Families That Dream Together, Invent Together! Robert Herjavec Of 'Shark Tank' And Frito-Lay Want To See Your 'Dreamvention'

If you can dream, you can invent! Frito-Lay Variety Pack, one of the flagship brands from PepsiCo's Frito-Lay division, is celebrating the power of boundless imagination and inviting families to enjoy the fun of educational exploration. Dreamers age seven and up are invited to dream up a simple invention for the chance to win $250,000.

To inspire young minds, Frito-Lay Variety Pack teamed up with Entrepreneur and Star of ABC's Shark Tank, ROBERT HERJAVEC. From starting his own cyber technology firm to investing in emerging companies, Robert has seen that great inventions come from those who don't put limits on their dreams. Herjavec helped kick off the contest when Frito-Lay hosted Bay Area fifth graders for an exclusive Invent-athon at the hub of groundbreaking ideas Google Headquarters in Mountain View, Calif. He surprised participants who teamed up with Google volunteers to create their very own Dreamvention and provided expert tips on how to get the inventive juices flowing.

"It's never too early to start exploring, discovering and inventing," said Herjavec. "With every new generation, we're becoming more innovative and imaginative. I'm excited to be partnering with Frito-Lay Variety Pack to harness these qualities and encourage today's youth to take risks and pursue their dreams."

To encourage the educational adventure of inventing, Frito-Lay Variety Pack partnered with Young Minds Inspired (YMI), the award-winning curriculum experts that provide tools for more than 2 million educators around the U.S. In April, select educators will be provided a Dreamvention-inspired curriculum to use in their classrooms. The 10 schools submitting the most invention ideas will be awarded $5,000 each to help further in-class science programs.

"We are proud to have built a legacy of bringing families together," said Jeff Klein, vice president of marketing, Frito-Lay North America. "Whether it is being there for the team after soccer practice, providing a weekend outing to aquariums and zoos - and now celebrating creative exploration, Frito-Lay Variety Pack is truly reaching the next generation of innovative thinkers through our Dreamvention program and we are excited to see all of the submissions our consumers dream up."

Families can participate by thinking up a fun invention idea, creating a simple drawing and short explanation of it and uploading both 1 to MyDreamvention.com by April 24 for a chance to win. Five finalists will be announced in September and will pitch their ideas for America to vote for your favorites. The winning invention will be announced this December, and brought to life by product development firm MAKO Design + Invent.

Here are a few tips for how to get started:

1. Have a brainstorm with family and friends.
2. Look at everyday things and think of a way to make it better.
3. Think of an everyday problem you have and dream up a way to fix it!

You can also "Dreamvent" on-the-go! Frito-Lay Variety Pack features pre-portioned, single servings that can be taken with you wherever you go. Variety Packs include everyone's favorite Frito-Lay snacks, such as: Cheetos cheese flavored snacks, Doritos tortilla chips, Fritos corn snacks, Funyun's onion flavored rings, Lay's potato chips, Rold Gold pretzels, Smartfood popcorn, and SunChips multigrain snacks. Variety Packs are available at retail stores nationwide for a suggested retail price of $3.60 - $8.99.

For more information please visit MyDreamvention.com. B-Roll is available upon request.

About Frito-Lay Variety Pack

Frito-Lay Variety is one of many Frito-Lay brands in North America - the $14 billion convenient foods business unit of PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP), which is headquartered in Purchase, NY. Learn more about Frito-Lay at the corporate website, http://www.fritolay.com, the Snack Chat blog, http://www.snacks.com and on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/fritolay. Learn more about Frito-Lay Variety Pack by visiting www.MyDreamvention.com.

About PepsiCo

PepsiCo products are enjoyed by consumers one billion times a day in more than 200 countries and territories around the world. PepsiCo generated more than $66 billion in net revenue in 2014, driven by a complementary food and beverage portfolio that includes Frito-Lay, Gatorade, Pepsi-Cola, Quaker and Tropicana. PepsiCo's product portfolio includes a wide range of enjoyable foods and beverages, including 22 brands that generate more than $1 billion each in estimated annual retail sales.

At the heart of PepsiCo is Performance with Purpose our goal to deliver top-tier financial performance while creating sustainable growth and shareholder value. In practice, Performance with Purpose means providing a wide range of foods and beverages from treats to better for you snacks; finding innovative ways to minimize our impact on the environment and reduce our operating costs; providing a safe and inclusive workplace for our employees globally; and respecting, supporting and investing in the local communities where we operate. For more information, visit www.pepsico.com.

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About Young Minds Inspired

Young Minds Inspired (YMI) is a full-service educational marketing agency that specializes in developing and distributing sponsored, customized education based outreach programs for corporations, associations, non-profits, and government agencies. YMI provides its clients with a complete turn-key approach to engaging all segments of the youth and family audience wherever learning takes place. With a nationwide network of 2.1 million educators, YMI provides privileged access to nearly 100% of the nation's schools and community leaders. For over 30 years, the team at YMI has developed over 2,000 projects for over 800 different clients that have provided educators with free, high-quality learning materials that are engaging, easy to use, and tailored to their teaching needs.

About MAKO Design + Invent

MAKO Design + Invent is North America's leading end-to-end consumer product development services firm. MAKO helps both established companies and early-stage invention start-ups take their idea from a sketch on a napkin to store shelves. With a 25-person team across 3 offices (Austin USA, London UK, & Toronto CAN), MAKO has complete in-house industrial design, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, and prototyping services. To assist inventors and start-ups, MAKO has a subsidiary branch named MAKO Invent that, in addition to the above, helps with product strategy, business strategy, marketing, patent referrals, and sales & distribution for most consumer product categories. MAKO was started by visionary entrepreneur Kevin Mako in 1999 with the dream of providing everything inventors need to turn their product ideas into successful businesses. This vision earned MAKO Design + Invent a spot in the top 100 businesses of 2016 from Entrepreneur Magazine.

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1 Between the ages of 7 and 12? Make sure to have a parent or guardian submit your Dreamvention for you!

SOURCE Frito-Lay North America

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