Member Article

Surplus food sharing app to represent UK in $1m global pitching competition

OLIO, the app which aims to reduce food waste by helping people and businesses disseminate surplus food, has been chosen as the UK representative for a major global pitching competition in Los Angeles.

The London-based firm is set to join 30 other startups for the global final of Chivas The Venture in LA in July, jostling with companies from six continents to win a share of the competition’s $1m fund.

Focused on early-stage companies that are focused on social and societal returns, the competition invites the regional finalists to pitch in from of an expert panel of judge who will gauge whether their business ideas provide sustainable and scalable answers to problems in the real world.

Developed by Co-Founder Tessa Cook, OLIO puts people in touch with their neighbours and local businesses so that surplus food can shared out, helping to reduce food waste in the process.

Magin Trewhella, Head of Marketing for Dark Spirits, Pernod Ricard UK, parent company of Chivas, commented: “Chivas The Venture is about creating a better future globally and we believe that is what OLIO is doing.

“The competition will enable Tessa to get the funding she needs, global exposure and most importantly, the knowledge to take her business to the next level. We wish Tessa the best of luck in the Global Final.”

Ahead of the big final, competitors will also take part in the competition’s Accelerator Week, hosted at the University of Oxford by The Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship, where the finalists will take part in workshops and receive leadership coaching.

Dan Betterton, at the Skoll Centre Associate said: “Tessa’s passion for what OLIO do, really made us believe in the potential of the idea and they had a great business model too.

“They’ve made amazing progress so far with the number of users they’ve attracted to the app. They’ll really benefit from The Venture’s support and global platform, which will help them advance their business over the coming year.”

Last year’s competition saw UK-based WeFarm, the SMS-based peer-to-peer information sharing for farmers in the developing world, bag the top prize at the competition’s final in New York.

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