GIST Catalyst Semifinalists Announced!
GIST Catalyst Virtual Pitch Competition Semifinalists have been announced. This diverse and dynamic group of innovators is a great example of the GIST community's commitment to bring innovative solutions to the world's most pressing issues. We could not be more excited to welcome this group to compete at this elite level, to showcase their solutions, and to be part of something greater than themselves.
What's next for these innovative science and technology entrepreneurs? First, each one will be presenting their unique solution to a select group of investors at the GIST Catalyst Investor Showcase. At this exclusive "invite only" event, they will have 90 seconds each to pitch followed by a 3 1/2 minute question & answer period with the investors. The showcase event will also feature industry experts who will be keeping a watchful eye on this group of promising young innovators.
In addition to the Investor Showcase, semifinalists will meet with a GIST Mentor, an expert in innovation and entrepreneurship, who will assess their strengths and weaknesses and provide critical advice that will help the innovator present as strong a pitch as possible at the semifinals.
The Semifinals!
The GIST Catalyst Virtual Pitch Competition Semifinals will be held at five separate virtual events across 3 days in the first week of November. Here, participants will be grouped alongside other competitors from their region. Again, they will have 90 seconds to make the case for their solution followed by a 3 1/2 minute question & answer period where the judges will seek to learn even more about these innovative entrepreneurs. During each event, audiences across the globe will be able to vote for the innovator of their choice from the live stream Catalyst page. After each regional semifinal event, judges will confer to discuss their decisions and the public vote totals. One regional winner from each group will move on to compete in the Catalyst Finals on 9 November, 2021. See the Catalyst page for all the details and times!
Meet the entrepreneurs from the GIST Catalyst Virtual Pitch Competition Semifinals!
 AFRICA Farmspeak Technology Farmspeak Technology is an agritech start up keen on improving food security, increasing the productivity and profitability of farmers, and enabling data-driven agriculture by building smart hardware devices and software solutions that leverage digital technologies. |
 AFRICA Immobazyme Immobazyme has a mission to engineer and develop immobilized enzymes and analytical platforms, which enable the production of high-value products. Through realizing this mission, Immobazyme hopes to catalyze the African biotechnology industry by developing innovative skills and utilizing local biological resources. |
 AFRICA HYA BIOPLASTICS Hya Bioplastics uses cassava starch and pulped fibers from banana pseudo stem to create biobased food packaging. Hya Bioplastics' range of food packaging, including fruit and vegetable trays, takeaway food boxes and disposable plates, are a more cost competitive alternative to petroleum-based plastic packaging. |
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AFRICA Babymigo Babymigo is a platform that provides expert-led health information and hyperlocal childcare services to pregnant and Nursing mothers via SMS (Text), App and Web portal. Since its inception, babymigo has served more than 250,000 pregnant mothers and parents. |
AFRICA BioMec Eco prosthetics from plastic waste BioMec designs and produces high performance prosthetics from ghost fish nets and PET bottles collected from the sea. BioMec's goal is to create more and better access to prosthetics in Mozambique, a country where 90% of amputees don't have access to the prosthetics they need. |
AMERICAS Laser Electrospray PCB Printer The Laser Electrospray Printer (LEP) allows for prototyping or 3D printing of printed circuit boards (PCBs). The LEP printer is the fastest, most efficient, and safest way to prototype PCBs on a small scale, based on a new-generation laser electrospray technology. |
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AMERICAS AyniLab
Through biolearning processes AyniLab creates solutions that combine science and engineering in Biomimicry, nature-based solutions and sustainable use of biodiversity. |
AMERICAS Energia Vectorial Energia Vectorial is a company that focuses on decarbonizing mobility by converting Internal Combustion Engine Vehicles (ICEV) into Electric Vehicles (EV) particularly focusing on Last mile delivery fleets and public transport buses. |
AMERICAS Pro-viden Pro-viden is an IoT-based automation system for aquaculture farms, which allows the farmer to prevent diseases and increase production. The device moves autonomously through the water while it performs measurements of pH, oxygen, temperature and other parameters. The farmer can see this information, remotely and at all times, through a web platform and app. |
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AMERICAS Epistemic Epistemic is a Brazilian startup that developed a three product system to manage epilepsy. The system includes a wearable device capable of predicting epileptic seizures; an epilepsy diary app available in Portuguese and English; and a web portal for physicians to analyze patients' information so they can correlate seizures with possible triggers |
ASIA Inhalo Inhalo is an earbud that detects breathing from the inner-ear and sends that signal to mobile devices using a small processing unit. Inhalo's technology can be used to control games that simulate breathing exercises. |
ASIA AtoANI i-CROP AtoANI employs a produce-to-demand model whereby pre-orders from its existing and potential customers dictate the crops that AtoANI grows in its farm and partner farms through sustainable farming methods. AtoANI uses a web and mobile compatible data-based analytics recommendation platform, AtoANI i-CROP, to provide recommendations to the farmers on the type and amount of crop to plant based on soil-crop compatibility data on a specific location,customer demand and the customer's proximity to the partner farmer location. |
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ASIA SavCon Energy SavCon turns raw agricultural wastes into high-density pellets through the process of densification and enhances their thermal and mechanical properties through torrefaction. The treated biomass product of these processes is a mechanically stable, thermally efficient, and environment-friendly fuel for heating and cooking purposes. |
ASIA Galansiyang Inc. Galansiyang Inc., is a forestry support services startup that aims to help the mining industry speed up the process of mine rehabilitation by providing them with drone and IoT technology to automate forestry, including aerial seeding reforestation and forest monitoring. |
ASIA WeGro WeGro is a tech-based agri startup that is revolutionizing the archaic agriculture industry by integrating the latest technology in all aspects of the agri-supply chain. Through the integration of technology, they aspire to ensure low-cost financing, quality inputs, greater traceability and monitoring and ensure farmers receive a greater piece of the final price by connecting them to markets. |
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EUROPE LUA AgroRobot AgroRobot's autonomous and modular robot farmers will help farmers with the problems of soil erosion, biodiversity losses, bad monitoring, water losses, high rates of food waste, fuel cost and emission, and climate change. |
EUROPE The biotechnology for accelerated treatment of organic waste This innovative granular microbial preparation and bioreactor treats organic solid and liquid household and agricultural waste directly at the place of their accumulation. The end products of the biotechnology are environmentally friendly compounds such as biofertilizer and purified water. |
EUROPE GIOS
GIOS is an all-in-one educational online-platform that skyrockets Math and Critical Thinking of school kids. It includes: |
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EUROPE ALGBIO ALGBIO treats industrial wastewater and flue gases with microalgae and produces carbon negative biofuels (biogas, biojet/rocket fuel, bioethanol, biodiesel) and algal bioplastic from these wastes. |
EUROPE iCardy iCardy is the first global AI service for cardiologists and internal physicians that helps them to drive their day-to-day duties effectively and productively, reducing routine workload by ten times and increasing the capacity of online monitoring of their patients by three times. iCardy's service is a diagnostic multi-tool for long-term patient monitoring that assists the physician in diagnostics, medical examinations and screening the large cohorts of patients in the risk groups. |
MENA Tamara AgriTech Tamara is a complete Eco-system connecting farmers with suppliers and buyers and experts. The platform will provide farmers with clear insights and accurate information provided by tailored made solutions to address farmers' needs and improve productivity. The platform will enable proactive agriculture by providing farmers with information ofor smart decision making by alerting farmers in advance or provide suggestions based on the data, IoT and machine learning algorithms. |
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MENA PalmProtect The Red Palm Weevil is a global pest that infects 40 palm species in 60 countries around the world. If the pest is not detected early, the tree will die and the Palm Weevils will spread to other trees. We have developed an device that will allow farmers to detect Red Palm Weevils early. |
MENA Ecomena Plastic recycling project EcoMena produces light-weight, non-water absorbent, anti-fungal product bricks. They plan to expand their business to also produce roof tiles and plastic lumber. |
MENA Recy-Block Recy-block is a greentech solution and innovative provider of building and housing material solutions that integrates eco-friendly practices and green technologies in its products. Recy-block developed hollow recycled bricks using a mixture of wet cement, additives and shredded plastic waste laminates. |
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MENA iCheck iCheck is a service that integrates technology, management and clinical expertise in a way that bridges the geographical and logistical barriers restricting the provision of eye health appointments from those who need it. iCheck's solution enables highly specialized investigative ophthalmologists to visualize and operate remote equipment, live. This means access to services that were never accessible beyond central cities in a way that is affordable, safer with reduced waiting times and more equitable. |
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