Supporting Mission-Driven Entrepreneurs
LuminAID is partnering with relief organization Convoy of Hope to send solar lanterns and solar phone chargers to families left without power by the storm.
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2017/08/prweb14646368.htm
Digging beds on rooftops and harvesting baby radishes under the summer sun is rather 2010. This year, Blue Planet Consulting will reveal its +farm — a build-it-yourself, modular hydroponic farm unit for the home. Agrilyst is refining its workflow and data management software for indoor farms to automate aspects of the industry. Re-Nuble brought its fertilizer for hydroponic and soil applications derived from wholesale food waste to market in late 2016.
https://technical.ly/brooklyn/2017/08/30/brooklyn-loves-agtech/
Two architecture students from Chicago, Andrea Sreshta and Anna Stork, are the inventors of LuminAID, a solar-powered inflatable light originally designed for natural disasters. The fully-charged light which can provide up to 16 hours of LED light can also be used for recreational purposes like camping. Sreshta and Stork pitched their business on Shark Tank in 2015. When billionaire Mark Cuban offered them $200,000 in exchange for 15 percent equity, they accepted.
http://2paragraphs.com/2017/08/luminaid-what-happened-after-200k-mark-cuban-shark-tank-deal/
Susan Hunt Stevens, CEO of WeSpire, once set out to rid her home of disposable paper products. To her dismay, she calculated that completing her goal contributed to saving one-third of a tree.
https://www.greenbiz.com/article/game-7-approaches-hack-employee-engagement
The team at Back to the Roots can’t help with all the levels of fish madness that go into fish tank ownership. They can’t make your fish like each other, and they have not invented technology that will make you more able to tell if your fish is truly happy or just pacing in its bowl awaiting death. What they can do, however, is offer a fish tank that requires a lot less maintenance.
http://www.pymnts.com/news/retail/2017/back-to-the-roots-natural-foods-ecommerce-innovation/
Biodynamic food is trending in 2017. It is extending beyond organic farming, reducing the need for outside fertilisers. Moreover, it is creating a balanced farm ecosystem. This is achieved through rotational crops, a variety of plants and animals as well as on-site composting. We know there are hundreds of cereal products on the market, but very few of them can call themselves biodynamic! Back-the-roots is where health is heading.
http://www.longevitylive.com/nutrition-body/healthy-eating/biodynamic-breakfast-cereal/
“People tend to write you off a bit when you look young,” Jeremy reflected. “Likewise, the investment community is generally averse to risk… When you are younger, a more limited track record can be a bit of a handicap. Also, it’s a cliche but building a great company requires having a great network… When you are just starting out, you haven’t forged many of these relationships yet and that makes everything much tougher.”
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/youth-engagement-racial-equity-and-green-tech-intersect_us_5996ebdfe4b033e0fbdec32c
African Renewable Energy Distributor (ARED) and EarthEnable are among the five global green finalists that are competing for the grand prize of 500,000 euro (about Rwf491.7m).
http://www.newtimes.co.rw/section/read/218141/
Sometimes she gets truckloads of plastics from collectors. The next step is to get them sorted, packaged and ready to go into the marketplace. This is because there are many companies looking for them. For her, local landfill waste collection is only the beginning of a recycling cycle.
http://thenationonlineng.net/making-wealth-recycling
Thoughts for the Mentor Capital Network Community: A friend of mine is in the Intensive Care Unit today, because a few days ago a Nazi hit him with a torch …
Until premium priced, slow, organic, food fast casual chains are located in communities representative of a larger demographic range, I will continue to fight this good fight. These establishments’ business models are incredibly successful but their impact is limited if they are claiming to be a benefactor in increasing the accessibility of nutritious food.
https://foodtank.com/news/2017/08/tinia-pina
Farmland LP is showcased in a new report “Harvesting Opportunity: The Power of Regional Food System Investments to Transform Communities” published in partnership by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, the Fed’s Board of Governors, and USDA’s agencies of Rural Development and the Agricultural Marketing Service.
http://www.farmlandlp.com/2017/08/farmland-lp-highlighted-federal-reserve/
Labor Voices — Loosely employment related, this startup helps protect big apparel brands by empowering labor in developing countries to police work conditions. With a cell phone, workers can report violations such as poor working conditions and unacceptable salaries. Think of it as Glassdoor for the supply chain.
https://www.laborvoices.com/single-post/2017/09/14/New-Class-of-500-Startups-Has-Been-Announced-These-4-are-Workforce-Related
Reidy, 29, is the founder and CEO of Urban Pastoral Collective, a two-year-old business with a dual mission: to produce and sell fresh, whole foods in an urban setting and to help leverage the value of such foods into a movement that transforms the way Americans live and interact in cities.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/baltimore-city/bs-md-urban-pastoral-20170726-story.html
Sanivation, a social enterprise operating in East Africa, has combined Kenya’s biggest human waste issue into an affordable cooking-fuel. Yes, your poop can be treated and turned into a form of charcoal you can cook with!
http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/human-poop-turned-charcoal-kenya-cooking-fuel-source-eco-friendly-gobar-gas-lifest/1/1021336.html
According to Are You Reducing Reusing Recycling Greenlife (RUR), which helped residents with recycling, only 20% of used cartons are recycled in the city. The remaining end up at dumping yards, which when mixed with other forms of dry waste the process of decomposition takes much longer and the suppressed methane generated at dumping grounds easily ignites fire.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/mumbai-news/residents-in-mumbai-turn-18-000-discarded-tetra-pak-cartons-into-four-garden-benches/story-w7rbWIteg5KL2UJJczSoIM.html
“Buy one, give one” is the model at Twice As Warm, and those numbers keep growing. During the organization’s first winter of operation, it donated 210 winter hats, scarves, and gloves to needy people in its home base community of Washington, D.C. These cozy, American-made accessories include chenille gloves, striped beanies, and marled, chunky-knit infinity scarves.
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/5-companies-that-are-redefining-the-gift-of-giving_us_59763ca5e4b0940189700bb6
Last week we announced our 2017 Sustainable Business Program. If you know any Social Entrepreneurs who would benefit from detailed feedback on their business plans, connections to mentors and investors, …
Back to the Roots is a thriving and growing business. Their ready-to-grow and ready-to-eat products are sold in thousands of locations nationwide, and the company has won several awards from leading publications and organizations for food innovation.
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/two-oakland-area-entrepreneurs-are-reconnecting-us-to-food_us_595d47f1e4b02e9bdb09fa22
“Himalayan Wild Fibers is a company that is commercializing a textile fiber that’s extracted from a wild growing plant, a form of stinging nettle that grows in the forests of the Himalayas. It is wild harvested. We extract from that a fiber, we refine it and then we sell into existing developed supply chains,” she explains.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/devinthorpe/2017/07/12/20-years-in-the-making-a-personal-quest-led-to-a-new-venture/#7369e43a69eb
Ladies and Gentlemen, The Mentor Capital Network is pleased to announce that we are now recruiting entrepreneurs and mentors for our 2017-2018 Sustainable Business Plan Collaboration Program. The program will …
Informal trading in the region is not easy — travelling over long distances and across borders to source goods is time-consuming, costly and often dangerous. Yet hundreds of thousands of people in Africa rely on the risks of an informal supply chain to eke out a living and feed their families.
https://mg.co.za/article/2017-03-07-mowoza-does-the-running-for-traders
A group of U.S. students from Georgia Tech came up with a solution. Sanivation is an innovative company that puts “blue box” toilets in homes, then collects waste from them and synthesizes waste into fuel. The result is briquettes that burn three times as long as regular coal and emit less carbon monoxide when burned. Creators Andrew Foote and Emily Woods originally came up with the idea for a research project, then presented it to Start-Up Chile, which helped them accelerate their business.
https://www.borgenmagazine.com/new-initiative-sanivation/
“I am glad to see Lumeter’s technology developed further with Mobisol. Bringing together the customers, hardware, and back end solutions of the two leading companies in PAYG will bring advantages to all of our partners.” – Mitra Ardron, founder of Lumeter
https://plugintheworld.com/press-releases/mobisol-acquires-lumeter-to-expand-its-off-grid-solar-pay-as-you-go-offering/
In partnership with Esoko, First Access will develop Africa’s first-of-its-kind rural agricultural credit-scoring platform for lending institutions.
https://www.firstaccess.co/news/first-access-among-winners-of-mastercard-foundation-fund-for-rural-prosperity-innovation-competition
While ecommerce and mobile money companies are leading Africa’s tech race, solar technology and agriculture are also big sectors there. Ignitia, a startup based in Accra, Ghana has developed a weather model to help small-scale farmers in West Africa better predict water availability in order to manage their daily activities, optimize food production, and improve yields.
http://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/16/jeremy-johnson-andela-ceo-future-of-tech-is-africa.html
African Renewable Energy helps women and disabled people set up solar-powered mobile charging and wifi kiosks.
https://news.impactalpha.com/three-startups-empowering-women-get-colabs-backing-445cf6cca294
Software developed by a Virginia Tech team that can cut energy use by small and medium-sized commercial buildings is gaining traction in the private sector.
https://energynews.us/2017/06/08/southeast/virginia-tech-teams-software-fills-important-niche-in-building-efficiency/
The funding will be used by Mera Gao Power (MGP) to expand into over 5,000 additional rural off-grid villages across Uttar Pradesh, provide over 50,000 households and 300,000 people with access to reliable energy for the first time, and achieve profitability.
http://meragaopower.com/pressrelease1.html
One of the most important and equally toiling chore was fetching water from the nearest well, which was over 5 miles from her house, in steel pots that she’d carry over her head and on her waist. At least 10 to 20 litres of water was required for the household and that would mean at least four to five trips to the well. She’d spend three to four hours and an incredible amount of energy to fulfil the most basic of needs- water.
https://www.thebetterindia.com/103278/incredible-innovation-lifting-huge-weight-off-womens-shoulders-maharashtras-villages/
The way these things work is something like sweating.sweat, water molecules draw heat out of our bodies to go through a phase-change, and evaporate. As that happens we cool down. This machine has water in a tank, and permeable membranes that deliver water to evaporative walls.
https://techcrunch.com/2017/06/02/evaptainers-decouples-refrigeration-from-electricity-to-help-rural-farms-and-families/
FireflyPower™ turbines have two blades and can be attached to a roof or pole, or used on the ground. There are numerous options on how to channel and utilize the generated electricity, whether that is tying into an existing grid, using battery storage or pairing with solar– all with the goal of making renewable wind energy more accessible.
https://mailchi.mp/oceanexchange/2017-06
Ayo is the CEO and founder of Dechets a l’or, a social venture that creates new sources of revenue for communities and improves environmental sustainability through an innovative waste management system in Guinea. During his Master’s programme at Columbia University where he studied Urban Planning with a focus on International Development in African cities, Ayo came across the idea of using waste as a source of fuel and energy to improve cities. “And that’s how Dechets a l’or came about,” he told Ventures Africa.
http://venturesafrica.com/features/dechets-a-lor-cuthbert-ayodeji-onikute-is-turning-garbage-to-gold-in-guinea/
Join us June 14th at Honest Tea Join Bethesda Green, DC Net Impact, and the Mentor Capital Network for an evening with Honest Tea. Wednesday, June 14th, 6:30 PMHonest Tea …
The story of the company, which is now headquartered at MassChallenge as an “alumni in residence,” starts at a class of the MIT Development Lab. The first day, the professor asked for ideas that “would change the life of one billion people.”
https://www.americaninno.com/boston/these-masschallenge-alumni-are-producing-a-portable-fridge-that-runs-on-sun-and-water/
For the country’s women, reproductive and sexual health care often remains out of reach – and it’s having deadly consequences. Each year, 2,800 women die due to complications from pregnancy, childbirth and post-natal care.
https://asiancorrespondent.com/2017/05/burma-facebook-can-ob-gyn/#dIvc7zeiTVCxxP7v.97
“Contrary to claims, most of what is in the market doesn’t even use cotton. It is mostly wood pulp. Almost all use the same materials, changes are in the form—how it looks and feels versus what materials are used. As for the chemicals used, every company will say that the quantity of chemicals, SAP or chlorine bleach they use will not kill you,” said Sarah McMillan, business development lead at Saathi Pads, a start-up that makes biodegradable sanitary pads.
http://www.livemint.com/Industry/T3XIiwJI31WZuK1IsoUOJL/How-safe-are-sanitary-pads-in-India.html
USA-based Kulisha is taking on the destructive fishing practices of commercial vessels. Practices like bottom trawling, blast fishing and cyanide fishing result in unintentional by-catch and the destruction of coral reefs. As the world’s population continues to increase, finding regenerative sources of protein is imperative. Kulisha is betting on the Black Soldier Fly as this alternative source of protein.
https://foodtechconnect.com/2017/05/11/millennial-food-innovators-kulisha-turns-flies-into-sustainable-animal-feed/
While working on a research paper, I found an article about how cell phones were starting to become the top contributors for excessive carbon emission. I was shocked and amazed that there were not a lot of gadgets to help mobile device users alleviate the need to recharge their phone from a tethered indoor outlet. So I was inspired to invent a solar powered cell phone charger using Luminescent solar concentrators, or LSCs. It didn’t take off as quickly and as well as I had anticipated, so I pivoted the idea into a solar powered bench. The concept is still the same, but the design is vastly different.
http://www.norfolkglobalshapers.com/thempulse/2017/5/6/shaper-of-the-month-nisha-witt
Now, more than ever, the world needs successful social entrepreneurs — leaders who can show how and why taking care of our communities and our planet is achievable, important, and …