Iridescent, a nonprofit organisation that empowers young people globally to become innovators and leaders, announced that two teams of girls - one from India and Nigeria - won top honours at its 2018 Technovation World Pitch Summit, the worlds largest tech entrepreneurship programme for girls aged 10-18
The two teams were named winners in the senior and junior divisions respectively during the “Global Innovation Celebration.”
Winning Teams:
Junior Division Team: Save-A-Soul
App name: FD-Detector
Onitsha, AN, Nigeria
Junior division winners Team Save-A-Soul hopes to help consumers identify and avoid the intake of fake drugs in Nigeria using its app, Fake Drug Detector. According to team Save-A-Soul, Nigeria has one of the largest markets for fake drugs. The girls plan to partner with the agency responsible for drug regulation in Nigeria, the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control.
“Leveraging technology to save lives is our utmost priority, that is why we have decided to maximize this opportunity to solve the incessant rate of death caused by fake drugs,” said Team Save-A-Soul.
Senior Division Team: Cantavits
App name: Eedo
Delhi, India
Senior division winners Team Cantavits, hope to track and dispose of electronic waste in an eco-friendly manner through its app, Eedo. The app provides an end-to-end connection between e-waste producers and authorised recyclers.
“According to a study, 81 per cent of people dispose of their e-waste in an improper manner, not realising its consequences. E-waste comes back to them in the form of toxic fumes and polluted water. Our app and the seed money from the Technovation Challenge will help us combat this issue in India,” said team Cantavits.
The Technovation Challenge tasks girls ages 10-18, working in teams of 1-5, with creating a mobile app addressing a problem in their own community. The 2018 World Pitch Summit is the final event following more than seven months of hard work, innovation and problem solving by more than 19,000 girls in 115 countries supported by about 5,000 mentors.
Finalists were pitching for seed funding and scholarships. About US$50,000 was awarded across the teams.
“It is inspiring seeing the hard work and determination of girls around the world working to solve big challenges in their communities with smart solutions,” said Tara Chklovski, CEO and founder at Iridescent.
Technovation 2018 and World Pitch are supported and sponsored by Google, Salesforce, Adobe Foundation and Uber.
