Press Releases: GIST Tech-I Competition Winners Receive Project Funding

Press Releases: GIST Tech-I Competition Winners Receive Project Funding
Media Note

Office of the Spokesperson

Washington, DC

April 16, 2019

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The U.S. State Department’s Global Innovations through Science and Technology Initiative (GIST) hosted its Technology Idea (Tech-I) Competition at the Global Entrepreneurship Congress in Bahrain, April 14-16. The GIST Tech-I pitch competition brings together science and technology entrepreneurs from emerging economies worldwide, enabling young innovators through networking, skill development, mentoring, and access to financing, to develop startup solutions that address economic and development challenges. This year more than 500 up-and-coming entrepreneurs submitted applications. Twelve finalists competed in the “idea” stage and twelve in the “startup” stage. All are seeking to further develop their innovations and competed for over $30,000 in seed capital funding and more than $200,000 in Amazon Web Services credits.

The State Department congratulates the following winners of the GIST Tech-I pitch competition:

Outstanding Female Entrepreneur - Queenny Alvarado (Anuka) - Ecuador

Startup Phase:

1st Place - Donatus Njoroge (Vinis Limited) - Kenya

2nd Place - Syed Abrar Ahmed (Azaad Health Private Limited) - Pakistan

3rd Place - Varinder Singh (GFF Innovations Pvt Ltd) - India

Idea Phase:

1st Place - Anatoli Kirigwajjo (Yunga Technologies) - Uganda

2nd Place - Isaac Sesi (Sesi Technologies Ltd) - Ghana

3rd Place - Ariuntuya Altangerel (Brighton - English Speaking Center) - Mongolia

Spirit of Tech-I Award - Heriberto Solano (Black Square) - Colombia

Since its inception in 2011, GIST has engaged more than 27 million entrepreneurship community members from 137 emerging economies and has mentored over 8,700 startups. GIST startups have gone on to generate more than $250 million in revenue and nearly 6,000 jobs. In the last year, the GIST community has benefitted from over $1,000,000 in additional resources from Amazon Web Services, Microsoft, Google, and others in the U.S. private sector.

For more information, please contact OES-PA-DG@state.gov.

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Published April 16, 2019 at 07:11PM
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