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By Alban Murtishi 

HARTFORD — The Impact Challenge, a regional competition in Hartford that funds innovative startup companies across New England, will award prizes totaling $100,000 this year.

The 6-year-old competition was started by reSET, a not-for-profit company that works with entrepreneurs to create socially responsible and profitable startup enterprises. More than 100 companies are participating in the competition this year.

Companies must create an effective business plan that can identify a target market, turn a profit and have a positive impact on the community. The business also needs to prove that its impact will scale up with the amount of funding received.

“The big thing is impact. We’re looking for impact and the ability for the business to create impact, how they measure impact and what is the scale potential of the impact,” said Ben Simmons-Telep, reSET’s interim director of programs.

Last year’s winner, Fresh Farm Aquaponics of Glastonbury, was awarded the top prize of $20,000 for pioneering aquaponic farming, which involves growing vegetables completely submerged in nutrient-rich water.

“We want to create the city that feeds itself. The long-term vision is to create that so our urban populations have enough food, and are producing it, not importing it,” said Spencer Curry, who helped start Fresh Farm Aquaponics.

The prize money allowed the company to develop a smart system to track the growth of the submerged plants from phones and send diagnostic information to help determine what nutrients are needed to add to the water at a given time.

The company hopes to expand enough to create a 6,000-square-foot compound, which could house a farming area and an office in Hartford.

“We want to create a repeatable model that can bring in local people. Anyone can run one of these, because we did, and we had no experience,” Curry said. “We’re looking to create a model that we can then replicate in other locations in Hartford.”

The application deadline for this year is Wednesday. For more information, or to apply, contact reSET at 860-560-9120.