Chivas the whisky company, has launched of the 6th year of the Chivas Venture – a global competition that gives away $1 million in no-strings funding every year to the hottest social startups that blend profit and purpose to have a positive impact on the world.
The competition invites the brightest entrepreneurs who are using business to change the world for the better to compete for a chance to win training, funding and exposure on a global scale.
Thanks to the $5 million provided in funding to previous finalists, the Chivas Venture has positively impacted over two million lives to date.
In 2019, Scott Kennedy saw his business ‘Revive Eco’ – which transforms used coffee grounds into environmentally-friendly products – make it through to the semi-finals of the Chivas Venture, where he won $20,000.
Since then, Revive Eco have diverted 20 tonnes of coffee grounds away from landfill, saving approximately 36 tonnes of CO2.
Jean-Christophe Coutures, Chairman and CEO of Chivas Brothers, parent company of Chivas, said: “As we kickoff the sixth year of the competition, it is incredibly uplifting to know that so many entrepreneurs across the world are continuing to use business to tackle a whole host of social and environmental issues that threaten our future on this planet. To date, Chivas Venture finalists have provided over 34 million litres of safe drinking water, recycled over 1,300 tonnes of waste and provided 75,000 days of education for women and girls – to mention just a handful of their many accomplishments. That’s why, through the Chivas Venture, we want to continue to harness the power of the world’s purpose-driven innovators, and help accelerate their impact.”
Ahead of the Chivas Venture Global Final the winning finalist from each participating country will take part in an initial round of public voting for a share of the funding. The finalists will then battle it out at the Global Final for the remainder of the $1m fund.
At the Global Final in 2019, social startup Xilinat from Mexico was awarded the largest share of the fund, with founder Javier Larragoiti receiving $310,000 towards his business that aims to change the sugar industry as we know it.
Larragoiti was awarded the funding by a judging panel including actress and entrepreneur Zoe Saldana, Chairman and CEO of Pernod Ricard, Alexandre Ricard, economist Sonal Shah and global winner of the Chivas Venture 2018, Cemal Ezel, the founder of Change Please.
If you think you’ve got what it takes to change the world with your startup, apply for the Chivas Venture 2020and find out more about why blending profit and purpose is better at www.chivas.com/the-venture.
