Incubation Updates: Revitalize Energy & Be the Change
Entrepreneurs are everywhere in our communities. They come from different walks of life, generations, communities, ethnicities, and industries. They are the dreamers, the makers, and the most resilient. In 2020, we witnessed the entrepreneurs in our community continue to build, disrupt, and persevere every day. Last year was a test for many, but for our Ascender entrepreneurs, it was a new challenge to tackle. What does innovation look like in times of crisis? For our 2020–2021 Ascender Incubatees, it looks like this.
Revitalize Energy
The Problem: Since the pandemic started, research shows that remote employees are working longer, spending more time in meetings, and keeping up with more communication channels to remain connected. Hence, spending more hours staring at the computer. This has led to people experiencing heavy, dry eyes, and overall exhaustion. Yet, people still need to find the energy to continue working through the day, get their work done, and succeed. Revitalize Energy wants to help with this.
The Solution: Revitalize Energy takes artificial tears and adds the perfect energy punch. Revitalize’s formulation provides instant energy upon application that lasts longer than a cup of coffee but less than a 5-hour product, without the negative side effects. This combination of eye moisturization and added energy safely fights eye fatigue and keeps users refreshed, refueled, and revitalized.
Updates from Revitalize Energy:
- Mobilizing the power of the community. Since Revitalize launched, the company has been able to grow its number of followers and supporters eager for the company to produce and launch its Revitalize Energy artificial tears. To date, the company has increased its mailing subscribers to 34,000.
- Continuing to fundraise and expand the team. The Revitalize team is fundraising to manufacture the first 1,000 units. Also, the team will be getting ready to recruit and attract talent that wants to help bring the product to market.
For updates and news regarding Revitalize Energy or to connect with the team, visit their website here.
Be the Change by beamdata
The Problem: The number of citizens contacting their elected officials has increased over the last decade. From 2002 to 2010, constituent contact to congressional offices has doubled. However, many citizens might still feel disconnected from their elected representatives to discuss and receive updates regarding issues that happen in their community. Personal stories and community-based experiences are hard to convey to elected officials who are inundated with hundreds of emails per week. On the other hand, some elected officials lack access to aggregated data about specific community issues and/or are only exposed to scattered feedback from the community.
The Solution: Be the Change, powered by beamdata, is a participatory citizen engagement platform that facilitates voter education and communication between state-level elected officials and constituents. Based on the user’s zip code, the app informs constituents about who their elected officials are and invites people to share their neighborhood-level or policy feedback directly with their legislators. In return, the elected officials receive a notification that there is a new post in their specific district, which allows them to promptly engage and reply. The location-based component of the app ensures people who live within the district are being heard and prioritized by elected officials, which can often be difficult with conventional social media tools.
Updates from Be the Change:
- The app was launched with one elected official. On August 6, 2020, the app launched with its first elected official, State Senator Jay Costa. The State Senator represents Pennsylvania’s 43rd legislative district which includes some Pittsburgh neighborhoods, Penn Hills, Wilkinsburg, and others.
- Pilot testing with the City of Pittsburgh’s Urban Redevelopment Authority. The company was selected to pilot test with the City of Pittsburgh’s Urban Redevelopment Authority via its PGH Lab program over the next six months.
- Onboarding more elected officials to the app. Be the Change will be launching statewide with a new cohort of state legislators available on the app kicking off this month.
Participate and help tackle issues that happen in your community now. You can download Be the Change here or visit changeourstate.com.
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Find the energy to be the change was originally published in Ascender on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
