Two weeks ago, we were nominated by Deloitte to participate in the Swedish Chamber of Commerce in New York's acceleration program called SACCNY InnovateNordics. On November 16th, the program culminated in a pitch summit where we finally presented our pitch in front of hundreds of investors in the city that never sleeps, New York. On top of that, we were also spotted on Nasdaq's renowned billboard screen at Times Square.
The day of the pitch summit started off with an early morning filled with rehearsals . The InnovateNordics Pitch Summit kicked off in the afternoon and we, for the very first time, took the stage to present #Rawstraw for American investors. Elise opened the pitch with: “Has anyone in this room ever ordered a drink and been extremely disappointed when it came with paper straw in it?”. The audience burst out in a joint "Yes, we have!" and we continued our pitch with big smiles on our faces. The Rawstraws were met with great enthusiasm by the Americans and we had the opportunity to talk to knowledgeable and inspiring people, some of whom we will stay in close contact with when we get back to Sweden.
In honor of the program, Rawstraw was featured on the Nasdaq billboard on Times Square. Heading out of the Nasdaq building, we suddenly saw the billboard light up with our logo and faces on it, and couldn’t quite believe our eyes. This was the same logotype that we, only three years earlier, had scribbled down on the backside of a piece of paper after a brainstorming session. Yet, here we were, staring back at ourselves on a massive billboard, infront of a crowd of thousands of people. Straw-struck!
It was a heartfelt moment to see how far we have come since our inception in 2019, and it proves that anything is possible.
With all the positive response we received in the U.S, we realize that there is great interest in our natural products, but also in Rawstraw as a brand.
Therefore, for the upcoming year, we will increasingly focus on developing Rawstraw as a brand. Our aim is to do so by introducing new natural and sustainable products that can be used together with our Rawstraws. Finally, we bring with us a great amount of new energy from this trip as well as fun ideas that we hope to introduce to you in the new year. 2023 is just around the corner and we are ready for it to come! Are you?
Text: Josephine Daly Tempelaar
Photos: Rawstraw
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