Vegan app abillion just launched a 2021 initiative to raise money for animal welfare nonprofits. For every review of a vegan product or vegan dish from a restaurant posted on the app, the company donates money toward an organization doing work on behalf of the plant-based and sustainability movements. This charitable component is a cornerstone of abillion’s work. To heighten the impact and giving, the brand is challenging its members to review 10 plant-based products. To learn more about this donation-based model of doing business, we sat down with abillion CEO Vikas Garg to chat about how crowdsourcing and technology can work together to create a more compassionate and sustainable world.
abillion is not a non-profit organization—it’s a technology company—but it’s able to fund donations by shifting its priorities. Garg explained, “We believe in creating impact first, so we’ve partnered with 60 world-changing causes from around the planet. We want to show people that something as small as eating a vegan meal or buying an environmentally friendly product and sharing that experience with the world can create ripples throughout society and beyond.”
Beyond the donations abillion makes to animal welfare, child hunger, and education causes, the app also serves to educate and encourage restaurateurs and retail companies to offer (or improve) vegan and sustainable options. Garg firmly believes that if he can show business owners there is a commercial value in vegan food and products, there is a solid shot at convincing these owners to give vegan a try. When someone posts a review, photo, or comment, an automated message is sent to that business to provide helpful feedback and demonstrate a demand for vegan options. The company’s current database includes over 50,000 restaurants and 38,000 consumer brands around the world.
“It’s all about improving access and creating a meritocracy for vegan food and environmentally friendly products,” Garg emphasized.
The goal for abillion is to donate $1 million to conscious organizations in 2021, and each review gets them closer to this milestone. When asked what he recently reviewed, Garg gushed, “I just reviewed an amazing beer called Beerguette that’s made by a start-up called Crust in Singapore. I just came across this brand and am in love! They work with bakeries around the country and take in waste bread and fruit and upcycle it into beer. There is so much potential in the circular economy and it’s amazing to witness all the amazing companies around the world that are taking food waste and using it to make amazing products!”
To learn more about abillion and its partnering nonprofits, and to download the app to write your first review, visit abillion.com.
