Tooth decay has a severe burden on
billions of impoverished people around the world. They can’t always afford
preventative dental care, but they can afford and enjoy our tasty Xylitol Chewing Gum, which is scientifically proven to fight cavity-causing bacteria in
the mouth. We’re committed to creating a sweet solution for this bitter
problem.
We've reached our goal thanks to almost 200 funders! The more we raise, the more people we can employ, the more kids we can distribute dentally beneficial gum and information to. The $15,000 funding goal sustains our project for the next two months. With your support, we could sustain and scale Sweet Bites for many months more. Let's exceed expectations! Break the dental burden bubble.
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The Sweet Bites team is made up of 5
best friends from the University of Pennsylvania. We launched this project in Bangalore, India. Every day, our team distributes the gum to
children in primary schools, many of whom live in slums and have very little
access to healthcare. The kids especially love our fruity banana flavor!
Unfortunately, we had to say our (temporary) goodbyes to Bangalore and are back in our Boston office. Now, we need your help to sustain and scale the Sweet Bites project until we can raise enough money to return to India in the fall. If
Sweet Bites is a success in Bangalore, it’s just a matter of time until we’re
saving smiles around the whole country, and then the world.
What We Need & What You Get
The funds raised here will go directly into sustainably scaling our
project in Bangalore over the next two months and beyond. We've met our fundraising goal! We're ecstatic, because this means the 25,000 pieces of Sweet Bites gum distributed to date will quadruple to 100,000 pieces distributed in the next two months, a big step towards achieving our target impact of 1 million children chewing Sweet Bites in the new year.
Thanks to our generous funders, we've already sent our teammate Thoba back to India! Right now, he is meeting with strategic partners, sponsors, and new Bangalore team members to start scaling. With your continued support, we will send Eric back in early September!
If we exceed our goal, we will be able to make the initial investment for the factory we are planning to build outside of Bangalore. We already have deals lined up for the land, equipment, and raw materials - it's just a matter of funding and getting Eric on the ground. Local production will drive our costs down, and enable us to keep the gum affordable for children.
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This is Your Only Chance to Try the Gum
We’re offering quite a few perks but most important to note is
that this IndieGogo campaign is the ONLY way to buy Sweet Bites online.
The Impact
Dental Health
Sweet Bites contains 20 times more
xylitol per piece than the competitors in India, yet we offer it at
competitive prices at small corner stores in underserved communities. The science
recommends chewing 3 – 5 grams of xylitol gum per day, which can easily be done by having a piece of Sweet Bites after
meals.
Education
Moreover, we include health messaging
on the wrapper so each piece reinforces important behaviors, like brushing
twice a day.
Employment
Lastly, Sweet Bites is providing
meaningful, part-time employment to local students because we want our product
to be distributed by people who deeply understand their community’s culture and
needs.
Fight Tooth Decay. Educate Children. Empower Students.
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Our company was recently listed as the #1 Simple Invention
Changing the World on the Huffington Post. (Actually, Xylitol is a natural
sweetener and the gum has been scientifically proven and FDA
approved for decades, so it’s a bit of a stretch to say we “invented” it. Our innovation is in our model - providing the highest dose of Xylitol at the lowest cost to people who need it most.)
Back in March, our team was selected as one of six finalists out
of 11,000 university applicants for the $1,000,000 Hult Prize for social entrepreneurship. The funds we raise here will keep our project’s momentum
growing until the finals in September when we pitch at the Clinton Global
Initiative, a major global health conference.
Check out the Facts behind Xylitol Gum!
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Challenges
Public health problems are never easy to solve, and the
developing world is littered with the skeletons of failed foreign interventions
and technological innovations. A healthcare professor at Penn once warned us
about the dangers of working in the slums:
When it comes medicine, free is not
cheap enough.
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By delivering our health solution in a tasty, inexpensive treat
that people already know and love; we hope to overcome these challenges. Education is a
key aspect of our vision; Sweet Bites is just as much about distributing gum as
it is about empowering local students to do meaningful work and providing important health information to underserved children.
This campaign is about much more than the fundraising. According
to WHO statistics, oral disease has a more severe burden on the population than
leukemia, breast cancer, and heart disease (just to name a few). Yet, it’s too often
overlooked. There are many ways to help. You don’t have to contribute your
money; we deeply appreciate anyone who contributes their voice. Spread the word!
Win 500 Free Pieces of Your Favorite Flavor!
We're rewarding the person that wins us the most support! If you're logged into an Indiegogo account and you share our campaign using the Indiegogo links (twitter, email, etc); we'll get to see how much funds were raised because of YOUR help sharing the project! At the end of the campaign, we'll count up who was the best at spreading the word and hook them up with free gum.
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