Born from an eighth-grade science-fair project, Compai makes a solar-powered Wi-Fi sensor and iPhone app that help families monitor and manage home compost. The Gen Z, women-owned, inclusive, family-run social enterprise pairs compost-health tracking with personalized guidance to make the practice easier to sustain. Compai holds U.S. Patent No. 12,189,458 and has been recognized as a Prudential Emerging Visionaries finalist.
Hamilton County R3Source support
Compliance program
Prudential Emerging Visionaries finalist
Compliance program
Taco Bell Foundation Ambition Accelerator support
Compliance program
AgRecycleFounded in 1991, AgRecycle is a woman-owned composting company that turns landfill-bound organic scraps and trimmings into compost and other soil amendments. It was the first commercial composting enterprise in the United States founded by a woman, and has spent decades building permitted Pennsylvania composting operations and dedicated food-waste collection routes. Its carefully monitored batches take seven to eleven months to manufacture, screen, and cure.LAWRENCEVILLE, PA
Bennett CompostBorn from Tim Bennett’s $100 effort to compost from a second-story South Philadelphia apartment, Bennett Compost now provides weekly food-scrap collection and turns Philadelphia’s organic waste into compost and soil products. Founded in 2009 and co-owned by Bennett and Jennifer Mastalerz since 2018, the company serves more than 6,000 households and businesses, diverting over 125 tons of material from landfills each month. Its work also extends into urban farming, schools, public agencies and workforce programs across the city.325315PHILADELPHIA, PA
FoliumwareCo-founders Garima Parnami and Gaurav Pranami created Foliumware after a landfill visit prompted them to seek a genuinely natural alternative to disposable tableware. The company makes single-use leaf plates and bowls for gatherings, replacing conventional throwaway serveware with products designed to return to backyard compost in a few weeks.
Veteran Compost DCFounded in 2010 by Army combat engineer Justen Garrity, Veteran Compost DC turns local food scraps into organic compost while creating jobs for veterans and their family members. The company operates a 30-acre farm in Aberdeen, Maryland, including the state’s only commercial worm-composting operation, where more than a million worms help produce vermicompost.ABERDEEN, MD