30 start-ups creating positive change have been selected from around the world to pitch for a share of the $1million prize fund from the Chivas Venture social entrepreneurship competition. The final will be held in LA on July 13, with Now Money, a banking app for low income workers who don’t qualify to hold a bank account, representing the Middle East. Here five other leading candidates for the top prize.
BIOESTIBAS, COLOMBIA
Produces ecological pallets made with flower waste that would normally be polluting the environment. This could solve two problems: the huge issue of the production of wooden pallets for industrial needs, which causes 40 percent of global deforestation; while flower growers around Medellin, Colombia, generate over 9,000 tons of flower stems per month, which are incinerated, causing more pollution.
THE PITCH
“Our pallets are created without cutting a single tree and instead we collect the stems without cost. We cut them, mould them and press them, turning a once hazardous waste material into an ecologically sustainable solution.” — Álvaro Vásquez
SOLOCOCO, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
A range of organic, sustainable, fair trade coconut products (oil, flour, soaps, lotions and more), handcrafted by single mothers, who are commonly denied opportunities, in the Dominican Republic. A portion on profits is then used to fund social development programmes for their benefit.
THE PITCH
“When we started hiring for SoloCoco, it became painfully clear that many of the applicants were single mothers with little or no education, very young, with multiple children, and no recourse for social progress or work. This is when we decided to use our business to have a positive impact in their lives.” — Daniel Dalet
WEAROBOT, MEXICO
Aims to democratise access to exoskeletons for those who suffer from mobility loss, by making them 46 times cheaper than existing options, while being tailored to each individual. Users can connect to a doctor via an app, so that they can receive medical advice remotely, while VR technology has been employed to make rehab more fun and possible to do at home.
THE PITCH
“My dad worked hard all his life, taking good care of his family, and he was looking forward to his retirement to fulfil new dreams. But before this could happen, he started having difficulty walking and raising his arms. He went through two surgeries, more than two thousand hours of rehabilitation, and over $17,000 spent in physical therapy, paid from his own pocket. That’s when I realised that mobility is not affordable to everyone.” — Ernesto Rodriguez-Leal
OLIO, UK
A free app that connects neighbours with each other and with local shops to utilise surplus food. This could include food nearing its use-by date from shops, cafés and markets, but also spare vegetables from the allotment; cakes from an amateur baker; or groceries from household fridges. This helps with the problem that 33-50 percent of all food produced globally is never eaten. And if food waste were a country it would be the third-largest emitter of greenhouse gases.
THE PITCH
“The future is about transitioning from an ‘ownership-based’ economy, where people own all their possessions and don’t use them most of the time, to a real sharing economy, where there is a flow of resources between people, and our resource utilisation is closer to 100 percent.” — Tessa Cook
XINCA, ARGENTINA
A shoe made from rubber tyres and textile material from landfills, which would normally be disposed of in a way that releases toxic pollutants into the environment. This has the added bonus of bypassing the need to use natural resources to produce footwear.
THE PITCH
“We are making the ugly beautiful again by turning waste materials into premium footwear. As well as helping the environment, we are providing job opportunities to those who have had a bad start in life, by collaborating with inmates from the San Felipe prison in Mendoza to assemble our sneakers.” — Alejandro Malgor
The Chivas Venture is a global search to find and support the next generation of startups that want to succeed while creating a better future. Visit chivas.com/ the-venture for more information.
