NextCycle Washington Pitch Showcase

Feb 1

MARCH 23, 2023 | UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON SEATTLE

Overview

The NextCycle Washington Pitch Showcase is the culmination of NextCycle programming. Teams made up of businesses, entrepreneurs, universities, non-profits, and community organizations have received months of business and technical research, mentoring, and planning to accelerate their projects to a stage ready for investment and implementation.

Teams will deliver a summary of their projects focused on waste prevention, material repair/reuse, recycling, composting, or end use that will impact the circular economy for Washington state. An audience of (forecasted) 200 business, recycling, government, non-profit, and investment professionals will listen to project descriptions, funding plans, impact projections, and investment/support opportunities. Teams will also engage in questions from a judging panel.

The NextCycle Washington Pitch Showcase is a unique opportunity to learn about innovative solutions and collaborations, engage with industry professionals, and connect with potential partners and investors.

Location: Kane Hall - 2nd Floor, 4069 Spokane Ln NE, Seattle, WA 98105

Agenda

*Click on image to download event program*

Following is the tentative agenda for the NextCycle Washington Pitch Showcase.

9:30 am: Check In
10:00 am: Welcome & Keynote
11:00 am: Upstream Team Pitch Session
1:00 pm: Networking Lunch
2:00 pm: Downstream Team Pitch Session
4:00 pm: Networking Reception
5:00 pm: Award Ceremony

Participating Teams

Community Gearbox: Committed to disrupting individual consumption – Community Gearbox is a social, inventory management app that lets users and organizations share, co-own, and mobilize resources amongst people they know and trust.
GeerGarage: GeerGarage is a peer-to-peer outdoor gear rental platform that quickly matches renters with lenders who have the right gear, available in the right place, at the right time.
Just Right Bite: Just Right Bite offers a healthy and sustainable alternative to mainstream pet food. We use insects and regenerative agricultural ingredients to create our products while keeping animals' needs and palates top of mind. As pet parents, we care about both our pets and the planet and should not have to sacrifice one for the other.
Okapi Reusables: OKAPI is a reusable cup network that provides cafes an easy way to offer reusable cups to-go. It's low-risk and easy to join, for both cafes and customers. Our cups are high-quality stainless steel for hot drinks, and durable, tempered glass for cold drinks (iced coffee, cold brew, smoothies, and bubble tea). Customers use the OKAPI mobile app to borrow and return cups.
Redesign Collective: Redesign Collective is an intervention for excess materials generated by the manufacturing or returns process. We restore the value of inventory and help companies reduce their contribution to landfill while making a positive social impact in their community.
Refugee Artisan Initiative: With increasing wildfires, leftover fire hoses should not contribute to further global warming. RAIs innovation lab and talented artisans are a solution to this problem. Retired wildfire fire hoses are a new material that RAI is taking on as part of our circular equitable economy model. We keep fire hoses out of landfills by transporting them from a centralized location in Oregon and then storing, cleaning, drying, and repurposing them into marketable products.
South King Tool Library: The South King Tool Library loans out tools and equipment, and hosts other programs centered around waste reduction and circular economy. There is no charge for participation, and is open to anyone in the region, all while reducing the burden of purchasing, storing, and maintaining tools. We believe that tool libraries are most effective the closer they are to communities. A replicable model "Tool Library in Box" will allow us to further our model in communities throughout the region.
Birch Biosciences: Birch Biosciences is engineering a bio-enzymatic process to break down and recycle PET plastic. We will produce clean, virgin-quality recycled PET that is equivalent to or lower in cost than conventional recycled PET. We also expand the variety of PET products that can be effectively recycled, empowering plastic circularity. Birch is supported by the Department of Energy and the National Science Foundation.
Book Hill: Book Hill is developing consumer durables for organizing and protecting laundry, textiles, and wardrobes. Our venture applies human-centered design to build best-in-class solutions for safe laundering and storage across household and light industrial settings. By combining biodegradable, compostable, and recycled materials in a zero waste approach, our venture creates a closed-loop system that repurposes or reintegrates inputs with the biological or technical cycles at the end of useful life.
DVSA Duwamish Valley Sustainability Association: To help combat the ever-growing food waste and emission of greenhouse gasses in South Park, the Duwamish Valley Sustainability Association (DVSA) will implement the installation of a biodigester through a circular economy focus that uses part of the food waste generated by the South park community to produce energy and liquid fertilizer for the benefit of such community (residents, businesses, local farms, etc.).
Glacier: Glacier's mission is to end waste. Glacier's flagship product is an AI-enabled industrial robot that automates sorting in recycling facilities.
Glass Packaging Institute & Ground 2 Ground: The Glass Packaging Institute and Ground2Ground are teaming up to develop an aggregation hub in Central Washington for source-separated glass containers. Glass has market value and can be recycled infinitely in a circular economy in the PNW but getting material from Eastern and Central Washington commercial markets - such as wineries, brew houses, and restaurants - needs improved transportation efficiencies and economies of scale. By creating a regional hub, significant volumes of glass can be diverted to recycling markets in an economical way.
Regenerated Textiles: Regenerated Textiles is a Seattle-based startup with an experienced technical team building market-based circular economy solutions to the textile waste problem. We focus on the efficient endless recovery and reuse of materials to create sustainable and just local materials economies for the apparel industry. Our purpose is to create the technology and infrastructure for circular textiles and enable the endless flow of fibre, free from waste.
Restaurant 2 Garden: Restaurant 2 Garden is the solution to safe, reliable, and clean composting of local restaurant food waste in the Chinatown International District. We transform food waste from your favorite local restaurants into nutritious fertilizer to grow culturally-appropriate food & continue the circle of life. Our long-term goal is to create a decentralized and hyper-local community composting facility that brings waste management actions closer to home which would otherwise be “out of sight, out of mind”.

Registration

Registration is FREE. This event has a limited number of in-person seating. Due to the demand seen by other NextCycle programs, we are also offering the opportunity to watch the event via live stream. Registration is required for both in-person and virtual options. Follow the link to complete your registration selection on the Eventbrite webpage.

Registration is now closed.