As part of the HBS Summer Fellows Program, the Social Enterprise Founder Forum is offered to students in the summer between their first and second year, supporting student founders in the development of their social impact startup. During the summer of 2024, ten student founders benefitted from social entrepreneurship workshops, peer-led founder circle sessions, as well as the insights and feedback from their cohort. We will be sharing experiences from a couple of our Founder Forum participants.
Tell us about your venture.
Imagine a category 5 hurricane hits Boston. For emergency responders, who need to know what roads are accessible, what buildings are damaged, and how many people are impacted, it might take days if not weeks to answer these questions - critically precious time in the context of disaster management.
Intensified by climate change, last year natural disasters took more than 95,000 lives and displaced over 30 million people. The economic impact amounted to over $380B USD. While the availability of earth observation data has increased over the past decade, my experience in disaster management showed data accessibility is still a hurdle, leading to long lead times. Later while building a generative AI studio as a product manager, I realized how powerful foundation models can help to bridge this data gap.
At Orisa.ai, we are building a solution that leverages foundation models to empower stakeholders in climate resiliency - from emergency response managers, to city planners, to insurance providers - to connect with the earth's data and make informed climate risk and disaster mitigation decisions.
What is the focus of your work this summer?
It was important to stay grounded in the problem space this summer, and I set a goal of connecting with 100 customers, experts, and practitioners across industry and academia. Every natural disaster is different, and approaches need to be tailored to local needs. I spent part of the summer traveling to disaster prone regions to connect with local experts and understand the climate and disaster context.
Building on these insights, two machine learning scientists joined the team this summer, and we have been developing a prototype, testing different agentic approaches for LLMs (large language models) to interact with earth observation data.
What have you learned this summer?
Don't underestimate the power of a 20-minute conversation! When we first started building and testing, it was easy to get hyper focused on a feature or detail. One way I found I could get around this kind of product trap is to build community around the problem I'm solving; I’ve met brilliant people working on different pieces of this massive puzzle that is climate resiliency, data and AI, and disaster management. Each time, I have left the conversation inspired and with a more refined direction. I’m reminded that the magic of connecting with people around new ideas is what gives innovation direction.
How has the SE Founder Forum supported your work and learning?
The support the forum has offered has motivated me to take the next step at many turning points. Conversations with other founders in the forum, learning from each other’s journeys from hiring decisions to experimentation, and connecting with HBS faculty and mentors in smaller circles has accelerated our progress. I’m wrapping up the season with clarity towards my goals as a founder and Orisa.ai's next milestones.
What's next?
I’m excited to pilot our product with partner organizations. We plan to continue building out the platform while expanding our team and leaning on the great resources across Harvard’s entrepreneurship systems. I’m looking forward to tailoring my second-year coursework to complement my goals for Orisa.ai, and to learn from our community as we progress towards our vision. If our work interests you, let's have a chat! You can reach out to me on LinkedIn.
