Global innovation challenge winners announced by Heriot-Watt university
Summary
Thirteen global innovation challenge winners have been announced by Edinburghs Heriot-Watt university in sectors spanning agri-tech to e-commerce.More than 500 entrepreneurs across four continents took part in the competition, with winners sharing \xa330,000 in prize money.Canada-based agri-tech startup Pathoscan won Best Overall winner for its crop disease platform aiming to revolutionise agriculture with portable, rapid testing devices for farmers.Edinburgh-based Thrift UP scooped the Proof-of-Concept award for its virtual fitting room fusing Augmented Reality and AI to enable sustainable online shopping.Following a competitive pitch event, Heriot-Watt Online student Annie Mamvura, founder of GreenGraceWear in Nairobi, Kenya, won the Health & Care-led Business Award.Providing reusable incontinence wear for women and girls facing urinary incontinence due to disability, aging or the menopause, Annies business is focused on dignity and comfort while contributing to sustainability goals by minimising waste from disposable products.Receiving the Audience Award, five engineering graduates behind Dubai-based company SMEFA (Shopping Mode Effortless For All) have developed a smart scan supermarket trolley designed to simplify and support shopping for those with disabilities and allergies such as automated basket lifting, secure payments and managing allergen checks.Receiving a runner up award, robotic engineers Aswath Ganesan Indra and Adip Ranjan Das from the Edinburgh campus aim to address the significant cost disparity between healthy and ultra-processed food by introducing an innovative semi-autonomous catering service. Igniting passion for entrepreneurship through sessions with internal and industry experts, this years guest speakers included Censis, Barclays, Johnston Carmichael, Too Gallus, Converge, Morningside Music School and Steer Energy.Danielle Moran is enterprise manager at Heriot-Watt University. Previous participants of The Global Innovation Challenge have gone on to win key industry awards such as Rosie Bristow of Fantasy Fibre Mill, a winner at this years Converge. By connecting creative minds across the globe, we are transforming our international reach into an engine for innovation, tackling some of societys biggest challenges and effecting positive change across multiple sectors.This years winners include Tayab Smooro, founder of Pathoscan which won the Best Overall Award. The company, based in Canada, aims to revolutionise crop disease management with portable, rapid and accurate in-field testing devices, reducing farmers dependency on traditional, lab-based diagnostics.