Circular Austin Showcase

Showcase Prize

Circular economy businesses will pitch to judges for a chance to win $12,000 in prize money. Runner up receives $1,000.

Application and eligibility

Applications close on June 16, 2023.
Space is limited. Apply to participate.

Businesses and social enterprises must be located in the City of Austin and meet these additional requirements: 

• must be focused on the circular economy, zero waste or sustainability. 
• cannot have raised more than $500,000 in funding. 
• must have an annual revenue under $250,000. 

Applications will be reviewed in early June. Scoring is based on business viability, fundability, circular economy/zero-waste impact, economic impact and local job creation, and pitch delivery.

Event information

August 29, 2023, 5:30–8 p.m.
The Cathedral | 2403 E 16^th St., Austin, TX 78702

The event is free and open to the public. Learn more and register to attend.

2022 Circular Austin Showcase winner

Aileen Chen (center) accepts the cash prize at the Circular Austin Showcase from Madelyn Morgan (left) and Joana Ortiz (right).

REVISION GOODS was selected as the winner by an impartial panel of judges following pitches from eight finalists; including four companies who participated as Reverse Pitch Innovation Fellows. Scoring was based on business viability, fundability, circular economy/zero-waste impact, economic impact and local job creation, along with effectiveness of pitch delivery.

Aileen Chen with REVISION GOODS will receive a $5,000 cash prize and track the amount of waste the business diverts or reuses annually in support of achieving Austin's zero waste goal. In addition, all competitors gained valuable feedback from the judges.

2022 finalists

• Born Again Kreations by Aria Ali, Amreen Rajabali and Mohammed Ali plans to create insulated water bottle holders using decorator fabric samples and cuts of high-quality fleece from Austin Creative Reuse and bulletproof vests from Travis County.*
• FLORAL SEA is a conceptual fashion house and design studio that was launched in response to the lack of diversity and inclusivity of Black-Latinx beauty, style, and culture in today's sustainable fashion scene.
• GROARTS by Jaclyn Heiser, Declan O'Reilly, and Ryan McAdams plans to create the GROBOX, which is a simple hydroponic setup for growing microgreens at home using plastic boxes and plastic inserts from ACC Bioscience Incubator and EQO.*
• Heron rents and delivers anything you don't use enough to buy. Everything from carpet cleaners to knee scooters to projectors to air mattresses delivered right to your doorstep.
• Not Nice turns the vibrant graphics on aluminum cans into unique jewelry and accessories, creating simple, lightweight earrings from punched and sanded aluminum and incorporating other upcycled materials to create wallets, beer tasting journals, and pendant jewelry.
• Reclaim. Repurpose. Reimagine. by Susan Anderson plans to create packaging for luxury goods using decorator fabric samples from Austin Creative Reuse and bulletproof vests from Travis County.*
• REVISION GOODS by Aileen Chen plans to create durable home goods using decorator fabric samples from Austin Creative Reuse.*
• USE2 is a grassroots incubator committed to demonstrating the economics of innovative resale processes driven by extending material lifespans and circularity. In a USE2 scenario, donated household goods are immediately sorted, aggregated and sold to entrepreneurs who specialize.

*2022 [RE]verse Pitch Innovation Fellows 

2021 winner

Locoal won the 2021 Circular Showcase from a field of 10 businesses, including four companies that participated as Reverse Pitch Innovation Fellows. Locoal received a $3,000 cash prize for their idea to repurpose spent grain to create ‘wattle socks’ to prevent soil erosion. Watch the event recording.

The City of Austin supports businesses and entrepreneurs in the circular economy sector through a partnership between the Circular Economy Program and Economic Development Department.