Impossible.com
{{Infobox company
| name = Impossible
| industry = Design firm
| founded = {{Start date|2013}}
| founder = Lily Cole
| key_people = Lily Cole, Kwame Ferreira
| num_employees = 70+ (2018)
| website = {{URL|https://www.impossible.com/}}
| owner = I AM POSSIBLE Limited
}}
Impossible is an innovation group and incubator. It started as a gift economy platform{{huh|date=August 2021}} created by Lily Cole in 2013,{{cite news|url=http://www.thedrum.com/news/2015/12/08/mission-impossible-lily-cole-changing-how-people-think-about-money|title= Mission Impossible? Lily Cole on changing how people think about money |publisher=The Drum |date= 2015-12-08|accessdate=2018-02-16}} and since then has expanded to other areas, mainly design and technology.{{cite news|url=https://www.wired.com/2017/04/bizarre-digital-book-must-destroy-sharing/|title= The bizarre digital book you must destroy before sharing |publisher=Wired |date= 2017-04-14|accessdate=2018-02-16}} Impossible claim to be working on client projects with potentially far-reaching impacts.{{cite news|url=https://www.wired.co.uk/article/achieving-the-impossible-with-lily-cole|title=Achieving the impossible with Lily Cole|publisher=Wired.co.uk|date=2017-11-17|accessdate=2018-02-16|archive-date=2018-02-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180217024011/http://www.wired.co.uk/article/achieving-the-impossible-with-lily-cole|url-status=dead}}
Impossible People
Impossible People (previously Impossible.com) is an altruism-based mobile app which invites people to give their services and skills away to help others.{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-portugal-websummit-lily-cole/forget-glamor-model-lily-cole-wants-tech-for-good-to-encourage-women-girls-idUSKBN1332LT|title= Forget glamor, model Lily Cole wants tech for good to encourage women, girls |publisher=Reuters |date= 2016-11-08|accessdate=2018-02-16}} Created by Lily Cole, the app allows users to post something they would like to do or need so that others can grant their wish. In May 2013, Cole presented the app's beta in conjunction and with the support of Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales at a special event at Cambridge University.{{cite news |url=http://fashion.telegraph.co.uk/article/TMG10063879/Lily-Cole-debates-the-gift-economy-at-the-Cambridge-Union.html |title=Lily Cole debates the gift economy at the Cambridge Union |publisher=Telegraph.Co.Uk |date=2013-05-17 |accessdate=2013-06-10 |location=London |first=Ellie |last=Pithers |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130625210106/http://fashion.telegraph.co.uk/article/TMG10063879/Lily-Cole-debates-the-gift-economy-at-the-Cambridge-Union.html |archive-date=2013-06-25 |url-status=dead }} It is the first Yunus social business in the UK. The project became open source in March 2017.
Funding and support
In the past, the Impossible.com gift economy project received a grant of £200,000 from the Cabinet Office’s Innovation in Giving fund.{{cite news|url=https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/multi-millionaire-supermodel-lily-cole-given-3266581 |title=Multi-millionaire supermodel Lily Cole given £200k of taxpayers' money to set up gift exchange website |publisher=Daily Mirror |date=2014-03-21 |accessdate=2015-01-04 |first=Piers |last=Eady}}{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/social-media/10467409/Mission-Impossible-Lily-Coles-new-social-network.html |title=Mission Impossible: Lily Cole's new social network |publisher=The Telegraph |date=2013-11-23 |accessdate=2015-01-04 |first=Ellie |last=Pithers }}{{cite news|url=https://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/03/25/how_did_millionaire_supermodel_lily_cole_get_200000_of_taxpayers_cash/ |title=Improbable: YOU gave model Lily Cole £200k for her Impossible.com whimsy-site |publisher=The Register |date=2014-03-25 |accessdate=2015-01-04 |first=Andrew |last=Orlowski }}{{cite news|url=https://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/11/26/lily_cole_impossible/ |title=Supermodel Lily Cole in Impossible partnership with Jimbo Wales, YOU |publisher=The Register |date=2013-11-26 |accessdate=2015-01-04 |first=Kelly |last=Fiveash }} Other investors include Lily Cole herself and boyfriend and Impossible's co-founder, Kwame Ferreira. Donations of services from Muhammad Yunus, Brian Boylan, chairman of Wolff Olins, Tea Uglow, creative director for Google’s Creative Lab, office space and "angel investor"[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSGn097HZ00&t=0m56s Zeitgeist Minds], presented by Google, Becky Anderson in conversation with Lily Cole, Model, Actress and Founder, impossible.com & Jimmy Wales, Founder, Wikipedia.org, 2012. role from Jimmy Wales, and legal services from Herbert Smith Freehills bolstered the social network."[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/social-media/10467409/Mission-Impossible-Lily-Coles-new-social-network.html Mission Impossible: Lily Cole's new social network]," The Telegraph, 23 Nov 2013.
References
{{reflist|2}}
External links
- {{Official|http://impossible.com }}