Back in the 19th century, John and James Chivas felt passionate about blending profit with purpose, donating to their local community to help make a difference.
Through our annual Chivas Venture competition, we still prioritise blending profit with purpose by awarding no-strings funding of $1 million to entrepreneurs with social commitment. With this funding, past finalists have taken on huge social and environmental responsibility and collectively improved the lives of over two million people in 50 countries, across six different continents.
Find out more about how the Chivas Venture has helped them tackle social inequality and change the world for the better.
Recycling & waste management
We ‘re all familiar with the benefits of recycling over landfill– but did you ever think that waste could be turned into bricks? Or reward you with benefits? Our 2016 winner Conceptos Plasticos, a start up that transforms plastic and rubber waste into bricks, was awarded $350,000 to build on their stellar work, while 2016 finalist Recycle Points was awarded $205,000 and rewards the community for recycling household waste. More than 1,300 tonnes of waste have been recycled– the equivalent of more than 220 elephants!
Helping farmers out of poverty
Our 2017 winner was Siam Organic, who won $400,000 in their endeavours to try and alleviate poverty. By working with small scale farmers in Thailand to grow Jasberry rice – a new variety of non-GMO wholegrain rice – the company has helped more than 2,500 farmers and their families out of poverty and boosted the community’s agricultural development.
Food waste solutions
In 2017, finalist Olio won $13,000 towards their mission of reducing the amount of food waste in the world. Through developing an app that connects communities, people can share food rather than throw away their leftovers – which has avoided a huge 1,393,148 portions of food waste.
Improving bee pollination
The importance of pollination cannot be underrated; it’s essential in agricultural development. Past finalist Beeodiversity create innovative strategies to restore biodiversity and improve the pollination of an area. The company has improved pollination in 700,000 hectares – which is even bigger than the Grand Canyon National Park.
Clean water
Despite safe drinking water being something most take for granted, there are still many countries without clean water. Thanks to past success in the Chivas Venture, companies iDrop Water and Day One Respond – both 2017 finalists – have managed to provide an incredible 34 million litres of safe drinking water through water purification systems.
Education for women and girls
Everyone deserves a chance at education. Research suggests that a child whose mother can read is 50% more likely to survive past the age of five, and just one additional year of education will increase a girl’s earnings by 20%*. Past Venture finalist Words With Heart tackles social inequality by creating eco-friendly stationary that funds education for women and girls in the developing world. The funding they received helped build a digital platform and improve their reach, and more than 75,000 days of education have been funded.
*data taken from Global Partnership of Education
