PepsiCo and Impact Hub Bucharest support innovative recycling solutions in the ReUse Hub programme
PepsiCo and Impact Hub Bucharest have launched the ReUse Hub programme, through which they invite start-ups in Romania to propose innovative recycling and waste management solutions. Entrepreneurs that come up with the best solution will receive a 50,000 euro grant as well as consulting services from PepsiCo and Impact Hub Bucharest experts in order to develop their business idea.
ReUse Hub is addressed to innovative entrepreneurs that have feasible solutions for the recycling field. Entrepreneurs can register their ideas for the competition by July 15. Of these, 12 start-ups will be selected to take part in a 3-month accelerator, at the end of which they will present their ideas before a jury made of Impact Hub Bucharest and PepsiCo representatives, business angels and players in the recycling industry.
“One of the basic concerns of PepsiCo is to develop a sustainable business that has a positive impact on society and the environment, and the ReUse Hub programme fits into the company’s global philosophy, defined as Performance with Purpose. With such initiatives and long-term commitments, we wish to support talented youth that have disruptive ideas, that inspire us to transform our own product portfolio and offer the best options for the lifestyle of today’s consumers, as well as for the planet,” says Walentin Stefanov, Commercial Finance Director PepsiCo East Balkans.
By means of the ReUse Hub, we connect the entrepreneurial ecosystem, innovators, a company and actors with expertise in a field with many challenges – business-related, legislative, operational and technological. We are confident that the reduction and active recycling of waste can be improved by entrepreneurial solutions, particularly when these grow out of the agility and the prototype- & experiment-based approach to which entrepreneurs have accustomed us, and which are accelerated through the mentorship and contacts we can provide,” adds Lucian Gramescu, Incubation Manager, Impact Hub Bucharest.
The selected start-ups will enter a phase of acceleration and mentorship during September – December 2018, by participating in a series of intensive workshops for developing the launch and growth strategy they will present at the December 5th pitch.
The winner of the award offered by PepsiCo will be announced following the pitch. The winning start-up will also benefit from a subscription to Impact Hub Bucharest, 6-month consultancy and mentorship, as well as access to a community of entrepreneurs and mentors in the recycling and technology industries, that will offer the know-how required for business growth.
Throughout January-June 2019, PepsiCo and Impact Hub Bucharest experts will work with the selected start-up to launch its business and achieve the first visible results.
Applications to the programme are free of charge and can be made here: www.reusehub.ro.