HANOI, November 9, 2018 – On November 8, fourteen startups pitched to win $15,000 in prizes in the “Vietnam Challenge for Our Environment” project. After forming teams between researchers and entrepreneurs, the American Center informally incubated these startups with an entrepreneurship bootcamp, workshops and coaching. The teams and their mentors worked diligently over the last three months to develop prototypes, refine their businesses, and market their products. Six teams in two categories were declared winners of the competition due to the practical and viable products and solutions that they produced to solve pollution problems. The winners, and their practical solutions, are:
New startups:
- Green Food Container: A project to produce green containers made from bagasse and lemongrass fabric.
- FERN – Future’s Energy & Environment Resource for Nation: A project to produce activated charcoal using fern to produce cosmetic products and air filters for masks.
- Bio-Pro: A project to produce green-coal from agricultural wastes to reduce carbon pollution.
Pre-existing startups:
- Smart water meter: A plan to automatically measure water usage by consumers. The information is then sent to a data processing system for the purposes of management, analytics and adjustment, pricing, and billing.
- E Green: A project to produce biogas filter and high-tech biogas electricity generator to be used by farms.
- Selex Motors Smart Electric Scooters: A project to produce smart electric scooters with sensors to avoid accidents and other smart features.
The “Vietnam Challenge for Our Environment” was organized by the U.S. Embassy in Hanoi, in partnership with Hatch! and Swiss EP, to create practical solutions for agricultural, industrial, and household waste, and solve plastic, carbon, and chemical pollution problems. By matching researchers with entrepreneurs, this project encourages collaboration between universities, the startup community, and the private sector to create sustainable solutions. Kova Paint and Vietnam Oman Investment (VOI) each sponsored a cash prize for the winners. This competition is part of the U.S. Embassy’s ongoing campaign to #EndPlasticPollution and #KeepVietnamClean. “Through this challenge, the U.S. Embassy is showing its commitment to help nurture more viable, sustainable and scalable solutions to address Vietnam’s biggest environmental problems,” said U.S. Department of State’s Regional Public Engagement Officer Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, Ms. Fenghua Wang.
Additional information about the competition is at: https://vn.usembassy.gov/u-s-embassy-hanoi-launches-vietnam-challenge-for-our-environment/
To view photos of the event, click here.
