Richard Johnson’s Post

£1 million of grant funding (raised from 10p plastic bag charges!) and four ambitious ideas for a more circular economy...    Here’s what’s been achieved in one year by the winners of the John Lewis Partnership #CircularFutureFund, in partnership with Hubbub.     🩸 DAME. are helping mainstream menstrual cups. By understanding the barriers people face, they informed myth-busting videos to increase uptake and help people stick with cups. DAME’s innovation also includes a new reusable self-sanitising cup, removing the need to boil or sterilise a cup, generating 99x less carbon and with potential to save 2,860 single-use period products over the cup’s lifespan!    👟 Pip & Henry are helping redesign children's shoes to make them last longer. They’ve explored creating an expandable shoe, (given young kids replace shoes every 4 months!) and a shoe that can be more cleanly separated into its different parts for recycling. They’ve developed three concepts, hope to launch a capsule collection in 2024 and are looking into licensing their concepts to help them scale.    👚 University of Leeds are helping enable a circular economy for polyester, where removing dyes is a big barrier to recycling it. The team have created a revolutionary new dyeing process that significantly reduces energy, water, and chemical use. They’ve proven their own novel dyes can be removed from polyester, enabling the dye, water, and fabric to be recycled, with huge potential environmental benefits. A bonus discovery was it also works on other fabrics!    🪡 🧵 Scottish Library and Information Council are creating ‘lend and mend’ hubs in libraries. The hubs offer equipment, workshops, and tools free of charge to overcome cost barriers and make every day circular economy actions more accessible – from sewing machines to drills. The hubs have been fitted out with circularity in mind and the workshops will reach at least 2,000 people per year (and have waiting lists!).  Dig into the report to discover their learnings and what’s next: https://lnkd.in/eVXG8d_G

What would Noel Fielding do if he was innocent’s Executive Creative Director? One of the best questions I’ve been asked in a long time by the brilliant Richard Johnson who joined us for a Juicy Conversation here at Fruit Towers. Richard chatted to us about his book, Mission Lit which features interviews with leading entrepreneurs who have built companies loved by customers, investors and employees to solve real problems. A really inspiring session that got us all to push our thinking. #creative #entrepreneurs

📢 One for The Now Work talent community! If you’re registered with us and interested in topping up your own expertise, or looking for new ideas to apply to your own projects, then look no further than our Skills Share series. Our next session will be hosted by the brilliant Richard Johnson author of Mission Lit, Head of Impact at DAME and independent sustainability consultant. Based on interviews with businesses including Patagonia, allplants and Tony's Chocolonely, Richard's book Mission Lit lifts the lid on how a new generation of business leaders are building companies which are loved by customers, investors and employees alike. In this session, Richard will share key insights, case studies and practical pointers for how business can successfully use purpose to outshine their profit-blinkered competitors. Book your slot here: https://bit.ly/3nmUMD9 #sustainability #missiondriven #event #learninganddevelopment

📣 Calling all purpose-driven founders... Our investment-readiness accelerator - Collective Impact - is open for applications, but there's only ONE WEEK left to apply ⏳ 👉 Apply here: https://virg.in/CIM23LI Whether you’re solving a widespread social issue, are launching a new sustainable product, have developed cutting edge technology making a positive change in the world, or are building a business to help a specific community - we want to support YOU! Last year, the 12 founders in our July 2022 programme raised more than £2.9 million. Are you next? By joining Collective Impact you’ll get access to: ✅ Expert Insight: Virgin StartUp brings industry experts in funding, angel investment, pitching, marketing, PR, law, and more to deliver in-depth interactive workshops and 1-1 sessions. ✅ Community: You’ll join a cohort of purpose-led founders on the same journey for support and accountability.  ·       ✅ Networks: Practice your pitch with impact investors looking for ambitious founders to back. ✅ Founder inspiration: Unrivalled access to other founders who've been there, and done that, so you can too. ✅ Investment-ready: Get the necessary materials together for fundraising. ✅ Impact strategy: Delivered by purpose-led founders and mentors, ensuring your impact grows as your business does. ✅ Post-programme support: 6-months of facilitated peer mastermind sessions and a dedicated mentor for 6 months.   ✅ Keep your control: We don't take any equity as part of the programme. 📲 Apply to Collective Impact today and join the next cohort of founders building a better tomorrow. 🗓 Applications close on 23rd April: https://virg.in/CIM23LI #fundraising #startup #seis Holly Branson + Sutin Yang + Vanesa Perez Sanchez