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Alexandre Ricard Crowns Winners With Share of $1M

Adrian Grenier and James Corden crown winners of The Venture receiving share of $1 million fund

Algramo announced as stand out winner of The Venture 2015

The Venture, Chivas Regal’s global search for the world’s most promising social entrepreneurs, rewarded all five finalists the remaining share of the $1m fund at the final pitch event. The announcement came after the five finalists pitched the potential of their start-up to create transformative social change to an expert judging panel that included actor and social entrepreneur Adrian Grenier. Algramo from Chile was awarded the largest share of the fund, receiving $300,000 to further develop the pioneering food distribution enterprise.

Other finalists to come away with funding on the night included Chipsafer ($150,000) from Uruguay who use innovative tracking devices to transform the way farmers look after their livestock; SenSprout ($150,000) from Japan who aim to make farming more efficient using a wireless field-monitoring system; Lumkani ($75,000) from South Africa, a company that uses technology to decrease the risk of devastating fires in informal settlements, and Diseclar ($75,000) from Colombia who turn waste materials into stylish furniture.

The Venture - which saw more than a thousand social entrepreneurs apply for $1million in funding - culminated at The Final Pitch event at The Herbst Pavilion, San Francisco in front of a large audience. The evening was hosted by the Late Late Show presenter, James Corden who applauded all five of the social entrepreneurs who pitched for their commitment to using business as a force for good.

The Final Pitch event was attended by a range of high profile entrepreneurs and business leaders from Silicon Valley and beyond. Also in the audience was Golden Globe nominated actor Oscar Isaac who starred in Chivas Regal’s Win The Right Way film, which helped launch The Venture by issuing a challenge to aspiring social entrepreneurs and the world at large to re-frame their meaning of success.

The judging panel which included Adrian Grenier, Sonal Shah, Alex Ricard and Morgan Clendaniel, assessed each business based on their ability to create sustainable change through a viable business model and potential to scale. To find out more about the winners and the other finalists who took part in The Venture visit www.theventure.com.

Adrian Grenier congratulated each of the winners on the night:

“Social entrepreneurship challenges society to reimagine what is possible and inspires us to create a better future and a better world. All of The Venture finalists tonight challenged us to imagine how business could transform a problem into an opportunity. They are all very deserving of support and show why it’s important for initiatives like The Venture to exist, to inspire as many brilliant minds from around the world as possible and to contribute to using business as a force for good.”

Speaking on behalf of the finalists Jose Manuel Moller Dominguez from Algramo added:

“What a night! I can’t believe I’ve received $300,000 in funding from Chivas – it’s truly life changing for me. The money will enable me to scale the business and really take it to the next level. I’m truly grateful for this experience and can’t wait to apply everything I’ve learnt since being in San Francisco.”

Pernod Ricard’s Chairman and CEO, and The Venture judge, Alex Ricard, expressed his and the brand’s commitment to the world of social entrepreneurship, and congratulated the winner:

“All five of the social entrepreneurs who pitched for funding tonight have founded innovative and inspiring social enterprises, each providing sustainable solutions for different issues. Ultimately Jose from Algramo demonstrated a concrete proof of concept and really convinced us that The Venture funding could deliver tremendous transformative change for their business. We’re extremely proud of the first year of The Venture and Chivas is looking forward to continuing this legacy in years to come.”

Social entrepreneurs from across the world are invited to apply for $1 million in funding as The Venture Year 2 kicks off from 10th August 2015, visit www.theventure.com for further details.

Overview of the Five Finalists

Chile: Algramo

Jose Manuel Moller Dominguez

Affordable food is hard to come by in the outskirts of Santiago, Chile. There are few supermarkets and the produce at small stores can often be up to 40% more expensive than in larger outlets. To address this issue, we at Algramo, buy essential products such as rice, beans, lentils and sugar in bulk from suppliers and distribute them directly to small convenience stores, through our unique mechanical dispensers.

Colombia: Diseclar

Juan Nicolas Suarez Bonilla

Where others see rubbish, garbage and waste, we at Diseclar see furniture. Thanks to our inventive manufacturing process we’re able to turn waste materials into stylish furniture that can be used in and outdoors.

Japan: SenSprout

Yoshihiro Kawahara

SenSprout’s mission is to make farming more efficient, to produce more crops using less water. We help farmers better understand their crops and fields with our low-cost sensor technology. Our wireless field-monitoring system is enabled by a unique “printed electronics” senor, making it possible to monitor soil conditions and environmental information in real time.

South Africa: Lumkani

David Gluckman

At Lumkani we use technology to decrease the risk of devastating fires in informal settlements. Our innovative fire detector was designed to mitigate the loss of life and property caused by the spread of shack fires.

Uruguay: Chipsafer

Victoria Alonsoperez

Chipsafer is a platform that will transform the way farmers care for their livestock. It not only tracks and detects anomalies in cattle behaviour, but does so remotely, autonomously and in real time. Chipsafer then sends all this information directly to the farmer, who can access it on a laptop or phone.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Alex Andrew .