Nnenna Chioma Okoye of RenSpot & Charity Wanjiku of Strauss Energy win at GIST Tech-I competition at GES 2016 in Silicon Valley

Hey BellaNaijarians,
We know lots of you are working on your side hustle or are full time on your startups so this should be helpful.

We are also super excited that 2 African women rocked it and made a major impact at the finals.

In April, BN Career brought the news that 5 Nigerians had made it to the semi final stage of the global GIST Tech-I competition. 2 Nigerians eventually made their way into the finals.

The GIST Tech-I Pitch Competition seeks to empower young innovators through networking, skills building, mentoring, and access to financing to develop startup solutions that address their economic and development challenges. Tech-I Pitch Competition finalists are divided into two groups: those with ventures in the idea stage and those in the startup stage. Finalists attended two days of intensive preparation in advance of the GES on how to grow their business and perfect their pitch, led by the U.S. Department of State’s implementing partner, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, with training provided by DoubleNova.

Participants in the Tech-I Pitch Competition Finals were chosen from over 1,000 applications submitted by science and technology entrepreneurs in 135 emerging economies. This is the sixth Tech-I Pitch Competition that has been hosted at the Global Entrepreneurship Summit and this year’s award ceremony was hosted by Dan Price, CEO of Gravity Payments.

The GIST Tech-I Pitch Competition Finals took place on Thursday, June 23, and Friday, June 24, 2016, during the 2016 Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES) held at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California. Twenty-nine science and technology entrepreneurs representing 23 countries and territories competed for a chance to win US$ 70,000 in cash and additional prizes.

Nigerian Nnenna Chioma Okoye of ResSpot did well as she was named as the “Honorable Mention winner” in the Idea Stage competition. ResSpot also includes Founder Chi Achebe.

People’s Choice Award for the Startup Stage went to Charity Wanjiku of Strauss Energy, Kenya

Perfect Your Pitch
On June 21, serial entrepreneur Jeff Hoffman and global venture capitalist Oltac Unsal took part in a mock pitch during “Perfecting Your Pitch,” our live Guru broadcast from the Global Entrepreneurship Summit. The experts also shared a broad range of pitching best practices. Read a highlight of their key takeaway advice here. Watch the recorded broadcast below.

The winners of the 2016 Tech-I Competition are:

Startup Stage
1st Place winning $15,000 USD: Hoang Dao, Monkey Junior, Vietnam
Monkey Junior is an interactive application that teaches children from a few months old to six years to read using proven pedagogical methods and highly interactive curriculum. Monkey Junior is currently available in multiple languages, and is currently the highest ranked language literacy app in the Android app store and Google Play.

2nd Place winning $7,500 USD: Yap Chee Wei, HiGi Energy, Malaysia
HiGi Energy converts invasive water hyacinth and agricultural waste into an environmentally friendly, smoke-free cooking fuel.

3rd Place winning $3,000 USD: Muhammad Waqas, WonderTree, Pakistan
WonderTree produces interactive augmented reality educational games for children with cognitive or motor disabilities, enabling them to become more active in society.

Honorable Mention winning $2,000 USD: Md. Samid Razzak, 10 Minute School, Bangladesh
10 Minute School is an online platform that offers educational tools tailored to Bangladesh’s educational system.

People’s Choice Award Startup Stage – Winner of $2,000 USD: Charity Wanjiku, Strauss Energy, Kenya
Strauss Energy produces a two-in-one solar cell roofing tile that reduces installation costs and allows owners to earn passive income by selling excess energy to the grid.

Idea Stage
1st Place winning $15,000 USD: Samina Sarwat, Astha Purifier, Bangladesh
The Astha Purifier filter tackles arsenic contamination of drinking water using inexpensive and readily available rice husk.

2nd Place winning $7,500 USD: Maher Maymoun, Solar PiezoClean, Jordan
Solar PiezoClean is a revolutionary waterless, automated dust-cleaning technology for solar panels.

3rd Place winning $3,000 USD: Layth Hamad, Clev-G, Jordan
Clev-G is a smart device for LPG cylinders that automates gas tracking and refilling.

Honorable Mention winning $2,000 USD: Nnenna Okoye, ResSpot, Nigeria
ResSpot is a mobile app and wearable device that employs GPS, private security partners, and crowdsourcing to send immediate emergency assistance and alerts.

People’s Choice Idea Stage
Winning $2,000 USD: Maher Maymoun, SolarPiezo Clean, Jordan
Solar PiezoClean is a revolutionary waterless, automated dust-cleaning technology for solar panels.

Spirit of GIST Tech-I
Winning $1,500 USD: Amr Hussein, Koshk Comics, Egypt
Koshk Comics offers a website for comic artists to collaborate and self-publish, and an app for consumers to find and enjoy visual stories.

Science and Technology Prize
Winning $3,000 USD: Maher Maymoun, Solar PiezoClean, Jordan

Outstanding Female Entrepreneur
Winning $5,000 USD: Samina Sarwat, Astha Purifier, Bangladesh