The names of the five winners of the Global Startup Weekend Sustainable Revolution (GSWSR) were revealed at the closing ceremony held in Paris on 18 July. This competition, organized for the first time right across the world, took place in 53 cities during the two weekends of 14 and 21 June 2019. Then followed the selection phases for the winners in each city, and in the world. Via its subsidiary Nova Veolia, Veolia partnered the challenge and was a jury member. The Group wanted to support this initiative led by entrepreneur networks, and in particular wanted to support projects related to its business lines.
The 3,500 participants in the GSWSR 2019 presented over 500 projects in 53 cities in 28 countries. In the end, 47 teams were selected by the participating cities and they pooled their skills to develop a digital solution serving the cause of the environment, on the following themes:
- Fighting obsolescence by manufacturing eco-designed products and moving from a consumption-based business model to a use-based one
- Extending product life, upcycling and transforming into new materials or products
- Substituting disposable by the durable / reusable, and fighting food waste
- Promoting production at local level and building sustainable agriculture and a sustainable food industry
- Building energy efficient products and systems and producing renewable energy
- Designing resilient, smart and inclusive cities. (Re)building sustainably. Creating the future of mobility and promoting sustainable development through education
- Promoting responsible, ethical, sustainable and inclusive finance
Veolia, member of both the local juries and the global jury
Veolia took part in the challenges in the cities of Berlin, Hong Kong and Paris as a mentor or jury member: Claire Falzone, CEO Nova Veolia, was a member of the Paris jury, and Olivier Tridon, Nova Veolia Director of Partnerships and Startup Relations, one of the 14 members of the global jury.
Following the June weekends in each city, the winning team recorded a one-minute video that was submitted to the public who voted online, and then to local juries.
The public (more than 23,000 voters) preselected 20 projects between 2 and 13 July. These were then evaluated by the global jury (from 14 to 17 July), which selected 5 of them on the basis of 4 criteria:
- a good understanding of future clients and their needs
- the execution of the project with production based on the data collected
- a business model with a viable revenue and go to market strategy
- a positive environmental footprint with the positive and negative externalities identified.
And the 5 winners are…
- Inverse Logistics (Rosario, Argentina), links building sites that generate construction waste (metal, wood, plastic) with recycling companies.
- Be.benefits (Sao Carlos, Brazil), promotes access for employees in the sector to care and beauty products while encouraging them to recycle the waste produced by these products.
- Guilt-Free Eating (Shenzhen, China), seeks to replace single-use food packaging and educate consumers to reuse packaging.
- Foodito (Chengdu, China), allows large supermarkets to identify surplus items in their stock and inform customers in real time about discounts, so helping to reduce food waste.
- LIA (Mexico City, Mexico): this e-commerce with local beauty producers uses bioplastic bags for its deliveries to replace plastic packaging.
The winners receive:
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A free stand at ChangeNow Summit which will take place in Paris in 2020: the opportunity to present their project to the public
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mentoring from Carbone4 experts for 6 months
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and a personal sensor to measure air pollution (Plume Labs).
The Veolia Prize
To mark the event, Veolia wanted to promote two projects by creating a specific award: the Veolia Prize.
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Bosc, winner in Barcelona (Spain), wants to reduce global CO2 emissions caused by shipments generated by online shopping, in 3 steps: 1- raise awareness, 2- offer online customers a local and sustainable alternative, 3- build the first zero carbon online market in the world.
- GreeNet, winner in Paris (France), seeks to reduce the impact of emails on the environment. Emails emit 410 t CO2 / year. The GreeNet app allows you to fully control CO2 impact and reduce it in real time.
More
The Nova Veolia website and the blog Connexion(s)
Global startup weekend sustainable revolution: the final global competition
Salon VivaTech: Veolia’s difgital innovations for resourcing the territories (18 May 2019)
The digital transformation, a resource to cultivate… (Planet Veolia, June 2018)