Shreyas Parab ’18 Accepted into International Accelerator Program in Oslo, Norway
Shreyas Parab, junior at Archmere Academy, was recently accepted into the prestigious international accelerator program, Young Sustainable Impact (YSI), based out of Oslo, Norway. Shreyas is one of 25 entrepreneurs selected out of 10,000 applications from across 160 countries. After witnessing the Paris conference unfold, a group of Norwegian youngsters felt inspired to create their own conference, and thus Young Sustainable Impact was developed. It is an organization empowering youth to solve the sustainability challenges of the 21st century, a place to bring together the greatest young entrepreneurs from all over the world.
Although Shreyas just barely meets the age requirement to apply, he will work with entrepreneurs ranging from 16 to 27 years old. As part of the accelerator, Shreyas will work remotely with his team of four other entrepreneurs from Pakistan, Canada, India, and Myanmar, respectively, over the next few months to address a specific “Sustainable Development Goal” of the United Nations. There are 4 other teams of entrepreneurs just as geographically, linguistically, and culturally diverse as Shreyas’s team.
Shreyas admits, “I applied as a joke. I knew there were over 10,000 applicants, so I highly doubted they’d choose a tie salesman from Delaware County to work with the world’s top social entrepreneurs. It truly is an honor to be recognized among such amazing entrepreneurs from other countries and I am stoked to meet people from all across the world in Oslo, the second coolest city in the world…Philadelphia being first, of course. The best part of this program is that I will literally be working with the top 0.25% of applicants in the world, learning about their country and experiences, sharing my own experiences in the United States, and creating new memories with them. Even if our company doesn’t succeed, I know the lessons I will learn through this program are more than enough for me.”
From August 11th to August 25th, YSI will pay for Shreyas and the other 24 entrepreneurs to fly out to their headquarters in Oslo, Norway, where they will meet and pitch their new startup ideas to foreign dignitaries, delegates to the United Nations, venture capitalists, and other social entrepreneurs. The goal of the accelerator is to unite people from all walks of life in order to solve the world’s most pressing issues with a startup, mentor the budding startup, and see it through the funding phase. Last year’s accelerator saw the successful funding and launch of two companies, one dubbed the “Tinder for Biodiversity” in developing countries and the other a machine for rapid water-purification. Both companies are thriving today and pushing the envelope on innovation to solve the world’s most pressing issues.
Archmere Academy is a private, Catholic, college preparatory co-educational academy,
grades 9-12 founded in 1932 by the Norbertine Fathers.
grades 9-12 founded in 1932 by the Norbertine Fathers.
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