The Great Social Enterprise Pitch
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2017 - The Great Social Enterprise Pitch

After more than 21 weeks of competition as well as a record-breaking crowdfunding campaign and live pitch, the winners of the 2017 Great Social Enterprise Pitch have been announced!

2017 Winners

First Place
BRIDGE
$7,500 cash prize and $27,138 pro-bono services
Second Place
MERAKI MOCHA
$4,000 cash prize and $15,800 pro-bono services
Third Place
LANCASTER FELLOW FOODIES
$2,000 cash prize and $9,940 pro-bono services
Fourth Place
LANGUAGE BEYOND BORDERS
$1,000 cash prize and $3,640 pro-bono services
Fifth Place
GREEN MATTERS NATURAL DYE COMPANY
$500 cash prize and $2,390 pro-bono services

Live Pitch Recap

In the end, the judges — and the audience members— were won over by a social enterprise that harnesses the economic value of the experience and skill of Lancaster’s refugee community.

Bridge, an online platform where customers can book cross-cultural experiences with refugees, took the top prize Friday at the Great Social Enterprise Pitch.

“I just want all the refugee people that are coming here right now to know they can do this too,” Mustafa Nuur, a former refugee from Somalia, said after he was named the winner….

Read the article

The Participants

BRIDGE
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Crowdfunding Video »

Live Pitch Video »

Website »

Facebook »

FRUITION COLLECTIVE
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Crowdfunding Video »

Website »

Facebook »

GREEN MATTERS NATURAL DYE COMPANY
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Crowdfunding Video »

Live Pitch Video »

Website »

LANCASTER FELLOW FOODIES
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Crowdfunding Video »

Live Pitch Video »

Website »

Facebook »

LANGUAGE BEYOND BORDERS
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Crowdfunding Video »

Live Pitch Video »

Facebook »

MERAKI MOCHA
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Crowdfunding Video »

Live Pitch Video »

Website »

Facebook »

NEPALI SPICE COMPANY
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Crowdfunding Video »

Website »

Facebook »

POPPED CULTURE
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Crowdfunding Video »

Website »

Facebook »

PURPOSE
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Crowdfunding Video »

Website »

Facebook »

SAGE & SHIELD
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Crowdfunding Video »

Website »

THE TOWNIE
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Crowdfunding Video »

Website »

Facebook »

Judges

Alex Brame
Senior Vice President – Lancaster & Lebanon Market President, BB&T
Deb Brandt
Owner and Creative Director, Fig Industries
Olayinka Credle
Co-Founder & Media Director, Melanin Essentials (2016 Social Enterprise Pitch 1 st Place)
Daniel Falcon
Owner of Old San Juan Restaurant, Rum Bar, and The Cellar on Market
Smokey Glover
Director of Fair and Responsible Banking, Fulton Bank

Featured Speaker

Tyler Gage, is an entrepreneur, author, and speaker who uses wisdom from the Amazon and start-up success to bring innovation and inspiration to growing organizations.

He has spent the last 12 years studying with indigenous elders in the Amazon rainforest, venturing far from his suburban roots at the age of 20. After graduating from Brown University, Tyler turned down a Fulbright grant to start RUNA, a social enterprise that makes energizing beverages with guayusa, a rare Amazonian leaf, and improves livelihoods for 3,000 indigenous farming families in Ecuador. With over 70 employees and 15,000 stores selling RUNA beverages in the US and Canada, RUNA has grown in to one of the 500 Fastest Growing Companies in the US according to Inc Magazine.

Additionally, Tyler was named a Forbes “30 Under 30 Entrepreneur” and winner of both the Big Apple Entrepreneur of the Year Award and the Specialty Food Association’s Citizen Leader of the Year Award.  ABC Nightline, National Geographic and Richard Branson’s book Screw Business As Usual have all featured Tyler for his unique and powerful approach to building businesses and creating social good.

Now, he serves on the Board of Directors of DavidsTea (NASDAQ: DTEA) and on the Advisory Council for Entrepreneurship at Brown University. In addition to advising and investing in other start-ups, Tyler is a co-founding partner and strategic advisor to NAKU, a pioneering indigenous healing center in the Ecuadorian Amazon.

Tyler lives in Bellingham, Washington with his wife Michelle and enjoys boxing, yoga, riding his unicycle, and studying ethnobotany.

Sponsors

Rodgers & Associates
Triode Media Group, LTD
Infantree
BB&T
coLAB
Fig Industries
GEM
Graybill Processing, Inc.
Kinectiv
PNC Bank
Shumaker
Bertz, Hess, & Co, LLP
Blakinger & Thomas Law Firm
The Candy Factory
Evident
Goodville Mutual
GoodThree
Gibbel, Kraybill, & Hess, LLP
Katopa
Simon Lever
Waller Tax Financial Services
Beth Cardwell Photography
Crystal Wenger Photography
Habor Compliance
HOPE International
360Lancaster.com
EG Stoltzfus
Lancaster Young Professionals
Melissa Engle Photography
PhotOle Photography
REBATH
HVAC
Lancaster Chamber
Tyler Naples Photography
Member's 1st Credit Union
Martin Insurance Agency
WARFEL Construction
Natural Awakenings Magazine
Kettering Chiropractic Health Center
Work Wisdom
McKonly & Asbury
Ross Buehler Falk & Company, LLP

The Great Social Enterprise Pitch is Made Possible By

Rodgers and Associates Assets Lancaster County Community Foundation

Questions? Contact ASSETS by emailing pitch@assetsPA.org or calling 717-393-6089.