SANTA CRUZ, CALIFORNIA. February 1, 2023. Santa Cruz Works recently reported that Santa Cruz Accelerates startup Wonderfil was selected as a 2023 Westly Prize finalist. Wonderfil is thrilled to announce that they were awarded a $40,000 grant from the Westly Foundation.

The Westly Prize awards cash prizes totaling up to $145,000 to early-stage, social innovators under the age of 28 with the best novel solutions to education, health, youth, or world challenges. Wonderfil and two other finalists, Capd. and Atlos received $40,000. Here’s what Amelia Eichel, co-founder of Wonderfil had to say about the experience:

I was so impressed by the caliber of founders in our Westly Prize cohort. These are young people who deeply understand complex, systemic problems that our world faces, and they have the technical expertise to build scalable solutions that address the problem at the source. Shiloh and I came away from the event with strong connections to other social and environmental changemakers. We are so grateful to be part of the Westly Foundation network and we are so inspired by everyone we met there. This is exactly the kind of fund we want to work with more.

How Wonderfil Works

Wonderfil is a circular technology startup building autonomous refill stations for liquid and cream products. The core innovation for these refill stations is that they are completely autonomous and function like a zero-waste vending machine for all of your daily-use products. Customers can refill any bottle they want and Wonderfil calculates the amount of product dispensed as it’s dispensing. Check out how it works here. At scale, Wonderfil will enable people to refill their daily essentials like soap, laundry detergent, shampoo, conditioner and more conveniently in their apartment lobby, local store, dorm, gym, or laundromat.

Wonderfil had applied for the Westly Prize in 2021 but were not selected as finalists. However, two years later, they achieved their win. “[This] shows how much traction we have garnered since we first applied. We were able to show the judges a deployed, autonomous refill station at UC Santa Cruz, we were able to share data about how frequently the station is being used...We were able to discuss our unit economics and show healthy margins.” said co-founder Amelia Eichel.

Here’s what one of the judges had to say about Wonderfil:

“Wonderfil impressed me because it wasn’t just a solution to a problem, but Amelia and Shiloh used human-centered design in their engineering process to make using Wonderfil familiar and reduce friction when using. It’s these thoughtful design strategies that will encourage consumers to make more sustainable choices." -Rachel Sumekh, Westly Prize Judge and Founder of Swipe Out Hunger

Wonderfil is using the $40,000 grant to continue to grow its team. If you are or know of a Front End Developer with 3+ years of industry experience who wants to use their skills to build a sustainable future, check out the job opportunity here.

A Wonderfil Journey

Amelia and Shiloh are close childhood friends who were always passionate about solving the world’s problems. Amelia came up with the idea for Wonderfil during a Map the System project at Lewis & Clark College and she told Shiloh, then an Electrical Engineering student at UC Santa Cruz, about it during a socially-distanced family barbecue on July 4, 2020.

In their first month, Wonderfil prevented over 300 bottles from entering the waste stream. They have a steady stream of users, reaching an average of 4 refillers/hour. Since then, Wonderfil has been working with a low-waste store in Capitola called Ethos to pilot their first base-model refill station and they are also working with UCSC to pilot their autonomous vending machine. Wonderfil’s latest collaboration is with vegan & cruelty-free product brand, Dr. Bronner’s to bring students affordable, high-quality, biodegradable all-purpose soap and Puretergent to bring students biodegradable, high-efficiency, hypoallergenic laundry detergent. Here’s what one Wonderfil customer had to say:

“I used the Wonderfil refill station during their launch party! I brought my own bottle, paid, and filled it up with dish soap. It was super easy to use, affordable, and I liked that a sustainable way to refill everyday products is on campus! Reducing plastic waste is a great way to incorporate more sustainable practices and l'm sure other students are just as excited to use the refill station too!”

-Laura Chain, 4th year UCSC student

If you would like to learn more about Wonderfil, please email amelia@wonderfil.world and let them know you heard about them through Santa Cruz Works!