The fourth annual [Re]Verse Pitch Competition wrapped up on Tuesday night with the two $10,000 innovation prizes going to social entrepreneurs Anjali Sridharan and Mike Strong. Sridharan’s winning pitch was to repurpose polycarbonate plastic dye-cut sheets from HID Global to make affordable eyewear with a new company, POLYMart. Strong’s team, re:3D, will be adding to their 3D printer business to launch “Design by re:3D” using the same plastic waste to make specialty furniture, art and other unique items.
The [Re]Verse Pitch Competition is a one-of-a-kind social innovation program to turn valuable raw materials that are currently leaving local businesses, nonprofits and institutions as waste into the foundation of new social enterprises.
On April 30, four finalists pitched their repurposing business ideas to recycle or reuse byproduct materials from five participating Austin businesses and non-profits: the Austin Winery, HID Global, JOSCO Products, Texas Oncology and Travis County. Entrepreneurs were inspired to look at these business’ waste streams as potential profitable ventures—creating jobs and revenue for the Austin economy while reducing waste and helping the environment.
The POLYMart team plans to use the winnings to seed their new social enterprise, beginning with purchasing equipment, expanding their R&D and setting up an e-commerce platform to start making and selling their first all-plastic eyewear designs. The company hopes to expand into lens manufacturing by 2022. POLYMart’s pitch was also the audience’s favorite, overwhelmingly winning the People’s Choice Award honorable mention by audience vote.
“When I saw the material pitched by HID Global, I knew this was an opportunity to disrupt the eyewear market and make glasses significantly more affordable,” said founder Anjali Sridharan. “POLYMart will be able to both upcycle waste and help more Texans get access to the glasses they need,” she said.
The other $10,000 prize was awarded to existing business re:3D. The company plans to install one of their own Gigabot X printers in Austin, purchase a grinder, and begin producing designer 3D printed items, such as tables and vases, using the would-be-landfilled plastic waste with the printer.
“With this win, we’re excited to move from feasibility testing into implementation for our ‘Design by re:3D’ line of upcycled 3D printed home goods,” said Mike Strong, Chief of Staff of re:3D.
Judging was based on business viability, sustainability impact, economic impact and social impact, along with effectiveness of pitch delivery.
The [Re]Verse Pitch Competition is a collaboration between the City of Austin, the Austin Young Chamber of Commerce, U.S. Business Council for Sustainable Development, and the UT Herb Kelleher Center for Entrepreneurship, Growth and Renewal with additional support from a wide variety of community partners. Learn more at ReversePitch.org.
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