ColossusINNO2017 Winner Announced!
BLUSENSE DIAGNOSTICS ANNOUNCED AS WINNER OF THE COLOSSUSINNO2017 GLOBAL INNOVATION COMPETITION AT THE GLOBAL ENTREPENEURSHIP COMMUNITY SUMMIT 2017 HELD IN KUALA LUMPUR
The Global Entrepreneurship Movement (GEM) ended on a high note with the announcement ofthe inaugural winner of ColossusINNO2017 at the Global Entrepreneurship Community (GEC) Summit 2017 recently held in Kuala Lumpur.After an intense deliberation, Blusense Diagnostics from Denmark were handed the title that came with awinning prize of USD100,000 to pilot the innovation as a solution in the preferred ASEAN country. Subsequently, the winner will be exposed to a variety of access to resources and skills to aid the growth of the idea, amongst which include collaboration with the local government and corporations for a stronger market entry.
At the pitch, Blusense Diagnostics made a strong case on their submission called the BluSense technology that enables the accurate diagnosis of dengue and zika using a single drop of blood. Combining biomarker quantification with portability, affordability and ease of use, BluSense point-of-care products are designed for helping healthcare organizations to increase their diagnostics capacity, and to monitor, control and manage virus outbreaks.
Speaking on behalf of Blusense is its co-founder, Mr. Filippo Bosco, who also explained on the function of BluBox - a portable and affordable device specifically designed for single-drop-of-blood diagnostics operations. He said, “BluBox is compatible with a large number of single-use tests, which are developed by BluSense for diagnosing different diseases. Currently tests for dengue and zika diagnostics applications are under development. Furthermore, BluBox has already demonstrated its ability to accurately identify several diseases and different health conditions”.
Founded by Tan Sri Dr. Mohd. Irwan Serigar, who is also the Secretary-General of Treasury, Ministry of Finance, Malaysia, the non-government, not-for-profit organization, GEM initiated a global entrepreneurship competition, ColossusINNO2017, to inspire breakthrough thinking among entrepreneurs to identify and build ventures that will result in providing solutions to solve regional problems in developing countries in ASEAN – be it the problem of poverty, governance, education, health or environment.
“ColossusINNO2017 is a benchmark of success for outstanding entrepreneurs that not only demonstrate extraordinary business insights, but also excellent entrepreneurial spirit, disruptive innovation and strategic direction. This competition spotlights aspiring entrepreneurs that disrupt and lead to the change and economic growth required by societies,” enthused Patron and Founder of GEM, Tan Sri Dr. Mohd. Irwan Serigar.
“ColossusINNO2017 is an initiative to find the next big solutions that help address the market gaps to help ASEAN nations achieve first world status, which includes innovation in the areas of governance, poverty eradication, education, health, environment and cleanliness,” he added.
The global call for submissions for ColossusINNO2017 was held for three months since the launch. The competition received 1,780 submissions from 88 countries. To ensure that the selected entrepreneurs meet the global standards in terms of knowledge, solution to problems and other requirements of a scalable startup, a panel of independent global judges consisting of key industry experts narrowed down the applications to 30 semi-finalists, before shortlisting 10 finalists. ColossusINNO2017’s Final Pitches were made yesterday.
“The ten finalists have demonstrated dynamic businesses through innovative ideas, which address the societal concerns and market gaps within the ASEAN region. Through this competition, we have seen a group of high caliber entrepreneurs with such tenacity and strong entrepreneurial spirit, striving to make an impact in an environment marked by uncertainty and disruption,” quipped President of GEM, Dash Dhakshinamoorthy.
The ColossusINNO2017 finalists were evaluated based on three criteria including scope – feasibility and having a well-defined problem and solution, scale of idea’s execution including market opportunity, well-defined target market, potential for growth, perceived differentiation from competition, as well as likelihood of long-term success, and speed of execution based on the strength and expertise of the team.
The global experts that made up the panel of judges include:
- Tan Sri Dr. Mohd. Irwan Serigar, Patron and Founder of GEM
- Dash Dhakshinamoorthy, President of GEM
- Datuk Md Zubir Ansori Yahaya, CEO of Malaysia Debt Ventures Berhad (MDV)
- Dato Arulchelvam Arulampalam, CEO Ebizu
- Jamaludin Bujang, CEO of MAVCAP
- Ganesh Kumar Bangah, Executive Chairman, Commerce.asia
- Asna Towfiq, Alliance
- Philippe Benjamin Skow, Global Award-winning Violinist
- Dr. Sam Potolicchio, Georgetown University
- Jennifer Augustin, Cisco
- Zhang Yong, Mengniu Group
- Final Pitching & Judging Observed by YOUNOODLE
Every finalist was given a 5-minute presentation time in front of the judges, followed by a 6-minute Q&A session.
The ten ColossusINNO2017 finalists are as follows:
- Lazarus, Chile - Prosthetics that allow amputee better mobility and comfort.
- BLH Aqua Technology Inc., Korea – Aquatonix, increases water absoption, decreases water wasteage and use of chemical fertilizers – for agriculture industry
- A Diagnostics Toolbox for Infectious Diseases, Denmark - Scalable one-drop-of-blood diagnostics for infectious disease including Dengue
- ECOLOO: An eco social innovation that saves water, lives and environment, Malaysia – An eco-friendly toilet, that treats waste, deals with water sanitation.
- OrganoCycler MSW Processing Technology, Malaysia - Hypobaric thermo process to steam waste rather than burn it.
- Plantedit, Italy - cutting edge genome editing tools along with innovative transformation technology to produce GMO-free, regulatory free, eco-friendly sustainable food for human welfare
- Developing Therapies Through Epigenetics, USA - Curing incurable cancers and neurodegenerative diseases by reprograming cells
- Zerowaste Asia Pte Ltd, Singapore - patented chemical technology that effectively captures and permanently locks in heavy metals at the molecular level, treated solid waste or wastewater meets stringent disposal criteria.
- Stratio LinkSquare, USA/Korea - Detecting Counterfeit Medicines
- ThirdWatch: Stopping fraud using AI, India - Real-time fraud prevention in E-commerce/digital-transactions using AI
For more information, please visit http://www.globalentrepreneurshipmovement.org/
We thank you again for your interest in ColossusINNO2017 and GEM - we wish you a wonderfully successful 2018!
