By Sara Gilgore

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FlikShop Inc.

The D.C. tech platform — the “Instagram for prison” that turns digital messages into postcards for family members who are incarcerated — has only seen traction increase as prisons restrict visitors in the age of coronavirus. Flikshop went live in 2012 after its founder, Marcus Bullock, served eight years himself and wanted to connect people in his former position to the outside world through mail. His idea grew and gained attention, landing the company a slot in an accelerator backed by Grammy-winning artist John Legend, Techstars Anywhere, and, most recently, Georgetown’s Halcyon incubator. The company has also spun out the Flikshop School of Business, a training program with a series of classes that teaches skills — from coding to communication — to inmates to narrow the employment gap. Bullock’s also one of the Washington Business Journal’s 2020 40 Under 40 honorees.

Please Assist Me

The D.C. startup’s tech platform, which functions as a personal assistant to help users manage their errands and chores, won multiple pitch competitions in the last year: HERImpact’s pitch event and Vinetta Project’s 2018 final venture challenge, totaling $45,000 in prize money. Please Assist Me is now going through Halcyon’s new opportunity zone incubator, which zeroes in on companies located in opportunity zones — federally designated areas where investment is incentivized because they are traditionally under-resourced. The startup also partners with apartment complexes to serve its residents. CEO and co-founder Stephanie Cummings launched the company in 2018.

Halcyon

The District nonprofit, which runs a Georgetown incubator for social entrepreneurs, has spent the last year introducing new initiatives to support more social impact ventures, led by CEO Kate Goodall. In January, Halcyon rolled out a new program for startups in the city’s opportunity zones. It’s also building an angel investor group, raising a $6 million fund to invest in its fellows and their startups for the first time, and shepherding its latest cohort through the incubator, which started in 2014. Since then, its alumni have raised more than $100 million in investments and created more than 1,000 jobs, per Halcyon’s count.