Chivas The Venture Winners Announced

San Francisco’s Herbst Pavilion played host to a 400-strong crowd on Friday night as Chivas Regal’s The Venture campaign, an innovative collaborative project from Pernod Ricard, Havas Worldwide London and AnalogFolk, came to a conclusion.

Ahead of the event and after months of planning, preparation and relentless pitching to a panel of esteemed judges including Pernod Ricard chairman & CEO, Alexandre Ricard; actor Adrian Grenier; Sonal Shah, founding executive director of Beeck Center for Social Impact & Innovation; and Morgan Clendaniel, founding editor of Fast Company's Co.Exist, 16 of the best young entrepreneurs were invited to California for the final week of the programme to try to secure a share of the $1 million prize fund up for grabs.

On Thursday, that number was culled to just five after a semi-final round took place and the remaining contenders appeared at Friday night’s live event to deliver their last pitches from a four-sided stage situated in the centre of the venue.

The social entrepreneurs had just seven minutes each to win over the judges who questioned their viability and how failsafe their innovative and ambitious ideas were. After all five presentations were complete the judges deliberated over the final results and emerged to reveal the results of the competition.

Jose Manuel Moller’s Algramo venture, from Chile, was awarded the largest share of the prize: $3,00,000. Moller’s company buys essential products such as rice, beans, lentils and sugar in bulk from suppliers in Chile and distribute them directly to small convenience stores, through unique mechanical dispensers. The concept of the unique buy-in-bulk-and-disperse scheme helps poor families that can only afford small amounts of staple foods at a time, often meaning they pay more on a regular basis.

There was a strong showing from South America on the night with three of the five finalists hailing from the region. Victoria Alonsoperez’s Chipsafer, from Uruguay, is a platform that will transform the way farmers care for their livestock. It not only tracks and detects anomalies in cattle behaviour, but does so remotely, autonomously and in real time. She received the second highest amount of funding at the event, a sum of $150,000, along with Japan’s Yoshihiro Kawahara, also awarded $150,000. Kawahara has developed a unique sensor called Sensprout, which seeks to make farming more efficient and help produce more crops using less water.

The event was hosted by UK comedian, actor and writer, James Corden, and as the pitch presentations proceeded, the funny man had the audience in fits of laughter as he commented on the progress of the night in the intervals that were suitably complemented by Chivas Regal-inspired cocktails.

The two remaining ventures were also awarded the same amount of funding, with $75,000 each. The first, Diseclar, from Columbia, founded by Juan Nicolas Suarez Bonilla, turns waste materials into stylish furniture that can be used in and outdoors. By using non-degradable plastic and vegetable fibres that come from agro-industrial waste sites, the company is able to create a product that both looks and feels like solid wood and was rewarded for its concept.

David Gluckman, from South Africa, has developed a sensor called Lukmani to decrease the risk of devastating fires in informal settlements.

“It originally started as an electrical engineering thesis at the University of Cape Town. After a series of events and one particular fire in Khayelitsha, our biggest informal settlement, which displaced 5,000 people, it really galvanized the team to develop the technology and flesh it out into, hopefully, a global business,” explains Gluckman of Lumkani’s roots.

“We’ve sold 2,000 of our devices since we launched in 2014 so we have customers giving us the real important feedback. We’ve been detecting fires already and mitigating the loss of life. In South Africa we need more of this kind of product and more of this type of thinking. But it’s been hugely positive with lots of support.”

The 16 finalists involved before the semi-final all represented different countries from all over the world and came through national rounds to emerge as their regional winners. Gluckman said it’s been a long process which makes it even sweeter to have actually won part of the funding after taking it one step at a time.

The mentoring scheme the contenders have experienced has also been an invaluable part of the process. “The stuff they’ve exposed us to has been brilliant,” added the South African co-founder.

LA-based social lifestyle brand, Apolis, run by brothers Shea and Raan Parton, played a big part in guiding The Venture finalists through the journey, and it’s had just as big an impact on them.

“I think overall we’ve just been really impressed with the whole understanding of using business for good. But what they’re looking at on the basis of accelerating their business through this fund that The Venture has been about has been an amazing risk in what corporate social responsibility can do on a basis of something much more long term as opposed to a donation or charity,” said Apolis co-founder and The Venture mentor, Shea Parton.

“So we’ve really wanted to be mentors to the finalists in small ways and are thankful that we’ve had an opportunity to meet them as they’re inspiring beyond belief. We’re just thankful to have been a small part of it.”

“The pedigree of people from different verticals coming into the same room together” added Raan, creative director and co-founder of the business. “We’re always blown away by that and the entire experience from inception. Growing your nucleus of contacts and inspirations has been a big, unknown part of it, too. Just being able to be in a room over a four-day window with people; the dreaming, relationships and connections that come out of it.”

Golden Globe nominee Oscar Isaac also played a part in the initial campaign for The Venture and was in attendance on the night in San Francisco. The campaign video he featured in saw him speaking to the camera, reciting a monologue in a boxing ring about winning the right way and helping the world through business.

“The initial thing that made me want to be a part of it was that I was going to actually see that someone, and maybe more than one, get to implement their ideas and make a difference,” said the actor. “The things that I was saying [in the campaign film] actually materialised right here with someone making it real. It’s great.”

Entrepreneur Peter Diamandis (below) also gave a motivational and inspiring presentation on moonshot thinking and business for social good before guests were invited to celebrate with the winners at the Chivas bar.

To read more from the judges following their final decisions click here and find out more about the final five businesses by clicking here. For more news and content from the campaign visit The Venture blog.