Five Entrepreneurs Announced As Winners At San Francisco WeWork Creator Awards

Last night, WeWork announced five winners received $742,000 in funding at the San Francisco Creator Awards Regional Semi-Final event at Palace of Fine Arts. The Creator Awards is a global initiative awarding funding to entrepreneurs, small business, nonprofits, performing artists, and more who are thinking in new ways, building fresh projects, and achieving real change.

Chosen from a pool of more than 1,300 applicants from across the Western United States and British Columbia, finalists pitched their ideas, business models, and organizations before a live audience and judges including Julie Rice (Chief Brand Officer, WeWork and SoulCycle Co-Founder) and Hamet Watt (Co-Founder, MoviePass). A total of five winners in four categories were awarded between $36,000 to $360,000 in funding from projects ranging from a non-profit dedicated to supporting talented low-income food entrepreneurs, to a healthy donut alternative and Bay Area-based R&B/synth-pop/electronic band who took home the first-ever Performing Arts prize in the US.

The top $360,000 prize in the Business Venture category went to Chloe Alpert of San Francisco for Medinas Health.

The Creator Awards came to life in San Francisco with an extraordinary lineup of masterclasses, performances, talent appearances and special moments. The event was free and open to the public and co-hosted by award-winning journalist and former editor-in-chief of Teen Vogue, Elaine Welteroth and the sister of WeWork Co-Founder & CEO, Adam Neumann, supermodel Adi Neumann. The evening event also featured master classes with star of Netflix's 'Queer Eye' & fashion designer, Tan France, interior designer Kelly Wearstler, ballerina and Red Bull athlete, Dusty Button, founder & CEO, CreativeLive, Chase Jarvis, and more. Earlier in the evening, the event commenced with a job & skills fair, a pop-up Creator Market featuring local makers, food and cocktails, and an after party with DJ sets from DJ Daddy Kat and DJ Kayper, plus a live performance from St. Vincent.

FULL LIST OF WINNERS:

· Business Venture Award: for entrepreneurs and companies with fresh ideas

o Chloe Alpert, Medinas Health (San Francisco) - $360,000

o Amin Bahari, Elite Sweets (Austin) - $180,000

· Nonprofit Award: for charitable organizations big and small

o Jessica Mataka, La Cocina (San Francisco) - $130,000

· Community Giver Award: for those making a difference in their local community

· Mason Funk, OUTWORDS (Los Angeles) - $36,000

· Performing Arts Award: for entertainers and groups with a unique point of view

· Lalin St Juste, The Seshen (San Francisco) - $36,000

Since March 2017, WeWork has hosted more than 20,000 attendees and given away more than $16 million across nine Creator Awards Regional Semi-Final events around the globe, plus one Global Finals event in New York City in January 2018.

Subsequent events will take place in North America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East throughout the rest of 2018.

For additional information, visit creatorawards.wework.com.

About WeWork

WeWork provides more than 210,000 members around the world with space, community, and services through both physical and virtual offerings. WeWork's mission is to help create a world where people work to make a life, not just a living. Founded in New York City in 2010 by Adam Neumann and Miguel McKelvey, WeWork currently has more than 242 physical locations in over 71 cities and 21 countries around the world. Follow us @WeWork on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook or visit www.wework.com to learn more.

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