Venture for America and UBS Announce 2016 UBS Venture Catalyst Award Winners
September 20 2016 - 3:20PM
Business Wire
Previous Award Winners Banza and Castle
featured in documentary Generation Startup, Premiering September 23
at IFC Center in New York City
UBS and Venture for America (VFA) today announced the winners of
the 2016 UBS Venture Catalyst Awards. The awards, funded by UBS,
total $150,000, and are grant seed investments for VFA
alumni-founded startups to help drive growth and development.
Venture for America is a fellowship program that helps recent
college graduates launch their careers as entrepreneurs and at the
same time to revitalize American cities including Detroit, New
Orleans and Baltimore. The goal is to fuel job growth while
empowering talented young people to create value in their
communities. Twenty-five percent of VFA fellows have gone on to
launch their own ventures.
The 2016 UBS Venture Catalyst Award Winners are:
- Arthur, co-founded by Leigh Sevin and Jinesh Shah: partners
customers with a professional stylist to bring the latest looks for
the upcoming season without leaving home
- Doze, co-founded by Brendan Rice and Russell Suskind: an
ecommerce mattress company for college students and recent
grads
- Emile, co-founded by Charlie Molthrop and Nazli Danis: an
SMS-based accountability companion that helps with personal
goals
- Felix Gray, founded by David Roger: stylish computer glasses to
reduce eye strain and filter damaging blue light
- Larvio, founded by Andrew Jones: a new, efficient method of
organic waste recycling that produces livestock feed in addition to
soil amendments
- Naturall, co-founded by Muhga Eltigani: unique hair care
products from all natural ingredients
- Pinch Crawfish Kitchen, founded by Sean Wen: Southeast Asian
street food kitchen with a focus on delicious food, community
building and cultural engagement based in San Antonio, TX
- Aha Plant Life, founded by Sara Cullen: culinary-driven brand
creating nutritious, delicious and accessible hemp beverages that
celebrate the power of plant-based living
- Potluck, co-founded by Dillon Myers: a social video platform
that helps connect people with common interests to never eat
alone
- Synotrac, co-founded by Forrest Miller: an implantable medical
device that enables proactive monitoring for and early detection of
post-surgical infection
"Seeing Venture for America alums take on the challenge of
building companies and creating value is incredibly invigorating. I
have no doubt that many of these teams will achieve great things in
the months ahead," said Andrew Yang, Founder and CEO of Venture for
America. "We’re incredibly grateful to our friends at UBS for their
partnership in launching the next generation of American
entrepreneurs."
In 2014, the inaugural year of the UBS Venture Catalyst Award,
Banza (a chickpea pasta company) and Castle (a property management
system) were among the early-stage companies to receive the grants.
The founders of these companies are prominent characters in the
upcoming UBS-funded documentary, Generation Startup. The film
captures the struggles and triumphs of six VFA Fellows who put
everything on the line to build startups in Detroit. Generation
Startup premieres September 23, 2016 at the IFC Center in New York
City.
"From the earliest days, we saw the potential of VFA to impact
communities across the country," said Lori Feinsilver, Head of
Community Affairs, UBS Americas. "Through the UBS Venture Catalyst
Awards, our hope is to build on the foundation that VFA provides
their fellows and ensure their continued development."
Notes to Editors
About UBS AG
UBS draws on its 150-year heritage to serve private,
institutional and corporate clients worldwide, as well as retail
clients in Switzerland. Its business strategy is centered on its
pre-eminent global wealth management businesses and its leading
universal bank in Switzerland. Together with a client-focused
Investment Bank and a strong, well-diversified Global Asset
Management business, UBS will expand its premier wealth management
franchise and drive further growth across the Group.
UBS is present in all major financial centers worldwide. It has
offices in more than 50 countries, with about 35% of its employees
working in the Americas, 36% in Switzerland, 17% in the rest of
Europe, the Middle East and Africa and 12% in Asia Pacific. UBS
employs about 61,000 people around the world. Its shares are listed
on the SIX Swiss Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange
(NYSE).
About Venture for America
Venture for America is a fellowship program for enterprising
recent college graduates to launch their careers as entrepreneurs
and revitalize American cities. After five weeks of training, VFA
Fellows spend two years in the trenches of a startup in an emerging
U.S. city where they learn how to contribute to a high-growth
business. Afterwards, VFA provides the mentorship, network, and
resources Fellows need to become entrepreneurs.
Venture for America’s goal is to fuel job growth in cities
throughout the U.S. while empowering our best and brightest to
create value in their communities. They aim to produce effective
and high-character builders who will found and lead quality
organizations throughout their careers.
For more information visit www.ventureforamerica.org.
About Generation Startup
Generation Startup takes us to the front lines of
entrepreneurship in America, capturing the struggles and triumphs
of six recent college graduates who put everything on the line to
build startups in Detroit. Shot over 17 months, it’s an honest,
in-the-trenches look at what it takes to launch a startup. Directed
by Academy Award winner Cynthia Wade and award-winning filmmaker
Cheryl Miller Houser, the film celebrates risk-taking, urban
revitalization, and diversity while delivering a vital
call-to-action—with entrepreneurship at a record low, the country’s
economic future is at stake.
View source
version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160920006784/en/
UBS AGMedia InquiriesGregg Rosenberg,
+1-212-713-8842gregg.rosenberg@ubs.comorLeandra Elberger,
+1-516-567-4529leandra@ventureforamerica.org
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