Natural Product Entrepreneurs Catch the Buzz
By Adam Pettler
The Burt’s Bees® business has named the second cohort of its Burt’s Bees Natural Launchpad.
Food companies dominate this cohort, but even they run the gamut from vegan “seafood” to an energy bar made from coffee to a supplement made from baobab fruit.
Natural Launchpad is an annual grant program for health and well-being entrepreneurs — pioneers akin to the brand’s own founders, beekeeper Burt Shavitz and artist Roxanne Quimby.
Through the program, Burt’s Bees nurtures the next generation of dreamers and innovators energized by the opportunity to improve the health and well-being of our planet, and everyone on it.
Now in its second year, the program rewards 10 of these health and well-being entrepreneurs with support that includes cash, mentoring and community.
As we learned the program’s first year, the value of the Natural Launchpad goes far beyond the $10,000 cash award (”NLP Taking Flight”).
Representatives of these early-stage companies will descend on The Hive, the Burt’s Bees office in Durham, North Carolina, in late September for a day of mentoring, networking and inspiration.
The good folks at Burt’s Bees have examined all the amazing entries and whittled the large group of aspirants to a short list of contenders.
Today, we couldn’t be more excited to announce these 10 winners of the Burt’s Bees Natural Launchpad, cohort No. 2:
- CACOCO Inc. Cacoco Drinking Chocolate
- Fresh Monster Fresh Monster Natural Kids Products
- Ideoto LLC ChitoRhino Nasal & Sinus Rinse
- Kaibae Kaibae Health & Beauty
- New Grounds Food Inc. Eat Your Coffee
- Repurpose Inc. Repurpose Sustainable Tableware
- Seal The Seasons Inc. Seal the Seasons Local Foods
- Smiling Hara LLC Smiling Hara Hempeh
- Sophie’s Kitchen Inc. Sophie’s Kitchen Plant-Based Seafood
- Sweet Note Bakery Inc. The Greater Knead Bagels
As you can see, food companies dominate the list, but we’ve also got a sustainable alternative to paper or plastic tableware and a nasal rinse in the mix.
Explore these 10 companies and learn more about these exciting natural entrepreneurs.
And click here to meet the Year 1 Natural Launchpad winners.