The Community Demo Day in Fredericton on Saturday night highlighted how startups can help even the world’s poorest people.

Eight of the 10 companies that pitched at the event were typical startups that aimed to launch a business based on proprietary technology. But two of them – The Agrarian Revolution of Fredericton and Uganda Venture of Halifax – have set out to use entrepreneurial principals to reduce poverty in the developing world.

They have developed manageable, practical enterprises that can help people in other countries increase their income. Both are working with the Pond-Deshpande Centre at University of New Brunswick to develop their business model and increase their income and impact on the Third World.  

“When I first went to Uganda in 2009, I realized that I can make a difference,” said Fadi Al Qassar, the managing director of Uganda Venture. “I didn’t have to wait for the UN or another big organization to jump in.”

The company is working with partners in the west to improve entrepreneurship in the Africa country. In particular, Uganda Venture aims to assist ventures run by women, including craft enterprises, and to implement micro-finance operations. It has provided shelter for more than 100 orphans, and developed classrooms and other facilities.

A group from the company recently travelled to Africa with five representatives of Salesforce, the San Francisco tech giant that has bought into several Atlantic Canadian companies, to work with local entrepreneurs. On the same trip, four MBA students from Dalhousie University came along to assess micro-finance operations in the country. 

As its name suggests, Agrarian Revolution attacks the problem of poverty by assisting farmers in developing nations, many of who must survive on small plots of land in harsh climates. Founder Philippe Levesque researched the proposal for years by studying farm methods around the globe.

His solution is a product called “Farm in a Box”, which includes basic tools and seeds needed for farming but also training courses and expertise in the best way to improve crop yields. The boxes cost $25 each and can be shipped anywhere in the world.

Levesque said he would like to work with international aid agencies so Farms in a Box could be included in aid shipments that follow natural disasters.

Karina LeBlanc, Executive Director of the Pond-Desphande Centre, said these programs are founded on strong partnerships between the developed and developing world. “The key is to have strong players on the ground in the developing world,” she said.

 Gerry Pond, the Saint John investor who co-founded the centre, said the community is still working on the best way to accelerate social entrepreneurship ventures and for all members of the community to understand the potential of social entrepreneurship.

Six of the presenting companies came from the Plant Hatch incubator in Fredericton, which is now calling for applicants for its second cohort. The applications are open until March 5, and the sessions will begin in late March.