BELLEVUE, Wash. and
ATLANTA, Oct. 31, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Outerwall Inc.
(Nasdaq: OUTR) and Points of Light today announced the winner of
the inaugural Outerwall™ Civic Venture Award, which
aims to advance the efforts of entrepreneurs who are working to
drive positive change in local communities. The award was presented
to Seattle-based startup
InvestNextDoor Tuesday night at the 2014 Social Venture Partners
Seattle Fast Pitch competition, an event designed to connect
innovators with business, philanthropic and nonprofit leaders who
want to help them succeed.
"It's an honor to receive the Outerwall Civic Venture Award,"
said Tabitha Creighton, CEO and
co-founder of InvestNextDoor, a crowdlending marketplace where
individual investors lend money to small businesses in their
community. "Outerwall has offered our team an extraordinary
opportunity to further engage with leaders in various sectors and
gain valuable insights at the upcoming Points of Light Civic
Accelerator boot camp."
"As a company committed to driving innovation and helping our
communities thrive, we support InvestNextDoor's mission to create
shared value by connecting small businesses and investors at the
local level," said Debby Fry Wilson,
vice president of corporate and public affairs at Outerwall. "We're
proud to partner with Points of Light – an organization that shares
our belief in the potential to drive business growth while
promoting positive social outcomes – to grant this inaugural
award."
InvestNextDoor was selected to receive the honor based on its
unique solution to a challenging problem: providing small
businesses with reasonably priced capital. InvestNextDoor operates
at the intersection between impact investing and crowdlending,
creating a balanced relationship of returns between businesses and
investors in local communities.
As the winner of the Outerwall Civic Venture Award,
InvestNextDoor will advance to the Points of Light Civic
Accelerator, a 12-week boot camp featuring an entrepreneurial
curriculum delivered by industry leaders, successful entrepreneurs
and investors, and design experts. Participants also gain access to
mentors and have a chance at securing a $50,000 investment.
"We're excited to welcome InvestNextDoor to the Civic
Accelerator, where this Seattle
startup will join teams from across the country to accelerate their
business and community impact," said Ayesha
Khanna, founder of the Points of Light Civic Accelerator.
"We're grateful to Outerwall for supporting promising ventures that
engage people in strengthening communities. Outerwall is helping us
meet our Clinton Global Initiative America commitment to support
and invest in 300 civic entrepreneurs by 2016."
Finalists for the Outerwall Civic Venture Award were reviewed by
a selection committee comprising leadership from Outerwall and
Points of Light. Proposals were evaluated based on an established
set of criteria, including civic engagement, innovation,
sustainability and scalability.
To learn more about the Social Venture Partners Seattle Fast
Pitch competition, visit www.socialventurepartners.org/seattle. For
additional information on the Points of Light Civic Accelerator,
visit www.pointsoflight.org.
About Outerwall Inc.
Outerwall Inc. (Nasdaq: OUTR) has
more than 20 years of experience creating some of the most
profitable spaces for their retail partners. The company mission is
to create a better everyday by delivering breakthrough kiosk
experiences that delight consumers and generate revenue for
retailers. As the company that brought consumers Redbox®
entertainment, Coinstar® money services, and
ecoATM® electronics recycling kiosks, Outerwall is
leading the next generation of automated retail and paving the way
for inventive, scalable businesses. Outerwall™ kiosks are in
neighborhood grocery stores, drug stores, mass merchants, malls,
and other retail locations in the United
States, Canada,
Puerto Rico, the United Kingdom, and Ireland. Learn more at www.outerwall.com.
About Points of Light
Points of Light – the largest
organization in the world dedicated to volunteer service –
mobilizes millions of people to take action that is changing the
world. Through affiliates in 250 cities in 30 countries, and
partnerships with thousands of nonprofits and corporations, Points
of Light engages more than 4 million volunteers in 30 million hours
of service each year.
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SOURCE Outerwall Inc.