Highlighted previous GIST Catalyst winners include:
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Christina York (United States) won the 2019 GIST Catalyst Pitch Competition for her startup SpellBound. SpellBound has a mission is to use immersive 3D technology to increase patient cooperation with treatment, including patient education and procedure simulation. SpellBound is now used as a tool in top hospitals across the United States as well as globally in countries like Kenya and Japan.
- Ajaita Shah (India) won the Grand Championship at the 2017 GIST Catalyst pitch competition with her startup Frontier Markets. Frontier markets is a last mile distribution solution for energy products with a focus on solar technology that empowers women. Frontier Markets gives women in India the tools they need to teach their communities about the benefits of solar power and sell solar products.
- Maria Burns Ortiz (United States) was a finalist in the 2017 GIST Catalyst pitch competition. Her startup 7 Generation Games combines educational research, advanced game design and innovative technology to produce games that teach math, history and language arts to children. The games have been designed to meet the technological needs to both urban and rural areas.
- Jainesh Sinha (India) was a finalist in the 2017 GIST Catalyst pitch competition. His startup GyanDhan is an education loan marketplace that leverages data science to predict students’ future employability. Launched in April 2016, GyanDhan is currently working with Indian lenders to structure differentiated education loan products that are more accessible to Indian students.
- Fiona Edwards (Ireland) was a finalist in the 2017 GIST Catalyst pitch Competition. Her startup ApisProtect addresses the growing health crisis of bee populations around the world through in-hive sensors, retrofitted into existing beehives to monitor the honey bee colonies. Using machine learning techniques, data is gathered and shared through mobile data networks to farmers, providing updates on hive and alerts with insights on how to improve the colony’s health.
- Molly Morse (United States) won the 2017 GIST Catalyst Woman First Award from Amazon Web Services. Her startup Mango Materials transforms waste greenhouse gas methane into environmentally friendly, affordable materials. These materials can be used to make biodegradable plastics.
Full List of Past Winners
2017 GIST Catalyst, Hyderabad, India
Grand Champion: Ajaita Shah, India, Frontier Markets
Finalist: Maria Burns Ortiz, United States, 7 Generation Games
Finalist: Jainesh Sinha, India, GyanDhan
Finalist: Fiona Edwards, Ireland, ApisProtect
Woman First Award: Molly Morse, United States, Mango Materials