Korea Sanhak Foundation Holds ‘2019 International S.M.A.R.T Startup Competition’ in Tanzania
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Group photo of 2019 International S.M.A.R.T Startup Competition

 

Korea Sanhak Foundation (President: (Young Ju Kim, CEO of Korea International Trade Organization) announced that the ‘2019 International S.M.A.R.T(Startup Mission for Art/Design, Responsibility and Technology) Startup Competition’ was held at the Nelson Mandela African Institute of Science and Technology (MN-AIST) in Arusha City, Tanzania. In addition to Korea Sanhak Foundation, among the organizers were Seoul National University, MN-AIST, Korea-Tanzania Innovative Technology and Energy Center (iTEC), University Industrial Technology Force (UNITEF), and e3empower.

 

The competition was held at MN-AIST in order to provide bases for international cooperation and breaking into the global market for Korean startups.

 

The S.M.A.R.T Startup Competition had been accepting participants since February and was held in Korea and Tanzania respectively, where a total of 108 teams participated. In the finals, 10 Korean teams and 15 Tanzanian teams gave their final presentations and were evaluated on the following criteria: technology, social contribution, and design.

 

Among the teams, 3 of them had received Grand Prizes from Korean competitions, earning a ticket to this international competition and receiving financial support for the trip. The Grand Prize of the S.M.A.R.T Startup Competition was awarded to Tanzania’s Team ‘Vaillia Husbandry’ for their research on vanilla cultivation.

 

The Gold Prizes went to 3 teams, all from Korea: Team ‘Ribbon’ (Technology, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology), Team ‘Robotree’ (Social Venture, Korea University), and Team ‘Sandwich’ (Design, Yeonsei University).

 

“We hope this competition will be a place for global technology startups from developing to developed countries,” said Young-gwa Kim, Secretary General of the Korea Sanhak Foundation. “We will provide support so that the items presented at the competition can be operationalized and commercialized into actual businesses.”

 

Kaanaeli Mafie, of the Grand Prize-winning team, said that “the prize money of 3,000 dollars can be used to create vanilla farm facilities of around 4,000m². This is a sure way to generate revenue, and the cultivation technology can help turn Africa’s agricultural industry into a high-value added industry.”

 

Competition director Prof. Sung-Hoon Ahn of SNU Dept. of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, hoped that “this competition provided opportunities to learn about different cultures and environments, and a networking opportunity for innovators preparing to launch businesses focusing on a convergence of technology, social contribution, and design.

 

The prize-winning teams of this competition will be provided with startup support by cooperating with relevant institutions.

By Yong-seok Choi, dongA.com

 

Link to article https://news.naver.com/main/read.nhn?mode=LSD&mid=sec&sid1=102&oid=020&aid=0003234455