SEED SPOT showcases several impactful ventures that are working towards creating equity and opportunity in the Arizona community.
[Phoenix, Arizona] – Phoenix 501(c)(3) nonprofit SEED SPOT is celebrating 10 years of empowering entrepreneurs to start or grow new businesses for social good by highlighting 10 Arizona-based alumni ventures worth supporting. In the past decade, over 1,200 Arizona residents have pursued their entrepreneurial dreams through SEED SPOT’s educational programming, mentorship, and pitch showcase events. From environmental sustainability to education to workforce development, there are plenty of local mission-driven ventures for Phoenix residents and business leaders to support this holiday season.
- Baltu Technologies || May & Peter Costa
- Baltu Technologies is a social impact company with a goal to up-skill 25 million workers by 2030. The venture recently launched their just-in-time training platform (beta) that allows customers to fast-track employees into higher skilled positions by delivering key training knowledge through step-by-step instructions on a smart device.
- Business stage: early revenue
- Attended SEED SPOT Impact Accelerator in 2020
- Buttons & Figs || Pamela Rogers
- Buttons & Figs is a fun literacy program for kids, parents, educators, librarians, anyone, everyone who values wordplay. Buttons & Figs introduces kids to great nonsense literature, poetry, and songs as a way to give them permission to play with words. These great works of art inspire kids to read, write, sing, talk and play with the words, developing literacy skills and a personal connection to literature.
- Business stage: prototyping and piloting
- Attended SEED SPOT 2-Day Launch Camp in 2020
- EmpoweRanch || Jessica Voss
- EmpoweRanch provides inclusive, holistic, and accessible outdoor therapeutic recreation and education for optimal health and well-being of underserved populations. The organization provides a sanctuary for people and animals to heal, grow, and thrive using outdoor recreation, urban farming, and more.
- Current business stage: early revenue
- Attended Startup Spring Training in 2022
- F.A.C.E.S of AZ || Sonia Samaniego
- Family and Community Educational Services of AZ partners with families and professionals in identifying, connecting, and supporting children’s hearing and vision development by providing educational consulting, community advocacy, professional development, and training sessions to ensure equity of services for Arizona’s children.
- Business stage: developing operations
- Attended Startup Spring Training in 2022
- GreenLight Solutions Foundation || Ryan Mores
- GreenLight Solutions Foundations empowers students, professionals, and community members to catalyze sustainable business initiatives. Through their professional education programs and Student-Led Projects, they empower students, professionals, and community members to catalyze sustainable business initiatives.
- Business stage: scaling
- Attended SEED SPOT Impact Accelerator in 2015
- Kegelbell || Stephanie Schull
- Kegelbell is a consumer medical device company developing products at the intersection of beauty, personal care, and general wellness consumer goods. Their pelvic floor training devices help prevent pelvic organ prolapse in women and provide increased bladder control and other medical benefits.
- Business stage: scaling
- Attended SEED SPOT Impact Accelerator in 2016
- I am Pluri/I am Pluripotent || Eyitayo (Tayo) Fakunie
- The I am Pluri After school program aims to strengthen the pipeline for a diverse STEM workforce in Arizona and creates sustainable futures by engaging youth in fun and creative STEM experiences. Their vision is to create an equitable world where all students, regardless of income ethnicity, or gender, deserve the opportunity to be prepared with 21st-century skills for future occupations.
- Business stage: prototyping and piloting
- Attended SEED SPOT 2-Day Launch Camp in 2020
- The Nagi Foundation || Sheila Iyenger
- The Nagi Foundations’ mission is to restore the sacredness of the Native American Community by uniting people and animals. They do this by providing a variety of animal services, educational programs, behavioral health supports, and family resources that coincide with traditional values and core principles of First Nation communities.
- Business stage: scaling
- Attended SEED SPOT Impact Accelerator in 2015
- Street Sense Solutions || Katie Gentry
- Street Sense Solutions uses hands-on simulation to educate people about the complexities, daily struggles, and systemic barriers of individuals and families experiencing homelessness in the metro Phoenix area. Their empathy-building workshops create pathways to community involvement in proven, sustainable solutions helping our fellow Arizona neighbors facing homelessness.
- Business stage: early revenue
- Attended SEED SPOT Impact Accelerator in 2019
- TheraSpecs || Hart Shafer
- TheraSpecs precision-tinted eyewear brings relief to people with traumatic brain injuries, migraine, and 50+ other conditions triggered or worsened by fluorescent lighting, computer and device screens, or sunlight. TheraSpecs reduce headache frequency and intensity, relieve light sensitivity, and help people get out of the dark and back to their lives.
- Business stage: scaling
- Attended SEED SPOT Impact Accelerator in 2013
SEED SPOT is participating in Arizona’s GivingTuesday on November 29, 2022 to raise donation funding to support more social impact entrepreneurs and small businesses. GivingTuesday, the Tuesday after Thanksgiving in the United States, is an international movement to encourage individuals to support nonprofit organizations through donations during the holiday giving season. Learn more at seedspot.org/donate
About SEED SPOT
In 2019, SEED SPOT was ranked as a top 5 private business accelerator and most promising for social impact by UBI Global at the World Incubation Summit in Doha, Qatar. SEED SPOT supports entrepreneurs through programs, such as webinars, 2-Day Launch Camps, Pivot Camps, and the Impact Accelerator.
SEED SPOT has served over 3,000 entrepreneurs since 2012 who have raised $123M in capital, generated $307M in revenue, created 5,364 new jobs, and impacted the lives of over 10M people with their products, services, and technologies.
entrepreneurs through Véndeme tu Sueño. With a mission to educate, accelerate, and invest in the dreams of social entrepreneurs, SEED SPOT supports entrepreneurs building products, services, and technologies that improve lives or communities. For more information, visit: www.seedspot.org.
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