A North York business has won $40,000 in a Dragon's Den-style competition geared specifically for Canadian social enterprises.
RivInt Interpretation and Translation Services, operated by the Elspeth Heyworth Centre for Women in the Keele Street and Finch Avenue area, took home the grand prize at the Canada Conference on Social Enterprise in November. A Dragon's Den-style event was held at the conference dubbed Social Enterprise Angels - Social Investing in Action and four social enterprises from across Canada, including RivInt, made it to the finals out of 36 applicants. RivInt sells translation and interpretation services to hospitals and other organizations that require communication to newcomers who don't speak English well.The revenue earned by RivInt is funneled back into its parent organization, the Elspeth Heyworth Centre for Women."I never knew we had a chance of winning," said Sunder Singh, executive director of the Elspeth Heyworth Centre for Women. "I had no idea who we were up against. If they were a finalist, it had to be a good business."RivInt will use the $40,000 to recruit a marketing expert and for marketing tools, Singh said, adding $20,000 is received as a grant and $20,000 as a loan. Formerly Riverdale Interpreters, RivInt recruits and trains Canadian newcomers to work as interpreters for hospitals when doctors need assistance communicating with patients who don't speak English, Singh said, adding RivInt employs about 600 interpreters in more than 60 languages who are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.Julie McDowell, CEO of ClearlySo Canada and one of the investors and judges, said RivInt appealed to her because it was not government-run and would greatly benefit from an investor group, on both a financial and advisory level. "A lot of people are affected by the company in a positive way," she said. "I think the executive director is very entrepreneurial, she is wise and has good business sense. It wasn't a start-up and that appealed to me. I'm an active investor and I look for ways to invest a portion of my portfolio in meaningful companies and organizations. I think this (competition) was a creative spin on philanthropy."The judging panel for Social Enterprise Angels - Social Investing in Action was made up of McDowell and representatives from Ontario Trillium Foundation, MaRS Discovery District, Enterprising Non-Profits, BURST! Transformational Solutions and Social Venture Partners Toronto.