[RE]VERSE PITCH 2015

Winner: Brewnola! Reusing spent brewery grain to create tasty granola snacks

A big congratulations and thank-you goes out to all competing entrepreneurs, judges, mentors, advisors, organizers and promotional partners. Check out the video of the [Re]Verse Pitch Final Competition event!

2015 FINALISTS

Eight finalists were selected by the [Re]verse Pitch Competition judges. 

The Table to Bacon Feed Company

Repurposing: Spent Grain

Entrepreneur: Joe Diffie

Non-container Glass Recycling

Repurposing: Decorative Glassware

Entrepreneur: Aaron Pierron

Clover's Brewery Bites

Repurposing: Spent Grain

Entrepreneur: Cory Skuldt

View a recording of the 2015 Final Competition here.

2015 MATERIAL SUPPLIERS

Goodwill Industries of Central Texas

Wicker Baskets: 30-40 gaylord boxes of wicker baskets go unsold at Goodwill every month. Wicker baskets are a common surplus item among thrift operations. What reuse business solution could you create to keep this common household item out of the landfill?

Dishware and Glassware: 10,000-20,000 pounds of mostly broken dishes and decorative glass are headed to the landfill every month. Glass can be endlessly recycled, but decorative glass can't be taken by traditional recyclers. Can you find a way to repurpose this beautiful material?

Pitch Presentation

Hops & Grain Brewery

Every brewery in Austin produces spent grain as a byproduct. At Hops & Grain, roughly 60,000 lbs is generated each month. What sort of business could you create with this organic material? 

Pitch Presentation

BuildASign

MDO (Medium Density Overlay): MDO is a paintable, printable surface made of plywood with a weather-resistant resin overlay bonded to the wood by heat and pressure. About 500 square feet of this byproduct are available every month.

Canvas: BuildASign has about 4,000 square feet per month of scrap canvas.

Pitch Presentation

Recycled Reads

Cassette Tapes: 1,000 VHS and audio cassettes need to be discarded by Recycled Reads every month. A recycling or upcycling solution for this product could help solve a tremendous global e-waste challenge.

Used Books: 65,000-70,000 weeded library and donated books go unsold every month. Many of these are manuals, tax books, college guides, medical guides, and computer manuals - outdated resources that if used incorrectly, may be harmful. Austin could be a national leader by finding a reuse solution for this material with a short shelf life--what is your idea?

Pitch Presentation

Travis County

Waterproof clog shoes are used by the Travis County correctional facility and most correctional complexes in the U.S.  Travis County needs to dispose of 2,000 shoes every month. What could you do with these ethylene-vinyl acetate shoes?

Pitch Presentation

BuildASign

Vinyl Banners and Scraps: BuildASign also has scrap vinyl available, about11,000 square feet per month, in varying sizes and shapes.