• MORE THAN $50,000 AWARDED TO FINALISTS AT IRIDESCENT’S 2018 TECHNOVATION WORLD PITCH SUMMIT IN SILICON VALLEY
• Teams of girls worldwide learn the necessary skills to become tech entrepreneurs and leaders while creating apps addressing social issues in their communities.
SAN JOSE, Calif., Aug. 10, 2018 : Iridescent, a nonprofit empowering underrepresented young people globally to become innovators and leaders, announced that two teams of girls – one from India and Nigeria– won top honors at its 2018 Technovation World Pitch Summit, the world’s largest tech entrepreneurship program for girls ages 10-18. The two teams were named winners in the senior and junior divisions, respectively, during the “Global Innovation Celebration” held in the San Jose Theatre Aug. 9.
The celebration was the final event in the week-long World Pitch Summit Aug. 6-10. Finalists and visiting teams traveled from around the world for networking, field trips to tech companies, and career-building workshops.
Winning Teams :
Senior Division Team: Cantavits
App name : Eedo
Delhi, India
“81% of people dispose of e-waste improperly, which results in toxic fumes and polluted water. Eedo is an Android app solution that provides an end-to-end connection between e-waste producers and authorized recyclers”.
Senior Gold Scholarship Winners : The Cantavits ; Eedo ; 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 authorized recyclers.
“According to a study, 81% of people dispose of their e-waste in an improper manner, not realizing 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
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, FD-Detector (Fake Drug Detector). According to Team Save-A-Soul, Nigeriahas 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 & 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.
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 over 5,000 mentors.
Finalists were pitching for seed funding and scholarships. More than $50,000 USD 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 & Founder, Iridescent. “World Pitch is not only an opportunity to celebrate the accomplishments of the nearly 100 girls advancing to the finals, it is a chance to celebrate the 20,000 that are making technology solutions for social good.”
Technovation 2018 and World Pitch is made possible by volunteers around the world, and alliance sponsors Google.org, Salesforce.org, Adobe Foundation, and Uber.
Technovation has empowered more than 20,000 girls worldwide this year to develop mobile apps and startups addressing societal problems in their communities including the environment, elderly care and compassion, animal adoption, learning disabilities, equality, drug addiction, food safety, and more. After participating in Technovation, 60% of girls from the U.S. enroll in further Computer Science courses with 30% majoring in Computer Science in college, 65 times the national rate for US female college students. Globally, 70% of the girls are interested in pursuing further technology related programs.
About Iridescent and Technovation
Iridescent is a science, engineering, and technology education nonprofit organization that empowers underrepresented young people to become self-motivated learners, inventors, and leaders. Founded in 2006 by CEO Tara Chklovski, Iridescent has had more than 100,000 children, parents, mentors, and educators participate in its two global programs: Technovation, the world’s largest global tech entrepreneurship program for girls, and Curiosity Machine, a unique, open-ended, project-based learning program that inspires students, families, and teachers to solve science and engineering problems together. Through Technovation, girls work in teams to identify a real-world community problem and then build an app and a business plan that solves that problem. In 2017, Iridescent was co-recognized along with Technovation Global Ambassador Anar Simpson for Outstanding Mobile Industry Individual Leadership at the GSMA Women4Tech awards.
