This week, the UW is the destination for business students from around the world as they compete in the UW’s Global Social Entrepreneurship Competition (GSEC).

The GSEC Trade Show began yesterday in the HUB, where 14 teams from around the globe met to pitch business plans to mock investors in preparation for formal presentations tomorrow.

But the GSEC pitches are not what most would expect to hear at a business competition.

True to its name, GSEC’s focus on social entrepreneurship is rare in other business competitions. Rather than concentrating solely on profit and financial sustainability, the social ventures of GSEC are intended to create an impact on poverty and lifestyles in low-income countries.

“It’s different than just sending a guilty check,” said GSEC faculty director Jane George-Falvy. “Social entrepreneurship looks to find business solutions to chronic problems in an affordable way.”

Since 2005, the Foster School of Business at UW has organized the event, an idea that started with David Burgstahler before he left his position as dean of the business school the same year. The program has grown over the years to include a number of different sponsors, including Microsoft and the newly created Department of Global Health at the UW.

Each year, teams of university students from around the world present their ideas to a panel of judges that grade the plans based on financial sustainability, feasibility of implementation and overall social impact in a developing country.

The team with the winning plan receives $10,000 from Microsoft. The money can be delegated to whatever the members decide.

“It’s for the team as recognition of their work,” George-Falvy said.

About 70 applications were screened last November, and only 15 teams made it to the competition in Seattle. Nine countries are represented on campus this week, including the United States, India, Singapore, Canada and the United Kingdom. Among the competitors are three groups from the UW.

Bright Credit, RGI Igimongo and MiNGO are the teams of Husky hopefuls looking to win and eventually implement their plans in the real world.

Teams are generally made up of three or four students, many of whom are graduates and hailing from a number of different academic backgrounds.

“That’s something that sets GSEC apart from other business competitions,” said Wren McNally, GSEC assistant director. “We have teams with business majors, law, public health and so on. It mimics the real-world experience.”

The variety doesn’t stop with education, however, as some teams chose to assemble from different universities.

“It’s the most diverse social venture competition out there,” McNally said.

But with a global-scale event like GSEC, money can be hard to come by. The state of the U.S. economy only adds to the difficulty.

“Unfortunately, [the economy] does have an impact on funding, but it doesn’t affect our approach,” said Mari Hickman, a graduate student from the Evans School of Public Affairs and a member of the MiNGO project.

Hickman and her teammates are looking to create a network of donors that will provide funding for organizations working toward social reform in Latin America.

The group plans to continue efforts to implement the venture and pursue alternative methods of funding should they not win the competition — a goal shared by many other GSEC competitors.

This Friday, participants will be presenting full-length versions of the ventures they pitched during the Trade Show yesterday. “This competition brings the world to the UW,” McNally said.

Reach reporter Brian Hsu at news@dailyuw.com.