Terravive founder and CEO Julianna Keeling had planned to speak at Austin’s South by Southwest festival this week in an exciting move that would have put a Richmond-based startup on the national stage.
From thousands of applicants, Keeling was chosen among a handful of successful candidates invited to appear at the event and showcase their company. The event was expected to provide Terravive national exposure and a chance to get their message and product to an immediate audience of over 1,000, in addition to live streaming the presentation online.
But, then SXSW was canceled amid coronavirus concerns that have led to the cancellation of dozens of big tech events, as well as concerts and other major gatherings in the U.S. and worldwide.
Still, we wanted to share a little more about what they had planned, even though our interview occurred when the company was still planning to head to Austin.
"I had hoped to use my SXSW session to share the latest innovations in consumer product sustainability that have an immediate, positive impact on the environment," Keeling said. "The democratic process of selection [for the speaking engagement] and huge interest in attending my session by the SXSW community confirmed to me that seeing real solutions to our ocean plastic problem is top of mind for consumers not only in the U.S. but also globally."
We last caught up with Terravive in December when they were first debuting their innovative collection of fully-biodegradable single-use products. More recently, Keeling shared a bit about her plans to present at the SXSW festival, one of which was titled “Why Plants are the Next Generation of Plastic," prior to its cancellation.
“Plastics used to be celebrated for being super durable,” Keeling said. “But that durability has now become its greatest curse. Essentially, this talk will introduce the audience to plant-based polymers, or plant-based materials that will replace petroleum-based plastics over the next decade.”
The interactive presentation was going to focus on how consumers can identify products that are created more sustainably and how they can identify “green-washing” on the shelves in a retail environment to make smarter choices as a consumer.
In a second event, Keeling had planned to speak about sustainability on a panel hosted by PC World Magazine.
“This is a huge opportunity,” Keeling said. “A major tenant of Terravive is that these materials are the solution to the single-use plastics problem. One of the biggest challenges that Terravive faces is overcoming misconceptions about our product because they look so similar to regular plastic; people assume that it must be plastic. This is going to be a really good opportunity to educate and inform consumers about new types of innovation in this space.”
Terravive had planned on launching their new and improved website in conjunction with their SXSW appearance, but the launch happened Friday anyways, despite the change in plans. And they have more in the works soon, including the opening of their Richmond warehouse to accommodate the expansion of their client base across the country.
But this preparation was not a total loss. The Terravive team was able to use it as an opportunity to explore opportunities for growth and better strategize how to present their products and technology to the public.
"My SXSW preparation allowed me to gather my thoughts on new circular materials that have the power to solve our single-use plastics crisis, and how consumers can quickly identify greenwashing, or the making of false claims, on store shelves," Keeling added. "The preparation also helped me to build educational content for Terravive's new website, which launched on Friday. We are excited to use the preparation to further grow Terravive and allow businesses to meet their sustainability goals."
