Since its founding in 2011, the Harvard Innovation Labs (HIL)—a collaboration between HBS and Harvard University—has nurtured some 2,500 ventures founded by students, alumni, and faculty members from all 13 schools at Harvard. Current venture teams, as well as former participants who got their start at the HIL, are addressing critical issues at the intersection of business and society—from education to health care to climate change. The startups highlighted below are just a sampling of the quantity and quality of ideas targeting some of the world’s most challenging problems.

Upsolve uses technology to erase debt

CEO and cofounder Rohan Pavuluri (AB 2018) was inspired to launch Upsolve, which helps low-income and working-class families overcome financial distress, after learning that a bankruptcy lawyer costs a prohibitive average of $1,500. What began in 2017 as an online form that helped a few dozen people file for bankruptcy has grown into an educational platform, online community, and set of self-service software tools that help people determine whether filing for bankruptcy is the right move for them and walk them through the process.

WHOOP strap helps athletes optimize health

Will Ahmed (AB 2012) and his team designed WHOOP, a wearable fitness strap that collects physiological data to help athletes, their coaches, and trainers analyze strain, recovery, and sleep. The startup, one of the first unicorns to come out of the HIL with a recent valuation of $3.9 billion, aims to optimize performance and overall health. The device has become a fixture on the PGA Tour, and golfer Nick Watney credits his strap with first alerting him that he might have coronavirus by detecting an increase in his respiratory rate—and possibly preventing the disease’s spread throughout the tour.

Thrive! helps communities of color

Roughly 84 percent of children born into poverty will live in poverty for the rest of their lives. Thrive! is a software-as-a-service that helps local governments break the cycles of poverty in communities of color so that everyone has a chance to thrive. The company, founded by Omolara Fatiregun (EDLD 2022), offers equity audits, equity-centered budgets, and training on proven, poverty-fighting programs. Thrive! has been shortlisted by the Norrsken Impact Accelerator in Stockholm, Sweden for innovators that aim to solve the planet’s greatest challenges.

Suadela fosters negotiation skills in teenage girls

As important as it is to expand access to education, traditional schooling alone doesn’t guarantee success, especially for young women. Across the globe, women earn less than men for the same work and are less likely to negotiate for better pay. Founded by Djénéba Gory (MPA 2020) and Anne Thibault (MPA 2019), Suadela builds negotiation skills in teenage girls by training young, college-educated women to become negotiation coaches and role models. First piloted in Mali, the nonprofit is expanding to other African countries and around the world.

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