Interview: GivKwik
The Mentor Capital Network interviewed Jason Rosado, the CEO of Givkwik, on April 18, 2016. Givkwik participated in the Sustainable Business Plan Collaboration Program in 2013. Givkwik helps companies give …
Interview: Union Kitchen
The Mentor Capital Network interviewed Davita Louie, Director of Development for Union Kitchen, and a participant in the Mentor Capital Network’s 2016 Spring Cohort, on April 15, 2016. Union Kitchen …
Interview: Fredsense
The Mentor Capital Network interviewed David Lloyd, Cofounder and Chief Operating Officer of FREDsense Technologies, on April 14, 2016. FREDsense technologies participated in the MCN Sustainable Business Plan collaboration in 2014. …
Interview: Evaptainers
The Mentor Capital Network interviewed Spencer Taylor Co-founder and CEO of Evaptainers, an MCN Alumnus from 2014. Evaptainers’ mission is to provide affordable refrigeration solutions to address the unique needs …
Interview: Vayando
The Mentor Capital Network interviewed Jason Seagle the CEO and Co-founder of Vayando on March 30, 2016. Vayando was a participant of the MCN’s Sustainable Business Plan Collaboration in 2015. …
Wash Cycle Laundry — Up Close And Personal
Wash Cycle Laundry is proving that bikes are commercially-scalable alternatives to trucks for intra-metropolitan freight. Over 3 million pounds of cargo are hauled across Philadelphia and Washington DC since the company began in 2010.
http://untoursfoundation.org/2016/03/wash-cycle-laundry-up-close-and-personal/
WaterWheel: A rolling solution in rural India
This year, American social venture company Wello Water reported that over 2000 WaterWheels have been delivered to different villages in rural India. The WaterWheel is a solution put forward to alleviate the strain water collection has on rural families.
http://www.designindaba.com/articles/creative-work/waterwheel-rolling-solution-rural-india
MCN Update: 16 March 2016
Save My Knees. I am writing you today from Granada, Nicaragua, where I am working with Agora Partnerships and identifying entrepreneurs that the Mentor Capital Network (MCN) should support. A few weeks …
Exo, protein bar made from crickets, raises $4M
Exo, a protein bar company founded by two 20something entrepreneurs, today announced it has raised a $4 million Series A for a packaged food concept whose key ingredient would give most Americans pause: crickets. Or more specifically, cricket powder.
http://www.bizjournals.com/newyork/news/2016/03/07/exo-protein-bar-made-from-crickets-raises-4m.html
MCN Update: 2 March 2016
News & Updates Prizes for the 2016 CollaborationBe sure to check out our growing list of prizes that will be available to our top companies from the2016 Sustainable Business Plan Collaboration. The MCN …
Goodwill games
“Play is the universal language,” Tarver says. “You go somewhere and you may not be able to talk to the people, but if you pull out this ball, you’ll be connected, because it’s intuitive. The ball is the connector between the visitors and the community.”
https://www.rotary.org/en/news-media/goodwill-games
MCN Update: 17 February 2016
Clean Energy Prizes Worth $25k in 2016 Big News! The MCN is partnering with the 11th Hour Foundation to provide $25,000 worth of prizes to the top clean energy companies in this year’s …
Fruit and Second Chances Never Tasted So Good
Our products provide second chances in two ways. One would be employing and training women who need a second chance because they are homeless, formerly incarcerated, or otherwise disadvantaged. The second would be the fruit we pick was originally not the right size/shape to be sold commercially. The model address is the paradox that in this country we waste 40% of food while 1/6 americans are currently living in hunger.
http://eco18.com/fruit-and-second-chances-never-tasted-so-good/
Maxwell Chinnah CEO & Cofounder of Terraoak, Receives Grant From The Iowa Renewable Energy Association
Maxwell Chinnah, CEO & Cofounder of Terraoak, receiving a grant from the Iowa Renewable Energy Association, in November 2015, for his work in Clean Energy with Terraoak, Inc. He is the pioneer recipient of the Eric Foresman and Christine Nelson-Foresman Scholarship Award for Iowans spearheading renewable energy endeavors.
http://smallbusinesstrendsetters.com/maxwell-chinnah-ceo-cofounder-of-terraoak-receives-grant-from-the-iowa-renewable-energy-association/
Aesop Technologies Presents to 1 Million Cups
Our first product, Aesop Solis, is our solar powered mobile device case, which is still under development. Aesop Tholos is our latest product that we will soon be introducing to the City of Norfolk. It is our solar powered bench.
https://www.1millioncups.com/virginiabeach/presentations/aesop-technologies-llc-7937
The Hidden Truth About Women in Entrepreneurship
I felt like I had to work twice as hard to be seen as credible as my male counterparts competing against me. After talking to fellow women competitors and entrepreneurs, I was surprised to learn that they all had similar experiences.
https://dobsonchronicles.com/2016/01/31/the-hidden-truth-about-women-in-entrepreneurship/
Local catering entrepreneur Josephine Chu chats with Start DC about building Zenful Bites.
Zenful Bites partners with local nonprofits to run food education programs for children in underserved areas of DC.
https://startdc.co/2016/01/24/josephine-chu-zenful-bites/
MCN Update: 20 January 2016
News & Updates We’re diving right into 2016 and we’re so excited about what this year will bring. This is the first year in which we’re going to offer not …
Buying These Tampons Donates A Box Of Pads To Homeless Women
“We were shocked to learn that feminine hygiene products are not covered by government assistance programs like food stamps, and furthermore, that 40 states tax these products, making them even more cost-prohibitive to women living in homelessness,” the company’s founders, Annie Lasco and Margo Lang, told HuffPost in an email.
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/conscious-period-donations_us_5693e091e4b0a2b6fb70e176
20 Global Startups That Are Changing The World
Addressing the vital need for clean water in disaster relief situations, DayOne Response has developed one solution called the DayOne Waterbag. This is a 10-litre personal water purification unit that can be transported like a backpack. A closed system, which prevents contamination, it is designed specifically to be distributed after a disaster. It purifies 10 litres of water in 30 minutes, and is reusable so a family of four can have clean drinking water for up to 2 months.
https://www.currencyfair.com/blog/20-startups-changing-the-world/
LuminAID Sales Up 300% Since ‘Shark Tank’: Interview With Owners
LuminAID clinched a deal with Mark on Season 6 of Shark Tank for their solar-powered inflatable lights. Heavy spoke with founders Anna Stork and Andrea Sreshta, who gave us a glimpse into the company’s tremendous growth since the show.
http://heavy.com/news/2016/01/luminaid-shark-tank-solar-power-lights-products-episodes-deals-mark/
Start-up snapshot: Boosting milk yields of small-scale dairy farmers
Graham Benton is founder and managing director of LishaBora Hydroponics, a Kenya-based start-up that produces a barley nutrient supplement targeted at smallholder dairy farmers. LishaBora operates a greenhouse system where it grows barley seeds using nutrient-rich water. The end product, a fodder mat that looks like grass, is fed to cows as a replacement to nutrient concentrates. The product is said to improve milk yields by up to 30%.
https://www.howwemadeitinafrica.com/boosting-milk-yields-of-small-scale-dairy-farmers/
These Entrepreneurs Want To Completely Shake Up The Economics Of Tampons And Pads
But Annie Lascoe and Margo Lang are thinking a lot about those products, and they want to change almost everything about them. They created their newly launched company, Conscious Period, to manufacture organic sanitary products so that women know exactly what ingredients are being used, given that in the U.S. companies aren’t required to disclose all the components in their raw materials. “We were both really concerned about the ingredients that aren’t being disclosed in conventional tampons,” Lascoe said.
https://thinkprogress.org/these-entrepreneurs-want-to-completely-shake-up-the-economics-of-tampons-and-pads-d987ddf38e00/
Evaptainers uses old-school electricity-free technology for 21st century cooling
Evaptainers creates “zero energy” refrigeration systems using modular and mobile units to systemically reduce food spoilage in the developing world. “We are very proud to be on the ground in Morocco working with our country partners to bring this technology to market,” says CEO and co-founder Spencer Taylor. “Unlike other alternative refrigeration companies our product requires no electricity and is so lightweight and inexpensive that it allows us to bring a refrigeration solution to populations living on the other side of the electricity divide that have never before had access.”
http://www.treehugger.com/clean-technology/evaptainers-electricity-free-refrigeration.html
Donnel Baird: Clean Energy in Old Buildings
It’s not unusual for small businesses and houses of worship located in old New York buildings to spend 30 percent of their budgets on energy. But banks aren’t willing to lend them the money to make their sites energy efficient.
https://www.philanthropy.com/article/40-under-40-donnel-baird-/234728
Andrew Youn: Farm Aid With an M.B.A.
When Andrew Youn started One Acre Fund to help farmers in East Africa improve their productivity, he set rapid expansion as a top priority. The result: After just a decade, the nonprofit serves 300,000 farmers directly and another 500,000 through its government partnerships.
https://www.philanthropy.com/article/40-under-40-andrew-youn-farm/234749
RUR Greenlife
RUR Greenlife was awarded 1st place for the 2016 Richard Heinberg Sustainability Prizes sponsored by the Foundation for a Sustainable Future. RUR Greenlife designs, builds, and implements sustainable,decentralized waste management …
The Kenya Copyright Board (KECOBO) in collaboration with Eco Post Ltd destroyed unauthorized copies of DVDs and CDs.
The Kenya Copyright Board (KECOBO) in collaboration with Eco Post Ltd destroyed unauthorized copies of DVDs and CDs. The Kenya Copyright Board Executive Director, Dr. Marisella Ouma said that, the destruction has been in an eco-friendly way through a joint initiative with eco post to safely dispose over one tone of illegal CDs and DVDs worth over 5,000,000 million….
http://www.copyright.go.ke/dsdsd/summary/6-copyright-registration/5-application-for-verification-of-assignment-of-copyright-works.html
COTACACHI
While blessed with one of the highest biodiversity indices, Ecuador also has one of the world’s highest rates of deforestation estimated at over 300,000 hectares (3%) per year. Today only about 1-2% of Ecuador’s original forest lands remain. It is estimated that there are up to 300 different species of trees in the Canande watershed with only approximately 200+ species currently identified. Current economic models present a higher land yields through clear cutting forests and planting oil palm
https://www.chrispalm.com/choco
Arimae finally gains legal title to its land
After a long struggle, our partner community Arimae finally received its land title from the government of Panama. We’ve been working with Arimae since 2007 and currently have 15 hectares of timber plantations on their land.
http://www.plantingempowerment.com/blog/arimae-panama-land-title
Needle-free insulin patch
NBC’s Melissa Lee speaks to Devon Grimme, Prometheon Pharma director of business, about a new patch that could end needle injections for people with diabetes.
https://www.cnbc.com/video/2015/05/05/needle-free-insulin-patch.html
Re-Nuble: Not Your Average High-Growth Company
Tinia Pina didn’t set out to create a supercharged organic fertilizer for hydroponic agriculture. It just worked out that way.
http://www.innovateli.com/re-nuble-not-your-average-high-growth-company/
DayOne Response, Inc. have been named 2015 Intel Environment Award Laureate
DayOne Response offers a lightweight, backpack-sized emergency water purifier system that has provided 7 million liters of clean water to global disaster victims. It was recognized in San Jose, Calif., on Nov. 12, 2015, at The Tech Awards with the Intel Environment Award.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NhJQB8NwCmE
Meet the Seedstars World Tanzania winner: Juabar
The startup does this by leasing solar phone charging kiosks on a month-by-month basis, which the entrepreneurs can then use to launch their own businesses by having community members pay to charge their phone at the kiosk.
http://disrupt-africa.com/2015/12/meet-the-seedstars-world-tanzania-winner-juabar/
4 innovative toilet designs to talk about on World Toilet Day
Designs like Toilets for People’s “the crapper” (Compact, Rotating, Aerobic, Pollution-Prevention Excreta, Reducer) create an eco-friendly toilet for developing countries.
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/4-innovative-toilet-designs-to-talk-about-on-world-toilet-day/
Upslope Brewing Announces Sustainability Project with Boom Algae and Living Ink Technologies
Upslope Brewing Company and two local startups, Boom Algae and Living Ink Technologies, begin a collaborative project to turn brewery waste into a 100% biodegradable, non-petroleum-based, algae-ink. The system is a unique bioreactor designed to function as a zero-waste system.
https://www.brewbound.com/news/upslope-brewing-announces-sustainability-project-boom-algae-living-ink-technologies
D.C.’s First Commercial Rooftop Farming Company Launches With a Garden Above Oyamel
For its pilot farm, Up Top Acres is working with ThinkFoodGroup to grow microgreens, herbs, and edible flowers on the rooftop of the building that houses Oyamel. Everything they grow will be used on the menus of José Andrés’ downtown restaurants, including Jaleo, Zaytinya, Minibar, and China Chilcano. Grina got connected with Andrés after helping the restaurateur with a garden at his house.
https://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/food/blog/20678381/d-c-s-first-commercial-rooftop-farming-company-launches-with-a-garden-above-oyamel
MCN Update: 15 December 2015
312 applied from around the world. 38 were invited. MCN is proud to announce our 2016 Spring Cohort consisting of 38 companies. We are excited to work with entrepreneurs from …
Brand Love : tonlé
tonlé designs and makes comfortable, wearable clothes that are as original and beautiful as the people who make them. We adhere to principles of transparency, fairness, and waste reduction in everything we do, from the big stuff like wages, down to the little things like the materials in our buttons.”
https://www.mynewneighbour.ca/blog/brand-love-tonl
MCN Update: 7 December 2015
Where Mission Drives Margin Hello. I hope all is well with you. I’m writing you as a member of the Mentor Capital Network with three questions:Are you looking for investment, …