WeWork awards over $1 million to New York City-based entrepreneurs and startups
Some startups have become such widespread, household names that it’s hard to remember that at their core, these companies are just that — startups.
At the forefront of this strand of exponential startup successes?
WeWork, which was recently valued at $20 billion this past summer.
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Not too shabby.
But what WeWork excels at even more than a stellar business model and organized implementation of that model, is the ability to give other entrepreneurs and companies the same opportunity that WeWork itself had by granting visibility, credibility and flat-out funding to companies and entrepreneurs whose visions have the potential to disrupt the norm.
Enter the Creator Awards, a global initiative put on by WeWork that will award over $20 million to entrepreneurs, small businesses, nonprofits, and artists across all levels, from people or brands in the very beginning stages to fully-established organizations.
WeWork recently held its New York City Creator Awards, where 21 entrepreneurs were awarded a total of $1.86 million across three categories: Scale, Launch and Experience.
Take a look at the New York Creator Awards and the winners here:
A winner in the Scale category, Rachel Sumekh, was awarded $180K for her program Swipe Out Hunger, an organization that partners with colleges nationwide to end college student hunger by helping schools offer a way to allow other students donate their extra meal swipes to hungry students who need them.
Kind of one of those ideas that makes you think, “Why didn’t I come up with that?”, isn’t it?
A graduate of UCLA, Sumekh did what all successful entrepreneurs do upon co-founding Strike Out Hunger — identified a problem and proposed a solution:
"My co-founder Brian … posted on Facebook as a status ‘Who wants to do something with their extra meal points?’ and I messaged him and was like ‘Let’s do it’ and we showed up (We were the only two people who showed up and responded!) and it just took off from there.
The whole campus was always having extra meal swipes, and we decided to start something that made a bigger impact than just buying extra pieces of pizza. We said, ‘What can we do with our meal swipes that can truly make a difference?’And deciding to donate them was that thing."
Though it can be terrifying to jump into something that starts as an elusive vision, Sumekh offered sound advice on how to get the ball rolling with any entrepreneurial pursuit:
“You really have to sell your vision as an entrepreneur and that only comes when you know what you’re actually doing. So, take the time to talk to people, get feedback, really refine what your focus is so that when you do communicate it, it’s not just a bunch of idealistic numbers — it’s truly a vision. Start there and the funding will come.”
Swipe Out Hunger stands alongside four other organizations in the Scale category which awarded over $1M to its winners.
For a full list of the winning startups and their respective founders that are making a splash in their industries, visit here.
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