In short succession, all four 2021 JCI Area Conferences took place using JCI’s new Virtual Community. All four events were full of engaging learning moments and passionate competition that all held fast to themes such as Connecting Leaders and Connecting Lives. Even more so, for the first time ever, the JCI Creative Young Entrepreneur (CYE) competition was initiated at these conferences with resounding success.
To celebrate the CYE program’s triumphant first run, let’s take a closer look at the top three CYE finalists for America, Europe, Africa and the Middle East and Asia and the Pacific! Each finalist showcased their companies and startups with immense professionalism and clear innovation. It was a tough selection process for the judges, but here are the finalists that rose above the rest and who will be pitching at the World Congress in November!
First place winners at Area Conferences will receive a 5000 USD prize, provided generously by 2021 JCI President Ryubun Kojima. Second place winners receive a free registration to the 2022 Area Conference, and all three top finalists will go on to compete at World Congress and the CYE Championships. In 2021, the CYE Grand Champion at World Congress will take home a 10000 USD prize thanks to Vice President Pheng Kouch.
3 Top Finalists of CYE Conference of Africa and the Middle East
1st: Tawanda Chihambakwe (Zimbabwe)
Drones in STEM Education
The mission of Drones in STEM Education is to transform the drone technology workforce by educating and training people and organizations about drone technology and how to leverage it to make hazardous work safer for people and increase operational efficiency. This company aims to develop new mindsets for young, budding STEM leaders by targeting two specific age groups: primary school ages (7 to 12 years old) and high school ages (13 to 18 years old). Through collaboration with Zimbabwe Flying Labs and Precision Aerial, they’ll make sure to provide industry-specific services such as commercial and educational drone services, consultancy and training. Growth in this specific niche area of youth education will involve Four-Key Pillars: a drone training program, drone pilot instructors license, marketing and capital investment.
2nd: Moussa Thiam (Zimbabwe)
Waste to Wealth (W2W) Engineering
W2W Engineering specializes in the production and sale of products made from an innovative and durable material: Ecological concrete. This company would thus assist with the development of roads and the interior decoration of houses but above all become the main manufacture of ecological slabs and pavers. Moussa intends to expand the company’s expertise by also evolving in the fields of waste management, consulting and environmental assessment of projects and programs. The plan is for W2W to become a limited liability company in the future.
3rd: Ibraheem Tiamiyu (Nigeria)
Plan B Wellness
Less than 2% of drugs consumed in Africa are produced on the continent while over 50% of Africans cannot even afford quality healthcare products or services due to poverty. Plan B Wellness hopes to be the solution by producing products and solutions locally at affordable costs. This will include over a dozen different 100% organic herbal products and a customized diet or therapy plan. There will be a versatile focus on B2B as well as B2C selling. They are highly valued with alternative therapy that offers visible results and no adverse effects on health both in the long and short term.
3 Top Finalists of CYE Asia and the Pacific Conference
1st: Willie Ng Wei Li (Malaysia)
Global Cerah
Global Cerah is an agri-tech start up that integrates waste treatment and production of alternative protein sources into sustainable solutions to sustain the future of the food ecosystem. This company tackles such problems as harmful food and agricultural waste, inorganic fertilizer and inefficient waste treatment. Global Cerah treats waste as raw materials to feed black soldier fly larvae, which in turn can be used as an important source of material for feed meals. Their current final products are larvae powder, dry larvae and larvae shells.
2nd: Maria Victoria Martinez (Philippines)
TalktoDok
TalktoDok’s is a free online medical chat platform for Filipinos who want easily accessible and highly professional healthcare advice. This has allowed individuals to have direct access to qualified doctors without having to visit a clinic or a hospital. TalktoDok’s mission is to make healthcare accessible for everyone through digital health. This company believes that digital health should have no divide, and that everyone – regardless of their income bracket or technological reach – should be able to seek medical help while maintaining their right to health privacy by confidentiality using digital tools. As of July of 2021, TalktoDok has helped over 2,300 people via it’s platform and has engaged with 135 healthcare providers. TalktoDok has captured the Telemedicine industry in the Philippines at its early growth stage and has the potential to become a major player.
3rd: Ng Yee Heng (Eddie) (Malaysia)
Vanzo
With Malaysia being in the top ten in the world for car ownership per capita – and one of the most important automotive markets in Southeast Asia, Vanzo set out to make the driving experience a little more pleasant for such a significant userbase. Scouring Asia for raw materials and after much market research, Vanzo partnered with companies based in Japan (Ogawa Flavours and Fragrance and Taiyo Corporation) and was able to source high quality, non-toxic air fresheners for drivers in the region. Vanzo has been publicized across television and magazines, and has been recognized for the quality of the product on offer.
3 Top Finalists of CYE Conference of America
1st: Nicholas Thiago Oliveria Martins (Brazil)
BioFocus Nutrition
BioFocus is created with an algae-based food BioGel, ready for consumption and formulated to supply the necessary nutrients for a low-cost balanced diet, with ideal size and gelatinous formulation. It is even possible to eat the packaging, so it is perfect for unique needs or people with busy lives. This product can assist in the recovery of severe cases of malnutrition, a solution for people with special dietary restrictions, and can assist in sports nutrition as a food supplement. A versatile food source, BioFocus can help mitigate the desires of a wide range of customers.
2nd: Julián Rodríguez (Colombia)
Kamio – Last Smile Delivery
Kamio is a logistics tech platform that uses technology, crowdsourcing and special vehicles development to enable SMEs to transport their sold goods in an efficient and economic way via sharing routes, using low operation cost vehicles and marketing their products across the city. This platform addresses the inefficient last leg of the supply chain movement which comprises up to 53% of the total cost of moving goods.
3rd: Tyler Hiranaka (United States of America)
Sango Sango – A Fine Jewelry Company
Founded in Honolulu, Hawaii, Sango Sango offers fine jewelry collections with a strong emphasis on some of the world’s most prominent natural gemstones, such as pearl and coral. This emphasis allows Sango Sango to convey to their customers the full brilliance of mother nature and her gifts while also highlighting the exclusivity and scarcity of some of Earth’s great treasures. The company holds a unique ability to source these materials responsibly and is carefully planning its official launch for when the world begins to open and global tourism once again flourishes.
3 Top Finalists of CYE European Conference
1st: Sandra Garn and Christoph Seydel (Germany)
Mededis – Medical Device Consulting and Distribution
This product would help with the development and distribution of an innovative SaaS software solution (Software-as-a-Service) for medical technology companies. More specifically, Mededis GmbH deals with services in the medical device and pharmaceutical environment, including the validation and qualification of computer-aided systems. By following the basis of the lean validation approach of Mededis GmbH, Sandra planned the phase-by-step development and distribution of the software solution with four interlocking applications; easyCMDB, easyDOMA, easyITS, and easyQC.
2nd: Yoann Lacombe (France)
Symone
At Symone, a SSE company, they believe in a more carbon-free future and better quality of life. With this in mind, Symone combats CO2 car pollution by creating a product and service that is a car trailer combined with a passenger cabin that the project bearers ‘graft’ onto existing hydrogen trucks. The road unit is parked upstream of the motorway network while the vehicles are loaded onto the trailer. Then, passengers will be able to ride in the front in a comfortable compartmentalised module with ease. With even only one Symone on the road by 2022, 475 tonnes less COs would be released per year into the atmosphere. This will also limit the number of automobile accidents by helping to remove multiple drivers exhausted from long hours of travel on the road.
3rd: Sébastien Lambla (Monaco)
DouxVillage
DouxVillage is an online marketplace specifically designed to boost local retail stores in Monaco, aiming to rapidly expand to other markets. Existing local shops can join easily, with no entry fee, and start selling in a week or less. Only a commission on sales is due. Consumers can visit the online high street, discover new products and shops, and from the safety of their home receive super-fast same-day delivery. An idea born long before the 2020 Covid-19 health crisis, the co-founders have paid attention to the rise of online shopping in the 2000s and hope to address that need. While many initiatives only focus on solving the merchants’ problems, DouxVillage aims to reconcile the needs of retailers and shoppers, and to revive the local economy.
Congratulations again to the CYE finalists. We look forward to your projects becoming fruitful and necessary proponents within the global workforce and economy.
Stay on the lookout for when registration opens for the 2021 JCI World Congress! Let’s witness the future of innovation!