Scaling Up Grand Prize Pitch Event

On June 23, from 1:00pm-2:30pm PST, the Big Ideas Contest will host its inaugural Scaling Up Pitch competition.

This competition is open to past winners of the contest who have made considerable progress since winning their original award, and who have a clear strategy for broadening the impact of their innovation over the next year.

Four Big Ideas alumni have been selected to compete for the $25,000 Scaling Up Grand Prize before a panel of experts from UC Berkeley, +Acumen, University of California Office of the President, and The Rockefeller Foundation. The pitch teams include:

• Acarí (UC Berkeley): Acarí takes the hated, invasive devil fish in Mexico and turns it into the world's most sustainable jerky (El Diablito), in turn, creating new and better economic opportunities in rural fishing communities.

• doin' good (UC Berkeley): doin’ good provides hands-on technical education programs that empower the underserved Syrian refugee youths living in informal tent settlements. These boot camp style programs give them the technical knowledge, practical skills, and workforce readiness necessary to secure gainful employment and become self-sufficient.

• EcoSmart Pads (Makerere University): EcoSmart pads are eco-friendly affordable sanitary pads made using repurposed sugarcane residue to help women from low-income backgrounds with a hygienic high-quality product that creates equality in menstrual management.

• LiquidGold Concept (UC Davis): LiquidGoldConcept commercialized high-fidelity breastfeeding simulators for in-person training of healthcare professionals in clinical lactation. LiquidGoldConcept is prioritizing the development of a virtual simulation platform--the Lactation QBank--to train healthcare providers on how to use telehealth to provide timely and skilled lactation support during COVID-19.

Attendees will have the opportunity to ask questions, and attend breakout sessions following the pitches where they can speak directly with the teams.

Anyone who RSVP's will receive a link with login instructions 48 hours prior to the event.

Please join!