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AARP Foundation Prize

For 2012-2013, the Duke Start-Up Challenge is proud to be partnering with the the AARP Foundation to provide prizes for the startup teams that can help the challenges for struggling individuals age 50 and above.

Prizes for Best Startup to Provide Solutions to Meet the Needs of Low-Income Seniors
  • $5,000 Prize for the best Duke originated and led team (student or alumni led).
The best teams will be selected from the entire pool of startups that enter the Duke Start-Up Challenge, and will be judged by a subset of judges focused on selecting the best teams for this particular prize. The AARP Foundation Prize will be awarded at the discretion of the Foundation to the business plan that best addresses one or more of the four challenges facing low-income seniors described below.


More about the AARP Foundation
AARP Foundation is working with struggling individuals age 50 and above by being a force for change on the most serious issues they face today: hunger, housing, income and isolation. Through the AARP Foundation Prize, AARP Foundation offers cash prizes to teams in existing university business plan competitions for business plans that provide innovative solutions to substantially advance the needs of low-income older people in one or more of the AARP Foundation's focus areas.
 
Over the next 20 years, the proportion of older people in the U.S. population will increase rapidly. In 2010 there were 40.2 million people in the United States age 65 and above, making up 12.9 percent of the population. By 2030, that number is expected to grow to 72 million, or 19 percent of the population. At that point, almost one in five Americans will be over age 65.
 
Teams submitting business plans for the AARP Foundation Prize should demonstrate an understanding of the environment in which their proposed solution must thrive, and are strongly encouraged to review publicly available data on aging. Among many useful resources are the statistics on the aging population provided online by the U.S. Bureau of the Census, the U.S. Administration on Aging and AARP's Public Policy Institute (PPI).
 

How to Compete
 
If you would like to compete for the AARP Foundation Prize:
 
  1. Review The Four Challenges (below) faced by low-income individuals aged over 50. Your solution must be relevant to one or more of these challenges.
  2. Compete in the Duke Start-Up Challenge.  The Final Deadline is January 31st, 2013 at 11:59pm.
  3. If the AARP Foundation decides that your proposed solution is relevant to one or more of the Four Challenges and that it represents the most practical and scalable solution in your university’s business plan competition, you will be awarded the AARP Foundation Prize at the final awards ceremony.

The Four Challenges
  • Housing
    • Millions of low-income 50+ households live in unaffordable or inadequate homes. The foundation seeks solutions to provide a greater supply of affordable housing and to ensure the existing housing stock can adapt to the challenges of accessible design. Read more
  • Hunger
    • Nearly 9 million adults 50 and older face the risk of hunger. The foundation wishes to encourage long-term, self-sustaining solutions that prevent food insecurity or that reduce an older adult’s vulnerability to food insecurity in a significant way. Read more
  • Income
    • The foundation wishes to encourage innovations that increase the income and lower the costs of low-income older people, and increase the access of low-income older people to affordable financial services. Read more
  • Isolation
    • The foundation wishes to encourage innovations to reach potentially isolated low-incomes older people and create and promote connections between them and their families, friends, and communities. Read more
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AARP Foundation is a charitable affiliate of AARP. Visit http://www.aarp.org/aarp-foundation/ for more information about the Foundation and follow the AARP Foundation Prize on Twitter @AARPFoundPrize.
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