Button Street - New Haven Community Solar

How I Serve

I search for emerging companies, technologies, disruptive technologies, 

innovations, start-ups and up-starts. I’ll look to match potential problems… 

e.g. “plastic pollution” to solutions… e.g. 3D Printer for recycled plastic waste…

for potential venture capitalists, angel investors, and online funders. 

I’ll also highlight a variety of topics including funding success stories, 

the environment, housing, medical, artificial intelligence, science, 

aging populations, disabled populations, social entrepreneurs, philanthropy, 

and topical news. I’m always searching for great people innovating, 

inventing, and doing, great things.

The 411:  Investment Opportunity - Solar and Socially Responsible Design

Found on: - https://www.startengine.com/new-haven-community-solar

Community Solar Starts With You

Invest in New Haven Community Solar

Do you want your investment to influence positive change? Do you care about the environmental and social impacts of your investment? Are you frustrated by traditional investment pathways? If so, New Haven Community Solar could be just the investment you are looking for...

New Haven Community Solar will finance  a 9.24 kW community solar project located on Button Street in New Haven, Connecticut. The lot on Button Street is the site of this year's annual Jim Vlock First Year Building Project – a partnership between the Yale School of Architecture (YSoA) and Columbus House. Columbus House is a nonprofit organization based in New Haven that serves people who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless by providing shelter and housing and by fostering their personal growth and independence. Once the power purchase contracts are finalized, this project will provide Columbus House access to low-cost electricity to further their mission.

Unique among architecture schools, the Jim Vlock First Year Building Project, which began in 1967, gives Yale students an opportunity to design and build a house in an economically challenged neighborhood in New Haven. The program is mandatory for all first-year graduate students in YSoA, many who arrive at Yale with a special interest in socially responsible design.

Once complete, the Button Street House will contain two units, and provide recently homeless people with a brand new home. New Haven Community Solar is a company that exists to finance a solar array on the roof, providing its residents with cheap renewable energy in a state with one of the highest electricity costs. This project aims to improve the livelihoods of the residents and minimize environmental impacts, while allowing investors to benefit.

Franz Hochstrasser

CEO

The Button Street House

The house that will host the NHCS solar array is currently under construction, with a move-in date scheduled for October 1st. The project that New Haven Community Solar will finance ,once the funds are raised and the contracts are finalized, is a solar photovoltaic array that is designed to be a 9.24 kW solar array on top of the house on Button Street. The house is the site of the annual Yale School of Architecture Jim Vlock Building Project, which is in partnership with Columbus House.

The Project

The company plans to finance  a 9.24 kW community 

solar project for the Button 

Street House, and anticipates earning returns through a 

long-term contract to sell 

discounted electricity to Columbus House, which is 

currently still in the final 

negotiation stage.  Additionally, future revenue may be 

generated through the sale 

of the project, through monetization of tax-credits, or 

through selling renewable 

energy credits from the clean energy generated by the 

solar array.

This project will provide Columbus House access to 

low-cost electricity to further 

their mission. We believe this project will result in 

inexpensive power being 

provided to lower income residents in a state with one 

of the highest energy costs 

in the United States. In addition to providing 

environmental benefits, this project 

frees up much needed income for its beneficiaries. 

In a society where income is the 

greatest social determinant of health, we believe that 

this project will have 

significant health-oriented co-benefits as well. We will 

document environmental, 

social and financial impacts carefully to steward your 

investment with the 

utmost integrity and transparency.

The Investment

Do you want to fight climate change? The clean infrastructure of the future is being built right now. Do you want to own a piece?

Renewable energy infrastructure is only going to grow in coming years. An estimated one trillion dollars of investment in renewable infrastructure is needed every year to achieve the goals set forth in the Paris Agreement on climate change. 

Until recently, only people with access to a lot of money could own and earn money from solar projects. NHCS offers the opportunity to benefit from solar to everyday people, while also bringing benefits to people in the community.

In addition to the opportunity to own a part of this project, there are significant environmental and social benefits to investing in this project.

By financing this solar array, you will enable New Haven Community Solar to significiantly defray the energy costs for the residents. This can make a big difference to low-income individuals, especially in the state of Connecticut where energy prices are among the highest in the country.

Preliminary estimates suggest that the New Haven Community Solar array on Button Street will cut carbon pollution and dangerous air pollution, and will provide environmental benefits that are the equivalent of planting an acre of trees. These benefits will be carefully measured and reported to the investors.

Our Passion for the Project

Together, we bring a combined 30 years of professional experience working on environmental, energy, and climate change issues, from government, to non-profits and the private sector.

Our team is comprised of experienced professionals with a track-record of delivering results on a wide-variety of projects and programs. We are also recent graduates of the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies with a renewed mission to combat climate change and fight for social justice through entrepreneurial solutions. We are relentlessly passionate about using financial technology to democratize the ownership of renewable energy, create new income streams, reduce greenhouse emissions, and empower communities to drive change.

WaterGen - Turning Air into Drinking Water

How I Serve

I search for emerging companies, technologies, disruptive technologies, 

innovations, start-ups and up-starts. I’ll look to match potential problems… 

e.g. “plastic pollution” to solutions… e.g. 3D Printer for recycled plastic waste…

for potential venture capitalists, angel investors, and online funders. 

I’ll also highlight a variety of topics including funding success stories, 

the environment, housing, medical, artificial intelligence, science, 

aging populations, disabled populations, social entrepreneurs, philanthropy, 

and topical news. I’m always searching for great people innovating, 

inventing, and doing, great things.

The 411:  Tapping into our Atmosphere for Water

Found on: - http://www.water-gen.com/

Water-from-air for a better world

Fresh drinking water continues to be humanity’s biggest challenge.  Our atmosphere is the world’s primary source of fresh water. The air around us is the solution, and Watergen’s innovative technology taps into that unlimited resource.


As the global leader in the development and implementation of water-from-air solutions our cutting-edge and patented technology provides a low-cost, abundant, and renewable source of fresh and clean drinking water by extracting it directly from the atmosphere. Watergen’s solution is a game changer that will improve quality of life and health as well as save lives. Watergen’s water generators produce the safest, cleanest, and fresh-tasting drinking water and can potentially service billions around the world. Watergen’s products are suitable for every community size from cities, villages, commercial centers, schools, and hospitals to offices, residential buildings, and private homes.


Our vision and mission

Our vision:

Watergen’s humanitarian vision is to ensure the right of every man, woman, and child to have access to fresh, clean, and safe drinking water.

Our mission:


To use state of the art technology to provide humanity with a new and renewable source of high-quality drinking water, made out of air, that can be available anywhere, immediately and at a reasonable cost.

Watergen has developed unique and advanced technologies to extract fresh water directly from the air, our most abundant water source, using innovate GENius™ technology. GENius™ is the world’s first and most energy-efficient Water-From-Air module of its kind (efficiency-size-cost ratio), generating water at ₵2/liter or 250Wh/L.

Among the advantages of this technology are:

Can be easily scaled up or down to any size required. Each 1⁄2 a meter produces about 2 liters/hour
Produces 4-5 times more water per kW
Small size. Can replace other heat exchangers currently installed

Low-cost structural materials

Solution for cities:

A family requires only 20 liters per day for drinking while the average overall water consumption of a family, can sum to 300–500 liters per day (for showers, laundry, dishwashing).

In cities or areas where the municipal water system is, either not safe for drinking, or the water quality is inconsistent, Water-Gen’s Large Scale solution, can offer a water source separation concept.

By installing a Large Scale unit on roof-tops of commercial or residential buildings, we can create safe and renewable, local drinking water reservoirs, servicing each building directly using simple and independent water infrastructure system, that delivers fresh drinking water directly to the family’s kitchen sink, while using the municipal water for all other uses.


This concept, if adopted on a wide scale, can offer a decentralization of the city’s water infrastructure, creating citywide renewable water reservoirs, making it much more robust and independent.

Large scale water generation at night:

In most countries, during the night, electricity costs plummet due to off-peak rates.

Atmospheric conditions are also preferable for water generation, because the air is colder with higher relative humidity, requiring less energy to extract.


By selectively operating Watergen’s Large Scale AWG during the night, we can create a dual synergy that can drastically reduce water generation costs.

EMERGENCY RESPONSE VEHICLE (ERV)

ERV is a customized heavy-duty truck with Atmospheric Water Generator

Advantages:

Highly mobile
Designed for emergency situations and natural disasters
Produces water in areas with no potable water source

Dispenses water in areas both with and without an operating electric grid
Fast and easy deployment in most weather conditions, remote areas and difficult to access locations
Indoor and outdoor usage

Ideal for long term sustainable water generation throughout all phases of emergency and crisis response



GENNY
Water From Air Home Appliance:

The GENNY is small water from air generator that provides renewable source of clean and fresh drinking water for homes and offices. Requiring no infrastructure but electricity, it is a plug-and-drink solution that can be installed in minutes anywhere, eliminating the daily dependency on bottled water. Employing state of the art, multi stage, Ozone based, water purification and circulation system, ensures water quality at premium levels, keeping water cool and fresh.


The system uses robust air filtration process, designed to operate at high air pollution conditions, that vents ultra clean dry air back into the room. Ideal for families, the GENNY provides a secure and reliable water source, regardless of the quality or availability of the municipal water system.

Advantages:

Generates 25-30 liters of clean fresh water every day
Plug and drink solution – requiring no infrastructure but electricity. Can be easily installed anywhere
Ideal for house-holds and offices that relay on bottled water

Generates clean, safe and abundant water at ~₵2-4/liter or 250Wh/L

Air purification – as part of the water generation process, the GENNY purifies the room’s air, venting clean fresh air – ideal for cities with heavy air pollution.D
Dries the room like a dehumidifier. Drier air means less energy invested in A/C

Complies with all required standards – World Health Organization (WHO) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) standards

Renew = Retirees + Tech + Healthcare Navigation and Information

How I Serve

I search for emerging companies, technologies, disruptive technologies, 

innovations, start-ups and up-starts. I’ll look to match potential problems… 

e.g. “plastic pollution” to solutions… e.g. 3D Printer for recycled plastic waste…

for potential venture capitalists, angel investors, and online funders. 

I’ll also highlight a variety of topics including funding success stories, 

the environment, housing, medical, artificial intelligence, science, 

aging populations, disabled populations, social entrepreneurs, philanthropy, 

and topical news. I’m always searching for great people innovating, 

inventing, and doing, great things.

The 411:  Millennials Helping Seniors Navigate the Next Chapter of Their Lives

Found on: - https://www.builtinla.com/company/renew

                     https://www.renew.com/?utm_source=BuiltinLos%20Angeles


Hello, We're Renew


Retirement shouldn’t be a full-time job. That’s why Renew creates innovative content & tools that simplify the complex decisions retirees face. Our ultimate goal? To be the premier destination for the 10,000+ people who retire each day. With a first-of-its-kind Medicare shopping engine and a rapidly growing online community, we're well on our way.

We’re committed to improving the entire retirement experience. We know you use technology and don’t want to be talked to like you’re on death’s door. Our goal is to take the stress out of retirement, and help a new generation of retirees who aren’t satisfied with the way things are.

We’re modernizing the retirement experience for a new generation:


Retirement today isn’t what it used to be, and we see an opportunity to become the premiere destination for the next big wave of retirees. Today’s retiree is plugged in, active, and digitally savvy. They’re looking for help, and we want to provide it — by using innovative technology to build clear and simple, yet powerful, tools.

The problem:


Over 10,000 people turn 65 every day, facing many critical decisions as they retire. Benefits departments focus on current employees, but have limited resources to support those going through the retirement transition. Left on their own, today’s retiree has to navigate a complex landscape of ads, brokers, and government websites.

Our solution:


Renew is building the virtual benefits department for retirees. Using modern technology, we will help our users manage their health, wealth, and time in a way that fits seamlessly into their lives. We started with a health benefits platform in California, and we’re expanding to cover more aspects of retirement for people across the U.S.

At Renew, we believe retiring shouldn’t be a full-time job. Fixing it is. Our team is well-suited to the challenge. We have years of experience building consumer-focused solutions for top tech and healthcare companies, including Oscar Health, Google, Microsoft, McKinsey, Hunch, eBay, Tag, and The New York Times. While we definitely work hard, we don’t take our beachside environs for granted. In everything we do, we aim to be as humble and grounded as we are driven and ambitious.


Our vision has attracted investment from Venrock, Nyca, and Expa (founded by Uber co-founder Garrett Camp), and took shape in our first product launch – a technology-driven retirement transition engine.

Get your retirement questions answered:

Retirement is one of the best times of your life. But before you start enjoying it, you have to make a lot of tough decisions. And with all the complex and conflicting information out there, it can be tough to figure out what’s best for you.

Dive in with our Quick-start Retirement Guide, which breaks down major topics like health, money, and time. We also put together five essential questions you should ask yourself as you prepare for the next phase of your life. Like all of our resources, it’s stress-free (and free-free), and there is no obligation to enroll in a plan. You’ve got nothing to lose by adding our Quick Start Guide to your retirement toolkit.

The future of retirement: Meet a senior software engineer behind Renew’s proprietary tech platform

BY JOHN SIEGEL
FEBRUARY 22, 2018

As more and more baby boomers prepare to retire, the relative lack of a comprehensive, tech-based tool to help retirees manage all aspects of their retirement is becoming increasingly obvious. Founded in 2016 by Kevin Nazemi, a co-founder of healthcare disruptor Oscar Health, and Tony DeGangi, formerly of Hunch and eBay, Venice-based Renew is a platform that helps retirees stay updated on everything from health insurance to wealth management.

Recently, Built In LA spoke with Mike Verderese, a senior software engineer for the startup — which was recently named to Built In LA's 50 Startups to Watch in 2018 — about being first to market, the dynamics of the engineering team and what LA has that New York City can’t offer.







What attracted you to Renew?

I’ve been doing software development for about eight years now, and the part I love most about it is that I can build just about anything from a blank screen. Up until Renew, I had mostly been building silly consumer products that weren’t really making a difference. Working at Renew was a chance to build something that could help people at one of the most confusing and vulnerable times in their lives. I also had worked with Tony DeGangi, our CTO, for a few years, so I had a lot of trust in him.

Renew is one of the first companies to create a tech platform to improve the retirement process. What’s it like being part of a team addressing challenges that will affect millions of people?


Working in a space that has been generally devoid of tech startups has given us a big advantage in being industry shapers, as opposed to industry followers. We’re building a really unique platform that is unlike most of the current solutions. At the same time, we have to work with companies that are not necessarily used to working with tech startups, so it’s been an incredible learning process for us as well as them.

MotionSavvy - Enabling Interaction Between the Deaf and the Hearing

How I Serve

I search for emerging companies, technologies, disruptive technologies, 

innovations, start-ups and up-starts. I’ll look to match potential problems… 

e.g. “plastic pollution” to solutions… e.g. 3D Printer for recycled plastic waste…

for potential venture capitalists, angel investors, and online funders. 

I’ll also highlight a variety of topics including funding success stories, 

the environment, housing, medical, artificial intelligence, science, 

aging populations, disabled populations, social entrepreneurs, philanthropy, 

and topical news. I’m always searching for great people innovating, 

inventing, and doing, great things.

The 411: Successfully Funded - UNI - The World's First Real Time Translation Technology that Converts Sign Language to Grammatically Correct Spoken Language.

Found on: - http://www.motionsavvy.com/preorder.html
                 
                     https://wefunder.com/motionsavvy

                     https://youtu.be/dItEFHZtkZo


A Communication Platform for the Deaf

Motionsavvy is an company that solves communication challenges between businesses and deaf and hard of hearing customers with recent developments in gesture recognition and machine learning technology.

Since 2011, Motionsavvy has been building a database of signs that can be used by various industries with communication needs

WHAT WE DO

MotionSavvy is a company that enables interaction between the deaf and the hearing without the need for a 3rd party interpreter. The companies product, UNI, was developed by four deaf RIT engineering graduates with first-hand experience of the problem. UNI is a SAAS platform that uses standard mobile devices and a gesture recognition sensor to interpret American Sign Language (ASL) in real time. This provides a simple solution that is available 24/7 without a costly 3rd party interpreter.

OUR AMBITION

MotionSavvy seeks to provide a simple cost effective solution for businesses that want to better serve customers and be ADA compliant. It's product not only serves deaf customers but enables these business to hire deaf individuals.

$10B B to B market

38 million hearing impaired in US market

Founded by all deaf team that knows the problem intimately

Subscription model ensures recurring revenue

Rochester Airport Letter of Intent ( $175,000 consultancy contract )

Sign To Speech

Communicate with your peers in a whole new way. UNI uses a whole new way to track both hands and all 10 fingers with incredible speed.

Speech To Text

Making life a little easier with the best voice recognition software out there used by millions to translate speech into text. 

SignBuilder

UNI's SignBuilder feature lets you record, label, and edit your signs in real time. 

How does a Pilot Work?

A pilot program is operated as a consultancy contract and billed accordingly.

Use Case Development

We'll work with your organization to figure out how UNI fits in your organization.

Dictionary Customization

We'll provide a basic dictionary, and make any modifications necessary to support the vocabulary your organization needs.

Installation

We'll work with your IT department to install UNI in your sites.

Testing

We train your employees and test the product providing a report demonstrating the success of the pilot!

What are the benefits of running a pilot program?

Meet ADA requirements for your business!
Improve your customer service
Improve accessibility for your employees

What is a use case? 

A use case is defined as distinct areas UNI will be used, for example, ticketing counters at airports are different than security check points, each is a separate use case.

Pricing is dependent on the length of the pilot, amount of dictionary customization required, and the number of use cases your business needs to support.

UNI for Airports

MotionSavvy is currently in the middle of a pilot at Rochester Airport in upstate New York , USA. Your airport can sign up to be next by getting in touch with us or purchasing UNI's. Traveling can be stressful for anyone and for sign language users it can be even more difficult.

Medical,Hospitals, & Clinics

MotionSavvy is perfect for your medical center, allowing you to meet ADA requirements ( US ) . Additionally allowing you to save money by offsetting interpretting cost which is required by law.

UNI for Educational Institutions

If your are an educational institution UNI can be used to provide deaf students the accessibility they need without 24/7 interpreting.

UNI for Banking

Join MotionSavvy investor Wells Fargo in it's belief that banks need to innovate by providing technolgies for deaf cutomers. Managing your personal finances can be difficult enough, but imagine being deaf while trying to communicate complex financial contracts/loan paperwork. UNI takes the stress out of communicating with deaf individuals at banks.

UNI for Retail


MotionSavvy's perfect for retail establishments looking to provide better service to there customers. Many deaf individuals face challenges when doing things that hearing individuals take for granted everyday (like going through a drive through and ordering through the machine).

UNI for Deaf Individuals


MotionSavvy's UNI was originally invented to help the deaf community communicate in every day situations. However, we have since shifted the focus to businesses who can afford the product. You can pre-order but you will not receive your software license until the current pilot programs are over so we can fully stress test the product in real world environments.

WF: How does Motion Savvy work? 

MS: MotionSavvy works by utilizing gesture sensor that senses your hands and arms , a tablet , a custom case, and our software. The user simply launches the application and starts to sign. Both the deaf and hearing user can see what is being said in real time.

The typical flow of the conversation involves sign language to voice , and then voice recognition to text ( and eventually signing avatars ). Both sides of the conversation can see what is being said on the screen via text displayed in the chat area. Additionally as a last resort , users can tap on the screen and an on screen keyboard is a available for manual input. Note that all text inputted and signed comes out in grammatically correct English.

WF: How does UNI learn new vocabulary? 

MS: UNI contains two important pieces of software that enables real time recognition , the SignBuilder training program and the real time recognition program .

1. MotionSavvy utilizes a dedicated team of ASL signers. This team populates the different ASL dictionaries with as much variations as possible ( 10 signers can populate over 9,000 samples a week ). They utilize the SignBuilder software which enables them to simply record and upload various signs to our cloud infrastructure for learning.

2. MotionSavvy takes all those recorded samples of signs and efficiently generates a model of ASL which is then distributed via updates to the individual tablets.

3. When the user launches or updates the software the latest model is loaded into the recognition engine for real time recognition.

Interested users can view the SignBuilder software in action at the following blog post :

https://medium.com/@MotionSavvy/signbuilder-efa7b88e9f77#.qgsm7lyjw

WF: What is the sweet spot for MotionSavvy, what is the most prevalent use case? 

MS: We want MotionSavvy to fill the gaps of everyday 1 on 1 communication. 38 million people in the U.S. are hard of hearing and all of these individuals have experienced traveling through airports , going to the hospital , or done any type of banking.

Alexandr Opalka

CTO

Alexander was a software engineer at RailComm. He has a B.S in computer engineering from Rochester Institute of Technology.

Vinder - List, Discover, and Buy Ultra-Local Produce

How I Serve

I search for emerging companies, technologies, disruptive technologies, 

innovations, start-ups and up-starts. I’ll look to match potential problems… 

e.g. “plastic pollution” to solutions… e.g. 3D Printer for recycled plastic waste…

for potential venture capitalists, angel investors, and online funders. 

I’ll also highlight a variety of topics including funding success stories, 

the environment, housing, medical, artificial intelligence, science, 

aging populations, disabled populations, social entrepreneurs, philanthropy, 

and topical news. I’m always searching for great people innovating, 

inventing, and doing, great things.

The 411: Investment Opportunity - Neighbors Feeding Neighbors


Found on: - https://wefunder.com/vinder
                     veggievinder.com

Neighbors Feeding Neighbors

As an online farmers market for home gardeners, we help people easily buy and sell homegrown produce with their neighbors. This not only incentivizes home gardeners to grow fresh, amazing fruits and vegetables but opens up communities to more personal connections. We keep those relationships personal by allowing those connections to form organically, taking only a 20% transaction fee on the buyer side. So far, this has resulted in a 90% retention rate for growers and 77% for buyers.

Sam Lillie

Founder/CEO

Sam started Vinder by knocking on the doors of his neighbors and selling/delivering on his bicycle.

The Story of Vinder

Why you may want to invest

1	Online beta marketplace organically grew to over 90 cities in 19 states in 4 months.
2	Winners of the 2017 Silicon Valley Business Plan competition.
3	Average order size is $15.88.
4	Our mobile app, which goes live on Android + iOS on August 21, has 700+ pre-registered users.
5	Retention rate for growers is 90% and 77% for buyers.
6	CEO Sam Lillie was named the Young Entrepreneur of the Year by Jefferson County, Washington in April 2018.
7	Graduate of the MassChallenge Business Accelerator.
8	Sam started by knocking on his neighbor's doors, and in the first 3 months of business, hand-delivered over 300 lbs of produce on his bicycle.

Our Ambition

Bring the now-global food system back to the local community by connecting local gardeners with their neighbors. Already in 90 cities in 19 states, we've grown completely organically through word of mouth and demand, proving our market on a nationwide scale. With a new mobile app on the way, our ambition is to be the largest homemade grocery in the country, one that relies on communities and neighbors without needing any inventory or delivery vehicles.

Vinder is a trusted community marketplace for people to list, discover, and buy local produce. We connect home growers who have an abundant garden with community members looking for local produce. We're here to create a transparent agricultural system that informs consumers about who's growing their food, how it's being grown, and where. Vinder makes it easy to buy ultra local food, boost your community's economy, and promote sustainable agriculture.

Let's Make Produce Local Again

In the modern age, grocery stores source fruits and vegetables from all over the globe. Unsurprisingly, our produce just isn't as fresh anymore. The solution? Vinder. 

We allow users to easily buy the freshest produce possible by connecting home gardeners to their neighbors through an online marketplace. Gardeners post their produce, then neighborhood buyers purchase and handle the pickup and delivery. We take a 20% service fee from the buyer, keeping gardener costs low to encourage a market full of diverse, interesting, local produce.  

Vinder Creates Value for Both Buyer and Gardener

For home gardeners, using Vinder is a no-brainer. Instead of just enjoying the fruits of their labors themselves -- or, worse, letting excess fruits and veggies go to waste -- they now have an easy-to-use marketplace where buyers are actively clamoring for the same produce they'd be growing anyway. We encourage a diverse set of crops by not taking a service fee, encouraging home gardeners to connect to as many of their neighbors as possible. Now that they can sell on Vinder, many of our gardeners have even said they plan on increasing their garden sizes. 

Our buyers are generally between 25 and 45 and work full time. They are people who prefer organic produce but might not have the money or time to source that produce. Instead, they use Vinder, sacrificing a small 20% service fee to eat food they know was grown in their neighborhood. Rather than supporting huge grocery store conglomerates, they get to support their neighbors while eating fresher food. It's a winning relationship for our users, which we know because right now, we have more buyers than growers. 

We've Grown to 90 Cities Organically

We started out of Port Townsend, Washington. Our founder, Sam, went from one small order to delivering more than 300 pounds of produce on his bike in just three months. In 2017, we were still focusing on our one location with our beta testing, but users around the country just started using our marketplace. Without an ounce of marketing, we grew to over 90 cities in 19 states in 4 months

Now, with some momentum, we're launching an app on August 21 that will make it even easier to interact with our online marketplace. We're imagining a future where Vinder becomes the largest homemade grocery distributor in the country. By relying on communities and neighbors and not requiring any inventory or delivery vehicles, we can help create a more sustainable food ecosystem.

WF: What is Vinder? 

LILLIE: Vinder is an online farmers market for home gardeners to buy, sell, and trade with their neighbors. Our goal is to revolutionize the food system and become the world's largest neighbor-made grocery store with zero inventory and zero delivery vehicles.

WF: What led you to start the company? 

LILLIE: I graduated from San Jose State University in 2015 with a degree in international business. Then, I hiked from Mexico to Canada on the Pacific Crest Trail. It was a solo hike, so I needed time to readjust to society. I ended up in a small town on the Olympic Peninsula called Port Townsend, Washington, and decided to live there for three months while I applied for jobs in Seattle. In the meantime, I was working behind the desk at a gym in Port Townsend, filling water bottles, folding towels, and changing 16 trash cans a night.

I applied to 106 jobs and got one offer, which was cold calling eight hours a day to sell background check technology. I turned it down. I then went to the business resource vendor and asked what kind of resources they had. They suggested that I come back for a Jefferson County Chamber of Commerce meeting, so I did.

There was a group of about 20 community members between the ages of around 25 and 65 having a roundtable discussion about the positives and negatives of the town. The biggest negative that came up over and over again was the fact that it's a service industry area. It's a town of 10,000 people where the average age is 57. Most people were working two to three jobs to make ends meet, so their schedules weren't allowing them to take advantage of the town's farmers market. It’s held twice a week, on Wednesdays at noon and Saturdays from 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. They were talking about how they would love to be able to access the local organic produce that was available, but they couldn’t afford it, and they didn’t have the time to go to the farmers market. So, they had to resort to buying really low-quality produce. This was a big problem for them.

I started thinking about it, and I asked them, if there was a service that provided access to organic produce all the time for a reasonable price, is it something you guys would use? Everyone in that meeting said yes. So I said, okay, I'll figure it out. I had a whole lot of time. I didn't have any money. 

I walked home from the meeting and I saw apples growing in trees and kale growing in front yards. I wondered why we couldn’t just buy produce from our neighbors? To me that sounded reasonable and logical. There seemed to be a surplus, as there were apples in trees and on the ground going to waste. I walked up to a door, knocked, and said, “Hey, my name is Sam. I happened to walk by and see you had a bunch of apples. Have you ever thought about selling them?” They wanted to know what the heck I was doing in their yard, and I told them to bear with me for a second, because I had an idea. I asked them if they would be willing to sell their apples if I could find someone to buy them. They said sure, because they couldn’t eat them all. They were just rotting on the ground and getting eaten by the deer. I said, “Okay, well, I'll be back.” And I started knocking on more doors.

When I was at work, behind the desk at the gym, I would ask everyone who walked by if they wanted some fruit or veggies. My first sale was actually a pound of cherries out of my mom's cherry tree. I climbed into that cherry tree, hand-picked a bunch of cherries, and put them into a ziplock bag. It weighed exactly one pound, and I sold it to a member at the gym for six bucks. It was a dollar cheaper than a smaller bag of cherries at Safeway, which was a mile from where the customer lived. I gave my mom five bucks and I kept the dollar. That was 20% right there and that's how I came up with the business model. I incorporated the next day. That was July 11, 2016. Within three months, I had hand-delivered about 300 pounds of produce on my bicycle. Mark, our CTO, was actually one of my first customers.

Sam Lillie

Founder/CEO

Sam started Vinder by knocking on the doors of his neighbors and selling/delivering on his bicycle.

 

Mark DeJarnatt

CTO

Mark was one of Vinder's first customers. He has over 18 years of management and web dev. experience