Stories About Entrepreneurship
Found 444 stories. Page 21 of 23.
Solar-Powered UK Microbrewery Launches Kickstarter Campaign
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION - Sustainable-minded beer lovers rejoice because a new UK-based microbrewery called Bucks Star plans to use solar power to make its beer.The startup says the ingredients, the brewing process and the energy source to run its machinery are all focused on “freshness and sustainability.” All of its beers will be handmade to boot.To get its operation off the ground, the startup is crowdsourcing both funds and ideas for beer recipes. It has launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise £2,800 ($4,350 USD).
This Year's Inspired Leadership Award Highlighting the New 'Breed of Leadership Business Needs'
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION - Last week, seven young nominees were announced for the 2015 Inspired Leadership Award (ILA), an annual prize recognizing leaders with the potential to positively impact lives on a global scale for generations to come.
Wells Fargo Launches $10 Million Initiative to Support Cleantech Startups
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION - Today, Wells Fargo announced its selection of four clean technology startups for the Wells Fargo Innovation Incubator (IN2), a five-year, $10 million program to foster leading-edge environmental technologies. The program is funded by the Wells Fargo Foundation and co-administered by the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). This marks the first philanthropy program of its kind within the financial services industry.
Londoners Will Soon Have a Freshwater Swimming Pool Cleaned by Plants, Not Chemicals
CLEANTECH - Looking for a clean place to swim in London? City dwellers will have a freshwater, natural pool at their disposal in King’s Cross beginning in May. Designed by Rotterdam Studio, Ooze architects and artist Marietica Potrč, the chemical-free outdoor pool is the first of its kind in the UK. The King’s Cross Swimming Pool is a manmade, freshwater pond kept clean and filtered through natural processes. At forty meters long, the pool will accommodate up to 100 swimmers at a time within the new Lewis Cubitt Park.
Startup Hoping to Turn Computers Into Primary Source of Heat Generation
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION - New York City-based tech startup Project Exergy is one step closer to developing a technology capable of heating smart homes using computers, following a successful crowdfunding campaign.The concept involves transferring the computation done in data centers into millions of home and office computers and putting the normally wasted heat to use through a liquid cooling system that can efficiently extract and thermally store the high-temperature heat.
#ThrowBackThursday: Akwamag Moves Beyond Softening to Become One-Stop Shop for Water Purification
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION - In the lead-up to this year’s Sustainable Brands Innovation Open — our competition for startups poised to make scalable, sustainable impacts — we’re catching up with some of our favorite game-changing solutions from past years. This week, we have an update from SBIO 2014 finalist AkwaMag.
MIT Climate CoLab Announces 22 Contests to Counter Climate Change
COLLABORATION - The Climate CoLab has announced twenty-two contests that seek high-impact ideas on how to tackle climate change.A project of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Center for Collective Intelligence, the Climate CoLab seeks to harness the knowledge and expertise of thousands of experts and non-experts across the world to help solve this massive, complex issue.The Climate CoLab has a rapidly growing community of over 30,000 members from across the world. Anyone is welcome to join the platform to submit their own ideas, or comment on and show support for other proposals on the site.
Waste2Watergy Helping Beverage Companies Brew Power from Wastewater
CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING - Waste2Watergy, a Corvallis startup formed at Oregon State University, has secured a $225,000 federal grant to advance technology that cleans organics from brewery wastewater while producing electricity. The company says the technology could revolutionize wastewater treatment for the entire food and beverage industry.Developers have created a microbial fuel cell (MFC) system that generates energy from treating wastewater. Tiny microbes were designed to consume organic material; as an added bonus, the electrochemical energy created from microbial reactions in the fuel cell produce electricity.
Startup Develops World’s Thinnest Speaker
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION - A startup called Soundlazer claims to have developed the world’s thinnest speaker, made from a new class of plastic polymer. With the ability to reproduce a large range of audio frequencies, the company says it can be used to deliver audio in tight or unique spaces.
Strength in Numbers: Erb Institute Harnesses the Power of Consensus
COLLABORATION - Tom Catania’s role at Whirlpool Corporation wasn’t specifically to shape the company’s sustainability efforts. But in more than 25 years with the appliance manufacturer, the last 14 as Vice President for Government Affairs, Catania’s job called on him to help identify public policy conflicts and bring together diverse interests to find consensus.His role at the University of Michigan’s Erb Institute for Global Sustainable Enterprise is much the same. “My focus had always been on trying to identify public policy issues and turning them into business opportunities, and I think we were pretty successful at doing that,” Catania said.
Unilever, Cambridge Name Winner of Top Young Sustainability Entrepreneur Prize
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION - Daniel Yu, founder of Reliefwatch — which makes software to help medical clinics in the developing world to digitize and manage inventory records for better patient outcomes — has won the Prince of Wales Young Sustainability Entrepreneurs Prize.As part of the prize, Yu has been awarded €50,000 ($56,500) and will be supported with a tailored mentoring program delivered by the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership and Unilever experts over the course of 2015. The six runners up each will receive a cash prize of €10,000 ($11,300) in addition to mentoring and support.
8 Groundbreaking Startups Making the Circular Economy Look Easy
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION - On January 20th, one of these companies will be crowned king of entrepreneurship at The Circular Economy Awards. You’ve already met those leading the charge. So, we’re taking a closer look at the eight finalists for the inaugural ‘Circulars,' who are undoubtedly biting their nails as they wait for the announcement of the winners at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
5 Tips on Finding the Right Financing for Your Food Startup
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION - What’s the next food trend poised to sweep the nation? A recent conference showcasing roughly 60 recipients of Whole Foods local producer loans revealed some candidates: Maybe a half-fruit, half-vegetable roll-up that tastes like pure fruit (as a parent, I have to say, that’s genius)? Maybe goji raw biscotti? Definitely something with minimal but high-quality ingredients or exotic origins (from an American perspective).
Obama Administration Selects 26 Communities to Foster Economic Expansion Through Local Food Projects
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION - On Wednesday, on behalf of the White House Rural Council, six federal agencies came together to announce the 26 communities selected to participate in Local Foods, Local Places (LFLP), a federal initiative providing technical support to integrate local food systems into community economic action plans. Under this effort, a team of agricultural, transportation, environmental, public health and regional economic experts will work directly with the communities to develop specifically identified local food projects.
LSDC Asserts 'Green' Entrepreneurs, Such as This Year's London Leaders, Key to Future-Proofing City's Economy
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION - A recent report from the London Sustainable Development Commission (LSDC) asserts that socially and environmentally responsible entrepreneurs are “critical” to London’s future as a world leader in the economy of the future, as the Commission unveils its picks for this year's crop of the City's most notable mission-driven startups.Green Means Business highlights why London is an ideal location for 'green' entrepreneurs to 'drive innovation, growth, and job creation'; estimating that London's low-carbon and environmental goods and services (LCEGS) sector has the potential to give an annual market value of £69bn by 2025.
ASBC Summit Attendees Chart Path and Policies to a Sustainable Economy
LEADERSHIP - The American Sustainable Business Council’s (ASBC) third annual summit Nov. 13 and 14 in Washington, D.C. brought together 150 entrepreneurs, business leaders, investors and elected officials to discuss the state of play—and possibilities—for policies that advance a sustainable economy.Founded in 2009, ASBC is a national business advocacy policy organization representing over 200,000 businesses across the nation. ASBC works on a wide range of policy issues at the federal and state level, working to advance a sustainable economy by shifting markets and policies. ASBC raises up the voice, presence and power of business to create jobs, grow business and build a sustainable US economy.
#SB14London: A Lesson in Successful Cross-Sector Partnership from HP & Kiva
ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE - Karen Little, Director of Development at Kiva, and Ann Ewasechko, Global Manager of Strategic Partnerships & Innovation in Education at HP, discussed the great success of their joint social campaign “Matter to a Million” during a Wednesday afternoon session. Matter to a Million is a 5-year global partnership between HP and Kiva aiming to support 1 million entrepreneurs around the world through microlending and, as Ewasechko said, to empower employees to make an impact and a difference.
Lyf Shoes' Cradle-to-Cradle Creations Out to Revolutionize 'Dirty' Industry
THE NEXT ECONOMY - Sustainable footwear is a hotbed of innovation right now for many apparel and lifestyle brands, who are looking to blend ever-smarter manufacturing efficiencies with material optimization techniques. But one enterprising startup is looking to take this to the next level — calling itself a “disruptive digital manufacturing revolution,” Lyf Shoes is looking to capture a slice of the market by handing the creative process back to the consumer.
#NewMetrics ’14: Leveraging the World's Brains, Wallets, Data for Solutions to Pressing Problems
NEW METRICS - There is power in the data that a crowd can provide — business- and future-shaping data. The final breakout session at Sustainable Brands’ New Metrics ‘14 conference in Boston highlighted definitions and examples of crowdfunding and crowdsourcing to achieve a stated social purpose. The following four approaches to big data are exciting experiments in social change driven by the crowd.
Cura Setting Out to Create Local and Global Impact 'Through Simply Enjoying Coffee'
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION - Cura Coffee Co, a San Diego-based startup, sells a direct-trade, premium organic coffee that directly connects coffee lovers with the farmers who produce it.
