From January 19 to 21, 2018 will take place the first Zero Waste Startup Weekend in the world, in the premises of School 42 in Paris. A first edition already “Sold Out” at D-30 and entirely dedicated to sustainable development and circular economy. During a weekend, 85 participants will gather to find solutions to an increasingly alarming ecological situation. A 54-hour format where apprentices, entrepreneurs and qualified mentors will work hand in hand to build a project from A to Z.
Startup Weekend ? What is it?
Startup Weekend is a global non-profit organization. It is composed of volunteers who organize events to train, support and encourage the entrepreneurs of tomorrow.
Since its inception in 2007:
- More than 4,000 events have been held in over 1,000 cities and 140 countries.
- More than 230,000 people have already participated in a startup weekend creating a global community of entrepreneurs.
- Many themes have been addressed since its creation such as Food, AI, Culture, Women, Change Makers etc…
- 10 events organized in Paris per year
The Format:
The format is simple and dynamic; participants have one weekend, to propose ideas, a project and answer issues related to the theme. Teams quickly form around common interests and complementary skills. After 3 hours, they launch into the creation of a startup!
Then the teams must :
- Divide the responsibilities
- Do market research
- A business plan
- Create a striking visual identity etc…
To propose a Minimum Viable Product
At the end of the 54 hours, a final presentation is made in front of a prestigious jury of entrepreneurs and investors. Throughout the weekend, mentors composed of professionals are also there to help the young startups express their ideas. A Startup Weekend is “Learning by doing”.
But why choose “Zero Waste”?
Alarming figures on waste production in France:
- 345 million tons of waste are produced in France each year; that is the weight of 35,000 Eiffel Towers (According to the organization of the startup weekend)
- A French family throws away an average of 2.3 tons of non-recyclable waste per year!
- Nature does not produce waste, while 99% of the resources taken by man become waste in less than 42 days.
Thus, it is in an ecological axis, that the Startup Weekend “Zero Waste” was born. It is thanks to a common dynamic of development that engineers, commercials, graphic designers, developers etc. gather to act and reinvent the model of consumption under the sign of creativity and sharing.
The Beginnings of the Movement
The Zero Waste movement started with the values of awareness and collective sharing.
Today, this movement gathers an ecosystem of entrepreneurial initiatives at the origin of great advances/opportunities. Numerous projects have been created, such as Phénix (France), which brings together associations and supermarkets to recycle their unsold goods and thus avoid throwing them away. After 3 years and 1M€ raised, they have 70 employees and are profitable. All this while acting for the planet.
The #SWZeroWaste team also decided to propose an inspiration conference, one week before the Startup Weekend, so that participants and all people interested in the Zero Waste approach can meet and exchange. Another great initiative to act together and adopt “Zero Waste” consumption patterns.
Initiatives taken during the weekend:
The involvement of everyone in the Zero Waste approach was well on the way: candidates and mentors took part in sorting, composting and reusing the cups provided by the volunteers. The main challenge for the participants and the organization was to avoid the packaging of meal providers.
Many sponsors, coaches and mentors will also be there to assist the teams:
The Zero Waste Startup Weekend is taking place thanks to the support of sponsors, including Ecole 42, Famae, Dream Takeoff, as well as many actors of the entrepreneurial scene such as Phénix, Graapz, Coding Days, MyFood, Day by Day, Utopies, Sensei, Bridge for Billions, Eqinox, Station W, Moi moche et bon, BeeoTop, Invite the media, Zero Waste Paris, Ticket for Change, Dream take off, Human booster, Oju, and the Village by CA
Many professionals will compose the jury of this “Zero Waste” edition such as Eric Philippon (President of the FAMA foundation), Cyrielle Hariel (Blogger and Columnist @ Ushuaia TV), Romain Sautrau (Co-Founder StartupFarmer), Nicolas Piffeteau (Project Manager at PHENIX and PHENIX Lab), Thomas L. Ferré (Investment Executive, Mentor at Techstars Paris), Elina Lapierre (Content & Business Developer Vecus-beta.org by Ticket for Change).
And many coaches and mentors will also assist the teams throughout the Weekend such as Hélène De Vestèle (Founder of Edeni), Mickaël Gandecki (Co-founder of My Food), Aleksandra Skora (Company performance coach), Carlos Miranda Levy (Cofounder at Civil Innovation Lab), Louise Salvati (Co-founder of Cozie / Blogger Luizzati), Mohamed Khouitir (Expert @Conseil Supérieur de l’Economie Sociale & Solidaire / Founder @Sensei @Entre Temps @Elementaire), Matthieu Tirelli (CTO of Coding Days), Céline Viala (Founder of DreamTakeoff), Pierre Olivier Marty (Consultant at Utopies), Raphael Lebel (Product Development at WWF), Olivier Duchesne de Lamotte (CEO of BIOTRAQ), Sébastien Delpont (Associate Director at Greenflex), Jean-Patrick Scheepers (Co-founder of Peas and love).
{Update}
The #SWZeroWaste Winning Projects:
Among the 13 projects presented during the final pitches, 6 particularly touched the jury members and were awarded prizes.
The “coup de coeur” projects:
Elina Lapierre awarded the Ticket for Change Coup de Coeur to “Brain Farm” and will offer mentoring to the team. Nicolas Piffeteau offered a coaching by the Phenix Lab to the project “Pain Perdu”, an eco-responsible caterer using flour from unsold bakery products. The same project won 3 months of coworking offered by Station W. Sensei will accompany the launch of “Pain Perdu” and offers a training to all the members of the team. Finally, Weshape_Lab offered a coaching to “Cosmecup”, refillable and recyclable cosmetic capsules.
Top 3:
3 winning teams each won: consulting coaching with Utopies, a subscription to Graapz, code training with Coding Days, as well as a guided tour of the Peas and Love urban farm. The jury voted in third place for “Tout est bon pour le cochon” (Everything is good for the pig), a feed production dedicated to pig breeding, based on bio-waste. The team also received a mentoring session offered by Séverin Meuillet, founder of “Moi, moche et Bon”.
In second place: “Rungis en boite”, supplier of reusable boxes for Rungis wholesalers.
The innovative Zero Waste project that won over the jury was “Pooh”, the compostable diaper. In addition to the common prizes, the team won a press campaign offered by Invite The Media, an HR diagnosis from Eqinox/Human Booster and 3 months of online incubation at Bridge For Billio.
