
Program Details
A pitch competition awarding cash prizes, mentorship, and access to investors for the best manufactured product idea from ‘waste’ or recycled materials. The program (from registration opening to the live event) will run from March 12th to June 23rd. The live event where the winning business pitch will be announced will be on June 23rd 4-6:30pm PT.
Coordinated by Seattle Good Business Network, in partnership with the City of Seattle’s Office of Economic Development, and made possible by a grant from WA Department of Ecology.
The Circular Innovation Challenge pulls inspiration from many spaces, innovators, and in our City’s collaborative vision for transitioning from a linear, extractive economy, to a more circular and regenerative one.
Seattle Good Business Network works with over 1,000 regionally based businesses, urban manufacturers, and producers who all share our mission to do “GOOD” for our communities, environment, and economy. Through this event, we hope to create a new resource and community of practice for the opportunity produce innovative solutions for our waste and hard to recycle material challenges.
We additionally take great inspiration from other similar programs and events that help drive local and global circular economies. To name a few, we have been drawing inspiration from Austin’s [RE]verse Pitch and New York City’s Curb to Market Competitions.
If what we buy locally isn’t also produced locally when possible, we cut far short the positive local impact of our purchasing. Producing more here also creates a more diverse job base. Plus, the more we provide for ourselves, the less reliant we’ll be on uncertain global systems, and the better buffered we’ll be from the disruptions of climate change. From food and energy, to materials and consumer products, there are thousands of opportunities to responsibly produce more here, creating meaningful, durable livelihoods and a more resilient local economy. (Learn more about Seattle Made, our program to support urban manufacturers and producers.)
If we’re buying and producing locally, but not investing in the stability and growth of those enterprises, we starve our economy and ourselves. Seattlites hold approximately $70 billion in long term savings, almost none of which is invested in locally owned enterprises, despite the fact that those enterprises make up nearly 50% of our economy. Imagine the positive impact of shifting even a small percentage of that investment into the place we call home, rather than Wall Street. Community Capital is the growing movement to correct this imbalance, and to ensure that we all have the opportunity to be invested in our local economy.
3/12 – Applications for Product Pitches open
4/23 – Applications Close Date: 11:59pm PST
4/30 – Program Pitch Finalists Announced and Notified
5/4- 6/11 – Program for Pitch Finalists
6/21 + 6/22 – Deadline to order event nibbles and drinks
6/23 – Live Event & Announcement of Best Business Pitch: 4:00-6:30pm PST