Kuli Kuli won the $25,000 prize from the first Ledbury startup competition. Courtesy of Kuli Kuli.
A West Coast health bar company edged out a Richmond beer growler company in their bid for a shot of startup capital.
Kuli Kuli, an Oakland, Calif.-based health foods startup, was named the winner last week of the first Ledbury Launch Fund.
It received $25,000 from Shockoe Bottom shirt maker Ledbury and a year of mentoring from Ledbury founders Paul Trible and Paul Watson. It also gets help from online marketing firm Refersal and consumer engagement agency Recurve.
The health foods company beat out two other finalists in a public vote, including Shine Craft Vessel Co., a Richmond-based company that makes stainless steel growlers.
Kuli Kuli sells bars and powders made from moringa, a plant that founder and CEO Lisa Curtis first encountered while working for the Peace Corps in Niger.
Curtis said she heard about the competition in an email for Princeton University alumni that was forwarded to her.
“It sounded like a pretty amazing opportunity,” Curtis said. “The big thing we decided to use the money for is to launch a new product.”
Jordan Childs. Photo by Michael Thompson.
About 6,000 individual votes were submitted for the Ledbury competition. In addition to Shine Craft Vessel, the third finalist was Thread, a Pittsburg-based company that makes fabric from recycled trash.
Shine Craft Vessel founder Jordan Childs said despite not winning, he is grateful to have been a finalist.
“The day after I found out Shine Craft didn’t win, I went to bed pretty content,” Childs said. “I tapped every network I possibly could.”
Childs said the exposure has helped his business.
“There were a number of connections that were made from a retail perspective,” he said. “There was a noticeable pickup just in everyday sales.”
Childs said he will now focus on fine-tuning his long-term vision for Shine Craft and consider the best way to get funding.
“It’s the longer-term piece that I’m going to be working on,” Childs said. “We have to be able to meet greater demand with our core product, and we need to expand into other products.”
Some of Shine Craft’s products may go on sale at Ledbury’s retail store at 117 S. 14th St. in Shockoe Bottom.
Ledbury’s Trible said he hopes the Launch Fund competition will be an annual event.
Paul Trible, left, and Paul Watson.
“You start something like this, and you don’t know how people will respond,” Trible said. “We had 146 businesses apply, and we were just shocked by the quality of the companies.”
Trible said the amount of funding may be subject to change in future years.
“Twenty-five thousand dollars is a good place to start,” Trible said. “As we grow, that number might change.”
Kuli Kuli won the $25,000 prize from the first Ledbury startup competition. Courtesy of Kuli Kuli.
A West Coast health bar company edged out a Richmond beer growler company in their bid for a shot of startup capital.
Kuli Kuli, an Oakland, Calif.-based health foods startup, was named the winner last week of the first Ledbury Launch Fund.
It received $25,000 from Shockoe Bottom shirt maker Ledbury and a year of mentoring from Ledbury founders Paul Trible and Paul Watson. It also gets help from online marketing firm Refersal and consumer engagement agency Recurve.
The health foods company beat out two other finalists in a public vote, including Shine Craft Vessel Co., a Richmond-based company that makes stainless steel growlers.
Kuli Kuli sells bars and powders made from moringa, a plant that founder and CEO Lisa Curtis first encountered while working for the Peace Corps in Niger.
Curtis said she heard about the competition in an email for Princeton University alumni that was forwarded to her.
“It sounded like a pretty amazing opportunity,” Curtis said. “The big thing we decided to use the money for is to launch a new product.”
Jordan Childs. Photo by Michael Thompson.
About 6,000 individual votes were submitted for the Ledbury competition. In addition to Shine Craft Vessel, the third finalist was Thread, a Pittsburg-based company that makes fabric from recycled trash.
Shine Craft Vessel founder Jordan Childs said despite not winning, he is grateful to have been a finalist.
“The day after I found out Shine Craft didn’t win, I went to bed pretty content,” Childs said. “I tapped every network I possibly could.”
Childs said the exposure has helped his business.
“There were a number of connections that were made from a retail perspective,” he said. “There was a noticeable pickup just in everyday sales.”
Childs said he will now focus on fine-tuning his long-term vision for Shine Craft and consider the best way to get funding.
“It’s the longer-term piece that I’m going to be working on,” Childs said. “We have to be able to meet greater demand with our core product, and we need to expand into other products.”
Some of Shine Craft’s products may go on sale at Ledbury’s retail store at 117 S. 14th St. in Shockoe Bottom.
Ledbury’s Trible said he hopes the Launch Fund competition will be an annual event.
Paul Trible, left, and Paul Watson.
“You start something like this, and you don’t know how people will respond,” Trible said. “We had 146 businesses apply, and we were just shocked by the quality of the companies.”
Trible said the amount of funding may be subject to change in future years.
“Twenty-five thousand dollars is a good place to start,” Trible said. “As we grow, that number might change.”