to-market strategy, and is scalable (can expand with minimal cost). The venture will succeed.
• GLOBAL IMPACT AWARD COMMITMENT: Recipients should be strongly encouraged and motivated to give a portion of future earnings to the Global Impact Award so that others may also benefit from similar assistance through future contributions and growth of this fund.

Previous Winners

2024 - AirSeal Cardiovascular, LLC and ChiChi

• Award Announcement

2023- King of the Curve and Armor Medical Inc.

• Award Announcement

2022 - Patika and HIVE Medical

• Award Announcement

2021 - Golden Roots Essentials

• Award Announcement
• Get to Know the Finalists - Golden Roots Essentials

2020 - GiftAMeal, 3Dux Design, and Wabbani 

• Award Announcement 
• Get to Know The Finalists -  GiftAMeal
• Get to Know The Finalists - 3Dux Design 
• Get to Know The Finalists - Wabbani 

2018 - The Women's Bakery

• The Women's Bakery Award Announcement
• Get To Know The Finalists - The Women's Bakery

2017 - Geneoscopy and Strayos

• Geneoscopy and Strayos Award Announcement
• Get To Know The Finalists - Geneoscopy
• Get To Know The Finalists - Strayos

2016 - Epharmix

• Epharmix Award Announcement
• Get To Know The Finalists - Epharmix

2015 - Applied Particle Technology

2014 - Nanopore Diagnostics