Meet entrepreneur-philanthropist Alexandre Mars

Nothing ventured, nothing gained... that's the motto of entrepreneur-philanthropist Alexandre Mars, named one of New York City's top 20 philanthropists under 40 by the New York Observer earlier this year.

Mars, who heads the Epic Foundation, says he realised early on that if you want to have an impact, you have to have money. "Money is power," declares the man who launched his first start-up, a concert promotion firm, at 17.

At 21, he had founded A2X – one of Europe's first web agencies – while studying at HEC Paris Business School and Paris Dauphine University. He ran his venture fund, Mars Capital, from 1998-2001.

Phonevalley, a mobile marketing agency which he started in 2001, was sold to Publicis Groupe in 2007, while ScrOOn, a social media management system he started in 2007 was bought by Blackberry in 2013.

Mars' quest to do more with his skills and resources began five years ago. To understand how the social sector worked, he consulted philanthropists, entrepreneurs and civil society leaders, who connected him with other networks in the non-profit and philanthropic space.

On one side were organisations and entrepreneurs struggling for funds, expertise and networks. On the other were donors with powerful networks who wanted to do more, but didn't know where to start or whom to trust. It was to bridge this gap that Mars launched the Epic Foundation in 2014.

The foundation works with donors, NGOs and social enterprises to enhance education, economic empowerment, health and rights for youth in India, East Africa, Southeast Asia, Western Europe, the United States and Brazil.

Mars, who lives in Brooklyn with his wife and three children, hopes to "disrupt the traditional philanthropic industry by combining passion and expertise with game-changing technology and partnerships – to motivate people to give more".

The Epic Foundation is developing tools to enhance how donors select, monitor and experience their impact. It's also building a network of foundations, funders and think-tanks across the world. "We've received applications from over 1,400 organisations across 85 countries in 2015", says Mars, who was in India to visit 40 organisations that had progressed to Stage 3 of their screening process. Four of the 20 organisations selected for the 'inaugural portfolio' are from India, he adds.

They are currently addressing the challenge of working with an organisation's existing systems, as many donors want funding recipients to implement new systems for reporting. Epic Foundation also plans to offer a web and mobile application to allow donors to monitor the impact of organisations they're supporting in real-time, through stories, project updates, data, photos and videos.

His day is meticulously planned: time with his kids (7.20-8am), phone calls/Skype sessions with people in Europe, Brazil, India and Southeast Asia (8am- noon), lunch meetings (12.30-2pm), team/ business meetings (2-6pm), family time (6.30-10.30pm), night work session (10.30-4 am), sleep (4-7.20 am). Clearly, Alexandre doesn't sleep much.

"My biggest achievement is bringing innovation to three different sectors – web, social media and mobile – over the past 15 years, and being able to exit successfully from each of these ventures," he says. "Seeing how many organisations and leaders believe in our mission and want to be a part of our community is inspiring."

While it's too early for Mars to talk about Epic Foundation's financial or social impact, his goal is to encourage people to give more – whether it's time, money or connections.

"When you try something different, it can be both exciting and challenging. There is no right way to approach things. You just try and try until you succeed (or not). What keeps me going is knowing that our end goal is to help kids around the world."

As for returning to the world of technology, he says, "I don't see the tech space being separate from the philanthropic space. I see a lot of collaboration, if anything. The Epic Foundation is my future; I can self-fund this endeavour for years."