Amazon Business awarded over $250,000 in grant money, plus 1-year Business Prime membership, a Eero for Business 6E kit, and a Kindle Scribe with Premium Pen to 15 small businesses. The 15 candidates were picked by Entrepreneur magazine and Amazon Business customers voted for their favorites.
Amazon Business customers voted for the Grand Prize winner, GiftAMeal, to receive a $25,000 monetary grant, prizes, and more. When a guest takes a photo of their order from a partner restaurant, GiftAMeal donates to a local food bank to provide a meal to a family in need. Each month, over 40,000 meals are provided through 70 local food banks in 35 states. In the last year, they’ve grown from 200 to 700 partner restaurants. This grant will fuel GiftAMeal’s nationwide expansion, empowering them to reach new communities and make an even greater impact
The following 4 finalists will receive $20,000 in grant money and prizes from Amazon Business:
- Tiny House, Inc, Fresno, California – Their web-based training modules are used by High School Career Technical Education (CTE) programs. Their education package combines multiple trades into one integrated package to build a code-compliant, certified, and sale-ready movable tiny house. The grant will fund marketing campaigns to help them integrate the trades programs into more schools.
- Sunny Brook Menagerie, Plymouth, Massachusetts – Sunny Brook Menagerie is dedicated to animal rescue and educating others about the therapeutic benefits of animal interaction. The home-based animal encounter camp teaches kids biology and how to care for the animals at the farm. The grant will help purchase more scientific equipment, grow their resources, improve the animal’s enclosures, and expand to a larger property. The expansion will provide space to save more animals from auctions and kill pens.
- Founders PC, Manhattan, Kansas – They provide high-quality and affordable computers and equipment for Esports professionals, everyday gamers, and students alike. Their services allow for integration of custom controllers and keyboards into PCs for people who are mentally or physically handicapped. The grant will help them open a STEM/Gaming center to host LAN gaming events for professional and amateur gamers and provide a place of learning for all ages who are interested in STEM activities.
- Pascual Law, PLLC, Murray, Utah – Their immigration services help employers obtain legal workers, while also teaching individuals’ ways to enter the US legally. The grant will allow them to provide low bono support with applications and offset filing fees. The grant will also fund a reception-area computer to offer onsite testing, and ensure clients have internet access to practice reading and writing for citizenship exams.
The remaining 10 semi-finalists will each receive $15,000 in grant money and prizes from Amazon Business. See the full list and how each business plans to use their grant and prizes to help their businesses thrive.
This story originally appeared on Entrepreneur
